I just had a buyer ask me to submit an offer of $285,000 on a house listed at $399,000. Not a typo. Not a foreclosure. A perfectly nice, fairly priced home in a decent neighborhood. When I gently explained that this wasn't even in the same galaxy as reasonable, they said, and I quote, "Well, you never know unless you try." Oh, I know. I know exactly what's going to happen. The listing agent is going to laugh, screenshot it for their group chat, and my professional reputation takes another hit. But sure, let me just fire off this insulting offer because you read an article about "aggressive negotiation tactics" on some finance blog written by a guy who's never purchased anything more expensive than a used Honda. The sellers didn't even counter. They just had their agent call me to ask if my buyers were "okay" and if there was "some kind of misunderstanding." My buyers were genuinely shocked they didn't get a response. They wanted to know if we should go up to $290,000 "to show we're serious." I need a drink.