I suggested a topic on the moving target that is a lowball offer. "Conventional wisdom claims that lowball offers don’t work. Homebuyers are warned not to 'insult' sellers, who are counseled not to counter offers from 'disrespectful' buyers. But conventional wisdom doesn’t always hold true. With a severe slowdown in sales, some experts now offer new advice. What is a lowball offer?"

"Karen Monsour, a Realtor in Coral Springs, Fla., says any offer that’s 25 percent less than the asking price falls into the lowball category. Others say the term 'lowball' is more subjective. Miriam Bernstein, an associate broker in Scarsdale, N.Y., suggests that just about any offer could be labeled as 'lowball' if it provokes the seller to outrage or anger."

"'The best definition I’ve ever heard is that 'lowball' is an offer that’s so low the sellers can’t contain themselves. They get angry,' she says."

One replied, "I get angry and outraged when I see a 'highball' sales price, especially when the property sits on Craigslist or MLS for more than 6 months without any play. Disrespected and insulted??? It’s not a sellers market anymore so who cares what they think. That ship has sailed."

Another, "I would qualify a lowball as anything 25% or more below the intrinsic value of the house, not the wishing price. By that I mean 25% below 120 times rent, or some equivalent investment value metric. IMO, it is those who are ready and willing to buy a house who should be insulted by the wishing prices being asked by 'sellers' in the current market environment."

One notes, "We keep seeing stories about sellers who wished they HAD taken that 'lowball' offer they got 10 months or so ago. As Forrest Gump said, 'Stupid is as stupid does.'"

One points to foreclosures, "A house here where I live listed at 179,900 for 2 years, is now REO, listed at 124,900 and still sitting. Obviously for that one, 30% below original listing price still won’t fetch a seller."

One on upside down sellers, "What if you’re upside down? You can’t afford to sell for the 'market' price (whatever that is), much less the lowball."

One with caution, "The only disadvantage I can see to serial lowballing is that eventually you’re bound to encounter a seller who’s desperate enough to accept, and then BANG!, you’re the new greatest fool!"

One on the process, "Lowball offers are below market value — lower than what a buyer thinks s/he will have to pay and at a level realtors and sellers fear to contemplate. That’s why realtors try to shame buyers into avoiding low offers."

"Without lowball offers, the RE market would have come to even more of a standstill by now."

"From property tax records in my area, I can tell you it’s REALTORS who have been making lowball offers to get property off the MLS."

The Bradenton Herald from Florida. "After complimentary coffee and introductions Saturday morning, the area's first official 'foreclosure tour' headed on its way. Roughly 25 people - the bulk of them investors - attended the tour on a small chartered bus that made stops in east Manatee County."

"The first of eight houses visited during the tour was a three-bedroom, two-bath home in University Park being offered by the bank for $249,000. The home sold for exactly $100,000 more two years ago, according to Manatee County property records."

"Another 2,749-square-foot home on a freshwater canal in the Inlets at Riverdale, the most expensive on the tour, was selling for $439,900 - $265,000 down from what it sold for just two years ago."

"Dan Delzer of Lakewood Ranch took the roughly four-hour tour Saturday in order to work on what he calls his '10-year-plan.' That plan involves becoming wealthy through investing in real estate."

"'I have a goal of 10 years, being financially free, and it doesn't come from bringing home a paycheck,' Delzer said. 'I think anyone in Sarasota or Bradenton, you have to get in right now. I don't think we're going to see prices this low again. Anybody that's waiting, I don't know what they're waiting on.'"

"Denny Floden of Horizon Realty in Bradenton was looking for investment properties as well as homes for some of his clients."

"'There's some good values - not necessarily what they're asking, but what you could buy them for,' Floden said. 'If you were buying something to live in for a long time, you'd really make out. But if it was going to be a rental, you'd have to be much sharper on your pennies. It doesn't take much to screw up your numbers if you're buying as an investor.'"

The Tribune from California. "Kathy Hilstein watched the housing market carefully last year, waiting for prices to fall. In November, she decided to buy an investment property— a foreclosed condominium in Santa Maria. In March, she closed escrow on a second foreclosed property, a two-story home on an acre off Los Berros Road in Arroyo Grande. Hilstein, the owner of a cleaning service, liked it so much that it’s now her permanent residence."

"'I kind of knew the market would slow down,' said Hilstein, who found the properties during four foreclosure home tours. 'I wasn’t necessarily looking at foreclosures. I was just looking for an investment property with a good price for the location and a good rental return.'"

"'For me, it’s a no-brainer,' said Hilstein, who has six rental properties in the county and Santa Maria, (and) bought her Arroyo Grande home for about $80,000 under current market value. 'I would kick myself if I didn’t buy property right now. The market will go back up. I can’t imagine it not going back up.'"

"There were 635 homes sold in the county from Jan. 1 through April 30 compared to 877 during the same period the previous year, according to the Central Coast Regional MLS. But the median price of a home in San Luis Obispo County during that period stood at $480,000, down from $545,000 the previous year."

"'If people are sitting on the fence waiting, there’s not going to be a bell that rings that says 'OK, it’s over,' said Jim Liptak, president-elect of the California Association of Realtors. 'Sellers that want to have a sold sign planted in their front yard have to be. If they aren’t, then they’re kidding themselves. The prices you could get two years ago and the price today are a totally different thing.'"

"In the first quarter of this year, foreclosure filings in San Luis Obispo County jumped 97 percent from the same quarter last year, according to RealtyTrac. There were 432 filings in the first quarter, compared to 219 in the first quarter of 2007."

"Linda Midkiff, a Realtor in Paso Robles, said some properties—bank-owned and non-bank-owned—are being sold at competitive prices. A 3,000-square-foot house in Paso Robles recently sold for $509,900 one day after being on the market, she said. In another instance, Midkiff said a bank-owned home was on the market for $341,000. Her clients made an offer at $355,000, but she was told that they were not among the top three bids."

"'If a house is priced well it will sell at its current price, close to it or above it,' Midkiff said. 'Last year, the phone didn’t ring. This year, the buyers are out there. They want the best deal they possibly can, but they’re willing to put in the offers to see if they can get something.'"