You have found a house that makes your heart skip a beat--it is in the right location and has all the amenities you want. The price is the only thing that is keeping you from making an offer, because you feel that it is more than you can afford. How can you maximize the possibility that the owners will accept an offer that is much lower than their asking price?

The first thing you should do is to make the offer as "clean" as possible by not asking for special contingencies. Avoid making demands on the sellers for minor repairs, such as cutting down the dead tree in the back yard or leaving custom drapes. Be as flexible as possible about scheduling the move-in date to accommodate the seller's plans. Finally, you can offer a larger-than-usual deposit to persuade the sellers that you are a serious buyer and to make it harder for them to "just say no". Each situation is different, but the "cleaner" the offer, the more likely the sellers are to accept it.

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