Low Ball Offer
A low ball offer is a purchase offer that is significantly below the asking price or market value of a property, sometimes 20% or more under the listed price. These offers are typically made by buyers hoping to secure a bargain or test the seller's flexibility. While sometimes successful in buyer's markets or with motivated sellers, low ball offers often risk offending sellers and ending negotiations.
Example
“The seller rejected the low ball offer of $300,000 on a home listed for $450,000.”
Memory Tip
Low ball = low money - you're throwing a ball that barely reaches the seller's feet.
Why It Matters
Buyers should understand that low ball offers can backfire by alienating sellers and may result in being shut out of competitive situations. Strategic low offers based on market analysis can work, but extremely low offers without justification often waste everyone's time.
Common Misconception
Many buyers think low ball offers always save money, but they often result in losing the property to more reasonable offers.
In Practice
In a hot market, a buyer submits an offer 25% below asking price on a well-priced home, hoping to get a deal. The seller immediately rejects the offer without counter-offering and accepts a full-price offer from another buyer the same day.
Etymology
The term originates from poker, where 'lowball' is a variant where the lowest hand wins, first used in real estate in the 1960s.
Common Misspellings
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