Me and my girlfriend are trying to buy a house. We've found a house that we can only describe as "perfect". The buyers are actually going through a divorce, so this is where the problem arises. The husband actually agreed to a price at $250,000 after negotiation. Two days later my realtor calls me saying the wife won't sign on that price, she wont take anything less than $265,000. The asking price is $269,000 and I know for a fact his house has been on the market for more than a half a year, maybe even more. My question is, how much should I give in to her considering we really want the house, or is this a tactic of hers? I am willing to offer maybe $256,000 possibly a very little more. Any advice would help.

You're the Buyer, so you probably really mean the Sellers are doing this!

Regarding the price to offer . . . . remember, if you're financing the deal, then it really doesn't matter what the Sellers agree to, it's what the Appraiser says the property is worth.

You could offer the $265,000 to get the Seller Wife to sign, and then hope that the Appraiser also sees that the property is worth only $250,000. That could motivate the Seller Wife to get with the program.

The worst thing that could happen is that it's really worth $265,000 or more, and you get the perfect house for a fair price. If it's only perfect for you "if" you can get it for $250,000 . . . . then it sounds like it isn't quite perfect enough.

It's all about motivation. It may be that sub-consciously, the Seller Wife doesn't really want to sell at all, and she'll attempt to sabotage any productive deal that comes along. Agreeing to a price could be just the beginning. Before worrying about her motivation, I'd check in and assess my own. How much do you want this particular house?

offer the wife around $10k worth of cosmetics, clothing or plastic surgery. women can't resist that stuff.

I apologize. I meant sellers.