The "Take It or Leave It" Days Are Over. Here's What That Means for You

For a while there, negotiating on a home purchase felt almost old fashioned. Buyers wrote strong offers, waived contingencies, and hoped for the best. Sellers held firm because they usually didn't have to do anything else. That dynamic has shifted, and I want to walk you through what's actually changing, because it affects buyers and sellers in different ways.

Two Words You'll Hear a Lot Right Now

Before we get into the details, it helps to separate two terms that get used almost interchangeably but mean different things. A concession is something a seller agrees to during negotiations to get a deal across the finish line, things like covering part of closing costs, handling a repair, or offering a credit. An incentive is a perk that's advertised upfront to attract buyers in the first place, most commonly used by builders on new construction.

Both are becoming much more common, and understanding the difference matters depending on which side of the transaction you're on.

More Sellers Are Saying Yes to Concessions

Nearly half of homeowners who sold recently agreed to some kind of concession, and that's the highest share on record for this time of year. A meaningful portion of sellers went further, cutting their asking price and offering a concession on top of that.

What does this actually look like in practice. Usually it's a seller covering a portion of the buyer's closing costs, taking care of a repair that came up during inspection, or offering a credit that lowers what the buyer needs to bring to the table. It's not that sellers are desperate. It's that buyers have more options to choose from than they did a couple of years ago, and sellers who want to keep a deal moving are meeting them partway rather than risking the deal falling through entirely.

I want to be clear about something here, because I know this can sound alarming if you're a seller. Offering a concession isn't a sign of weakness or a sign your home isn't desirable. It's simply how deals get done in a market where buyers have leverage to negotiate. The sellers who understand this and build a little room into their strategy from the start tend to have smoother transactions than the ones who hold rigid and end up conceding under pressure later anyway.

Builders Are in the Same Position

This shift isn't limited to resale homes. New construction is seeing the exact same pattern. A large majority of builders nationally are currently offering incentives, and roughly a third are cutting prices outright. Those incentives typically show up as price adjustments, mortgage rate buydowns, or upgraded finishes and appliances thrown in at no additional cost.

What's notable is how long this has been going on. This has been the pattern for well over a year now, not a short-term blip. Builders, who a lot of people assume rarely negotiate because their pricing feels fixed and corporate, are actively competing on price and perks right alongside individual sellers. If you're comparing a resale home to new construction right now, it's worth asking what incentives are on the table in both cases before you assume new construction is the more expensive path.

What This Means If You're Buying

If you're on the buying side, this is genuinely a good time to ask. Whether you've got your eye on an established home in Cherry Creek or a newly built property, there's a real chance the seller or builder will meet you partway on price, terms, or both. The key is knowing what to ask for and how to frame it so the request strengthens your offer rather than making it look weaker.

This is where having someone in your corner who negotiates for a living matters. Asking for the wrong concession at the wrong point in a negotiation can cost you the deal. Asking for the right one, at the right moment, with the right framing, can save you real money without putting your offer at risk. I walk every buyer through exactly what's realistic to ask for based on how long a specific home has been sitting, what the seller's situation looks like, and what's happening with competing inventory in that neighborhood.

What This Means If You're Selling

If you're on the selling side, the honest advice is to expect buyers to ask. Even builders of brand new homes are making concessions more often than not right now, so assuming your buyer pool will simply accept your terms without any negotiation isn't realistic in this environment. Holding firm on every single term can mean more time on the market, and in some cases, it can mean losing a buyer entirely to a similar home down the street that was a little more flexible.

That doesn't mean you need to give away the store. It means going into your listing with a strategy that anticipates where negotiation is likely to happen, so you can hold firm on the things that matter most to you and give ground strategically on the things that don't. I build this into every listing strategy from day one, rather than reacting to it once an offer comes in. Knowing your walk-away points before you're sitting across the table from a counteroffer changes the entire tone of the negotiation.

Why This Matters More at the Higher End

I'll add one thing specific to the segment of the market I work in most. Luxury buyers tend to be sophisticated negotiators. They've often been through this process before, sometimes multiple times, and they know how to ask for what they want. That means sellers of higher end homes in Cherry Creek, Cherry Hills Village, and Greenwood Village should expect thoughtful, well-informed requests rather than lowball tactics.

The good news is that a well-prepared seller in this segment usually has more room to work with than they think, because the price points involved allow for meaningful concessions that still leave plenty of room for a strong outcome on both sides. The sellers who do best are the ones who go in with a clear strategy rather than treating every request for a concession as an insult to their home.

Timing Matters as Much as the Ask

One thing I always coach clients on is that when you ask matters just as much as what you ask for. A buyer who tries to renegotiate price after inspection has more leverage if real issues turn up than one who simply changes their mind about the number after the fact. A seller who offers a modest concession early, before a home has sat long enough to draw questions about why, often preserves more of their asking price than one who waits until day sixty to start making moves.

This is where a lot of well-intentioned buyers and sellers get it wrong. They either ask for too much too early and damage trust with the other side, or they wait too long and end up negotiating from a weaker position than they had at the start. Reading that timing correctly comes from being in these negotiations regularly, watching how different sellers and different buyer pools respond, and knowing which moments in a transaction actually shift leverage.

For sellers specifically, I'd also add that concessions don't have to be reactive. Some of the strongest listing strategies I build in include a modest, pre-planned concession baked into the pricing from the start, something that gives buyers a reason to feel like they got a win without actually costing the seller anything they weren't already prepared to give. That approach tends to move homes faster and with less back and forth than sellers who refuse to budge until they're forced to.

Let's Build Your Strategy

Whether you're buying or selling right now, the negotiation landscape has genuinely shifted, and going in without a clear strategy puts you at a disadvantage on either side of that table. A local expert who understands what's realistic in your specific neighborhood, at your specific price point, makes a real difference in how these conversations go.

If you're weighing a move and want to talk through what concessions or incentives might realistically look like for your situation, I'd love to connect. We can walk through your specific circumstances and build a strategy that protects what matters most to you.