A $2.699M Asking Price. A $2.25M Purchase.

The Opportunity

My buyers were looking in San Ramon, where the right combination of size, neighborhood, condition, and value can be difficult to find.

Pembroke stood out.

At approximately 3,715 square feet, this former Centex model home offered substantial space, a three-car garage, and a desirable Windemere location.

But there was a problem.

At an original asking price of $2.699 million, the numbers didn't make sense for us.

So we didn't chase it.

Buyer represented by Prasanna Rangaswamy, Arcus Homes. Figures are approximate and presented for market context only.

Looking Beyond the Asking Price

An asking price tells you what a seller hopes to receive. It doesn't necessarily tell you what a property is worth, and it certainly doesn't tell you what a seller may ultimately accept.

The more important questions were:

What did the surrounding sales tell us?

How did this home compare with other opportunities around the $2.5M to $2.6M range?

How was the market responding to the property?

And, most importantly, was the balance of leverage beginning to change?

Instead of treating the asking price as the starting point for a bidding exercise, we evaluated the home independently.

That analysis suggested something interesting: there could be meaningful value here, but only at the right price.

Patience Became Part of the Negotiation

Not every negotiation is won by pushing harder.

Sometimes the strongest move is being willing to wait.

We stayed disciplined rather than allowing the original $2.699M price to anchor our thinking. As the seller's position evolved, an opportunity emerged to negotiate from a very different place.

The buyers ultimately purchased the home for:

But the discount itself isn't what made this a successful purchase.

The more important point is what the buyers received for $2.25M.

Based on the surrounding market and comparable value in roughly the $2.5M to $2.6M range, we believed the purchase represented compelling value for a home of this caliber.

The Lesson

Real estate negotiations aren't always about winning a bidding war.

And they aren't always about offering the lowest possible number.

They are about understanding value, timing, motivation, and leverage.

A home can be overpriced at one point and become an opportunity later.

The challenge is recognizing when that transition happens.

For my buyers on Pembroke Way, discipline gave us the ability to wait.

Market knowledge helped us recognize the opportunity.

And negotiation turned that opportunity into a purchase at $2.25 million.