Wow this got long...
I live in the Chicago suburbs.There's a house for sale nearby listed at $430K. It was a 3-bedroom ranch built in the 50's that the current owner expanded quite a lot - new master bedroom and bath out the front (sacrificing one of the original bedrooms), big dining room/breakfast room addition out the back, original 2-car garage was turned into a family room, and a new 3-car garage (2 tandem) was built on that end. It looks like they did a good job, but it was clearly done 20 years ago and looks pretty dated (aside from the very high end kitchen, which I'm guessing was 10 years ago.) It probably started at 1400 square feet and is now 2200.
I think they've overimproved this property, and they've priced it like a recent remodel. When I went to an open house, the agent was all about how stuff had been remodeled - yes, since 1957, but not since 1995.
Aside from a couple weeks between listings, it's been on the market since May. There really aren't comparable houses in the area. Large single-floor houses are rare around here, because land is tight. It wouldn't surprise me to find out they had special dispensation from the city zoning department to add on the way they did.
It's one house off a busy street, there's a commercial building across the street (a daycare/preschool) and the next house down is worth in the $200K range (and looks like a wreck.) It is a half acre lot, which is really, I think, a big part of the high pricing. The house would require some work ($10K?) for us to be able to live there, not counting the decor changes (paint, wallpaper removal, new flooring.)
On the plus side, our "walk score" would go from 17 to 55, which is about as good as we're going to get and stay in the area. There are 2 grocery stores within a half mile and plenty of restaurants, a Walgreens, our bank and so forth in that same area. A couple bus routes stop at the nearer of the two grocery stores. We're in our 40's with an almost-2-year-old, and I think this place could house us comfortably for decades - but we really need a single floor house ASAP.
Do you folks think it's unreasonable to come in with a really low offer - like $300K - so long as we mean it?
I hate to waste people's time if there's no way they'll ever say "yes" to that, so is it reasonable to approach the Realtor with the ballpark we might be in before taking a proper look at it instead of 5 minutes at an open house? Or just better to spring it on them after we think we'd like to own it?
There's no way we'd ever pay anywhere near the asking price.
I know this whole thing isn't very Mustachian sounding in dollar amounts, but I respect your opinions so I thought I'd ask.