I received a lowball offer yesterday that was so absurd I genuinely thought it was a typo. The house is listed at $425,000 and they came in at $289,000. Not $389,000. Two hundred and eighty-nine thousand dollars. I stared at my screen for a solid minute waiting for a follow-up email saying "oops, meant to add another hundred thousand." But no. The buyer's agent called me to "discuss the offer" with complete seriousness, explaining that her clients "really love the property but feel the market is shifting." Shifting where? To 2009? The comps are rock solid. We're priced right. The house has been on market for eleven days. The best part? They included a letter about how they're a young family and this would be their forever home. Sweet sentiment, truly. But I can't pay my seller's mortgage payoff with heartwarming stories about raising children in the backyard. I had to call my client and professionally explain that someone offered them $136,000 less than asking price while simultaneously asking them to leave the patio furniture.