Offering 10% below asking on a Manila warehouse — sensible or too aggressive?

G

good_vale

Real estate agent
Established
We have until tomorrow to choose an opening figure, and the trade-off is between testing the seller at 10% below asking and keeping the proposal credible. The Manila warehouse is listed at PHP 67,860,000, has been on the market for 104 days and will require some work. Similar asking prices exist nearby, but completed transactions are too scarce to give us a dependable benchmark.

Our financing is arranged, and we can accommodate the seller’s preferred completion timing. Would it be better to present the discount as reflecting the known work and limited sales evidence, while asking what timing matters to the seller? I do not want urgency to push us into dropping the inspection, financing or valuation protections, or putting the deposit at risk before those checks are resolved.
 
A 10% opening discount is not inherently insulting after 104 days, provided the offer is presented as a workable proposal rather than a verdict on the property. Put the clean financing and flexible completion date first, then tie the price to the updating required and the lack of reliable completed comparables. Keep inspection protection and make any deposit exposure conditional on clearly defined milestones.
 
Before choosing the number, do you know anything about the seller’s motivation or whether there have been previous offers? Also, what does “needs updating” mean here—cosmetic work, or items that could materially change the cost? If the scope is uncertain, I would avoid asking for both a large discount now and broad repair credits later unless the inspection reveals something genuinely unexpected.
 
The 104 days would not persuade me that a 10% reduction is likely to succeed. Warehouses can take longer to find the right buyer, so the listing period may say more about the size of the buyer pool than the seller’s motivation. With nearby asking figures at similar levels, a firm counter is a realistic outcome.

What could materially alter the deal is the lender’s valuation. Financing may be ready, but if the valuation falls short of the agreed price, the buyer still needs a clear limit on how much of that gap can be funded in cash. I would settle that limit and the related deposit condition before making the cleaner terms part of the sales pitch.
 
You can make the offer easier to consider by separating price from terms: PHP 61,074,000, proof that financing is available, the seller’s preferred completion window, and a short but realistic response deadline. State that the price reflects known updating costs and limited evidence from completed sales. I would not waive inspection, financing, valuation, or satisfactory property due diligence merely to make the offer look cleaner.
 
Given the one-night deadline, decide your walk-away position before sending anything: maximum price, maximum appraisal shortfall you could absorb, deposit at risk, and which inspection findings would justify renegotiation. You could also offer the seller a choice between the lower price with fewer repair requests, or a higher figure subject to agreed credits after inspection. Keep the explanation brief; too much justification can invite arguments over every assumption.
 
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