How much should you offer in a Short Sale?

The point of a short sale is for the owner to get out of paying for the mortgage they defaulted on. The listing price is a combination of the essed value of the property plus what the loan losses were from the original borrower and not much less than that. If you want to make an offer on a short sale, go get pre-qualified for a home loan yourself. That process will let you know how much house you can afford instead of guessing then underbidding and loosing the house you want to buy. Agents do not tell you how much the other bids are. Sometimes closing costs are negotiable, sometimes not.