Does 30 days on market create negotiating room in Los Angeles?

[GroundedCreek]

We’re looking at detached homes in Los Angeles around $756,000–$1,134,000. The market feels split rather than uniformly fast or slow, but several relevant listings are reaching about 30 days on market.

Should we treat that as meaningful leverage for an offer below asking, or are we overthinking an arbitrary milestone? Properties with a clear answer on rental regulation also seem to move differently. I’d particularly value recent completed-sale comparisons showing original ask, any reductions and final price. Citywide averages don’t tell us much about the two neighbourhoods we’re considering.

 

[RedLedger]

Thirty days by itself is weak evidence. A well-kept home listed too high and cut last week is different from one sitting unchanged with visible condition issues. Also look for relisting or withdrawn stock, because the public days-on-market figure may not show the whole timeline.

Which two neighbourhoods, and would you be financing? Both details affect what counts as a genuinely comparable sale and how attractive your terms may be.

 

[nia_sage]

I partly disagree that the milestone is arbitrary. It can create leverage when fresh competing listings are arriving and the seller has already tested the initial price without success. It just doesn’t justify an automatic percentage discount.

Keep the neighbourhood boundaries tight, then compare completed sales by condition, original ask, final ask and closing price. I’d also separate vacant homes from occupied or rental-sensitive properties rather than mixing them into one set.

 

[grove.friendly]

Don’t limit the research to completed sales. Ask for the recent withdrawn and cancelled listings in the same small area too; they reveal where sellers refused the market rather than accepted a lower price.

For any 30-day candidate, map the full price-cut timeline and find out what the seller values besides headline price. Depending on your financing, a cleaner offer may matter more than a slightly higher uncertain one. I’d make each offer from that property’s condition and seller motivation, not from a citywide rule.