The number people fixate on that tells you the least is what the current owner paid. What someone bought for years ago, and whatever they gained since, has no bearing on what the home is worth to you today. A seller wanting a big jump over their old purchase price is just their ask, no evidence of a good or bad deal either way. A price cut, on its own, is the same trap. A reduction only matters if you know whether the home was priced correctly to begin with, and whether the new number is fair or still high. The way to actually answer "is this a good price" is recent comparable sales for similar bed and bath counts in that neighborhood, plus the sale-to-list ratios buyers there are getting. Five or six similar homes competing for the same buyers gives you room to push. A genuinely unique house (a rare floor plan, a view, the only single-story with a three-car garage on the street) gives you less, because other buyers will compete for it too. One more filter that matters more than shaving a few thousand dollars: whether this is the right time in your life to buy. If it is, work the price with your agent using real comps. If it is not, the exact number is almost beside the point. And ask your agent for the full listing history before you anchor, since the home may have been in contract higher before.