You see a house listed for $425,000 and wonder... Would they take $395K? Or $385K? Maybe even $375K?

It's a fair question -- but there's usually only one good way to find out: make a written offer.

If the home is newly listed and getting a lot of showings, the seller probably isn't ready to drop the price significantly. But if it's been sitting on the market for 30, 60, or more days, they might be more flexible -- though it's still hard to know how far they'll go.

Buyers are often tempted to say:

"Can you just ask if they'd take $375K?"

or

"Let's float a verbal offer of $375K and see what happens."

But verbal offers usually don't go very far. Sellers -- and their agents -- tend to take written offers much more seriously. A written offer shows you're a real, qualified buyer with all of the terms (price, timing, contingencies) clearly spelled out. When a seller has received that full written offer from you, that's when they are more likely to stop and truly consider it -- and maybe respond with a counteroffer.

So, if you really want to know how far a seller is willing to go on price, the best strategy is to make an actual offer -- in writing.