How Much Below Asking Price Should I Offer on a Monterey Park Home?
There isn't one percentage you should automatically offer below asking price on a Monterey Park home. Some properties may have room for negotiation, while a well-priced home attracting multiple buyers could sell at or above asking. The right offer depends on recent comparable sales, days on market, property condition, competition, price reductions, and how motivated the seller appears to be.
You've found a Monterey Park home you like.
It's listed for $1,000,000.
Now comes the question almost every buyer asks:
"How much should we offer?"
And usually right after that:
"Do you think they'll take $950,000?"
Maybe.
But before choosing a number, I want to know why we're offering $950,000.
One of the biggest mistakes buyers can make is assuming that every asking price has the same amount of negotiating room built into it.
It doesn't.
The Asking Price Isn't Necessarily the Market Value
This is probably the most important thing to understand.
A listing price is a marketing decision made by the seller and listing agent.
It could be:
Below market value to generate multiple offers
Very close to expected market value
Slightly above comparable sales to test the market
Significantly higher than buyers are likely to pay
So when someone tells you to "always offer 5% below asking," that advice isn't particularly useful.
Five percent below an overpriced home could still be too much.
Five percent below an intentionally underpriced home could eliminate you from consideration entirely.
We need to figure out what the property is actually worth before deciding how much negotiating room we have.
Monterey Park Is Giving Buyers Mixed Signals Right Now
This is why I think this question is especially relevant in 2026.
Recent Monterey Park sales show very different outcomes.
Some homes have sold below asking. Others have sold right around asking. And some desirable properties have still generated enough competition to sell significantly above their list prices.
That's an important distinction.
It means I wouldn't describe the entire city as a market where buyers can simply make aggressive low offers.
Instead, I would look at each individual property as its own negotiation.
Start With Comparable Sales, Not the List Price
Before recommending an offer, I want to look at recently sold properties that are actually comparable.
That means considering things like:
Location
Square footage
Lot size
Number of bedrooms and bathrooms
Condition
Renovations
Views
Garage and parking
Property type
A beautifully remodeled hillside home shouldn't necessarily be valued the same way as an original-condition home several neighborhoods away just because they're both in Monterey Park.
This is where automated home values and price-per-square-foot calculations can sometimes oversimplify things.
Real estate is rarely that neat.
Days on Market Can Tell Us a Lot
This is one of the first things I look at when deciding how aggressive we can be.
Imagine two nearly identical Monterey Park homes listed at $1 million.
Home A came on the market yesterday and has a busy open house scheduled this weekend.
Home B has been listed for 60 days and already had a price reduction.
Would I approach those sellers the same way?
Probably not.
The longer a property sits without selling, the more questions I start asking:
Why hasn't it sold?
Has the seller received offers?
Have previous escrows fallen apart?
Has the price already been reduced?
Is the seller becoming more motivated?
Time can create negotiating leverage.
Price Reductions Are Worth Paying Attention To
A price reduction doesn't automatically mean the seller is desperate.
But it does tell us something.
The original pricing strategy didn't produce the result the seller wanted.
Now I want to understand what happened next.
If a home was originally $1,050,000, reduced to $999,000, and is still sitting on the market several weeks later, that's useful information when deciding what to offer.
It doesn't guarantee the seller will accept another discount.
But it gives us more context than the current asking price alone.
Condition Can Create Negotiating Opportunities
A home that needs work can present another opportunity.
Maybe the kitchen hasn't been updated.
Maybe the flooring needs replacement.
Maybe the inspection reveals an aging roof or other significant deferred maintenance.
That doesn't necessarily mean you should subtract the cost of every improvement from the asking price.
But condition absolutely affects what buyers are willing to pay.
Sometimes the opportunity isn't negotiating the lowest purchase price either.
We might decide a seller credit toward eligible closing costs or a mortgage rate buy-down provides more value to you than an equivalent price reduction.
With mortgage rates still elevated in August, buyers nationally are increasingly exploring those types of negotiations.
Find Out Whether There Are Other Offers
This can completely change our strategy.
If we're the only buyer interested in a home that's been listed for six weeks, we may have leverage.
If the listing agent tells me they already have three offers and expect two more, I'm going to have a very different conversation with you.
That doesn't mean we automatically offer more.
Sometimes the smartest decision is to let another buyer have it.
But I want you making that decision with as much information as we can reasonably gather.
A Low Offer Isn't Automatically a Good Deal
Buyers understandably love the idea of getting a bargain.
But there's an important distinction between:
getting a home for less than asking
and
getting a home for less than it's worth.
Suppose a home is worth approximately $1 million but the seller lists it at $1.1 million.
You negotiate it down to $1.025 million.
Congratulations, you purchased it $75,000 below asking.
But did you get a deal?
Maybe not.
Now imagine another home worth around $1 million is intentionally listed at $899,000.
You compete against several buyers and purchase it for $975,000.
You paid $76,000 over asking.
But you may have actually purchased the better value.
That's why I don't judge an offer based solely on its relationship to the list price.
Should You Ever Make a Very Low Offer?
There are situations where an aggressive offer may make sense.
Perhaps:
The property has been listed for a long time
Several price reductions have already occurred
The home needs significant repairs
Recent comparable sales don't support the asking price
The seller has a strong reason to move
There are no competing offers
But even then, there's a difference between an aggressive offer and an unsupported one.
I want to be able to explain our number.
That makes our position much stronger during negotiations.
Don't Negotiate Against Yourself
Buyers sometimes become so worried about insulting the seller that they immediately increase their own offer before the seller has even responded.
I'd rather submit a well-supported offer and see what happens.
The seller may:
Accept it
Reject it
Counter it
Tell us they're firm
Reveal information that helps us decide what to do next
Negotiation is a conversation.
We don't necessarily need to guess the seller's final number before that conversation even begins.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is offering 10% below asking too low in Monterey Park?
It depends entirely on the property.
On a newly listed, competitively priced home receiving multiple offers, 10% below asking may have very little chance of succeeding. On an overpriced property that has been sitting for months, a substantial discount may be more defensible.
Are Monterey Park homes currently selling below asking price?
Some are, while others are still selling at or above asking. Recent Monterey Park sales show all three outcomes, which is why property-specific analysis matters more than a citywide rule.
How do I know if a Monterey Park home is overpriced?
I would compare the property with recent relevant sales and adjust for condition, size, lot, location, upgrades, and other meaningful differences.
I'd also look at days on market, previous price reductions, competing listings, and buyer activity.
Should I offer asking price if the home has been sitting on the market?
Not automatically.
A longer market time may give us negotiating leverage, but we still need to determine whether the current price is reasonable and whether other buyers are interested.
Is it better to negotiate the price or ask for closing costs?
It depends on your goals and financing.
For some buyers, an eligible seller credit or rate buy-down may provide more immediate financial benefit than a modest price reduction. Your lender can calculate the difference so you can compare the options.
Can I change my offer after the home inspection?
Depending on your purchase agreement and remaining contingencies, inspection findings may lead to additional negotiations. That doesn't mean the seller is automatically obligated to reduce the price or provide repairs or credits.
So What's the Next Step?
If you're looking at a Monterey Park home and wondering, "How low do you think they'll go?" I'm not going to pull a percentage out of the air.
First, I want to do the homework.
I want to see what comparable homes actually sold for.
I want to know how long this property has been available.
I want to understand its condition.
I want to talk with the listing agent and learn what I can about activity and seller motivation.
And then we can decide what this particular home is worth to you and what offer gives us the best combination of value and probability of success.
Current Monterey Park data illustrates exactly why that's necessary. The market is neither uniformly hot nor uniformly soft. Recent properties have sold below asking, at asking, and considerably above asking, while homes have recently averaged about two offers and roughly 42 days on market.
After nearly 20 years helping buyers throughout Monterey Park and the San Gabriel Valley, I've learned that negotiating a good purchase isn't about automatically offering the least amount possible.
It's about knowing when you have leverage and how to use it.
If you're considering buying a home in Monterey Park, I'd be happy to help you evaluate the property, understand what the numbers actually support, and put together an offer strategy designed around the home you're trying to buy.