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The Negotiating Power Buyers Have Right Now in King, Snohomish, and Skagit Counties (And Why Most People Are Missing It)
By Dan Keller | Mortgage Advisor | New American Funding | Everett, WA
Most buyers right now are watching mortgage rates.
Refreshing apps. Waiting for the number to drop. Putting their plans on hold until conditions feel more comfortable.
And while they are waiting, a different group of buyers is quietly doing something else entirely. They are negotiating. They are getting seller concessions, rate buydowns, and price adjustments that simply were not available in this market one, two, or three years ago.
The window is open right now. And it will not stay open forever.
What Has Changed in the Greater Seattle Market
To understand the opportunity, it helps to understand what the data actually shows right now across the counties Dan serves.
In Snohomish County, active resale inventory climbed 45.8% year over year to its highest level since 2015. Average home prices softened, homes took longer to sell, and buyers negotiated slightly larger discounts from original asking prices.
Across both King and Snohomish Counties, buyers have more time, more options, and more negotiating room than they did a year ago. In Snohomish County specifically, condo inventory rose roughly 48% year over year, with the median sales price slipping slightly and average market time increasing from 32 to 35 days.
In King County, homes are taking longer to sell, especially those that are overpriced or need updates. Sellers are more open to negotiations, concessions, and flexible terms. Multiple offers still happen but are more the exception than the rule.
This is not a crash. Prices have not fallen off a cliff and demand has not disappeared. What has happened is a meaningful shift in leverage, and leverage in a real estate transaction is worth real money.
What Negotiating Power Actually Looks Like on the Ground
Negotiating power is not just getting a lower price. It shows up in several different ways depending on the property, the seller's situation, and how the offer is structured.
Price reduction. In a market where homes are sitting longer, sellers who have been on the market for 30, 45, or 60 days are more open to price adjustments than they were when everything sold in a weekend. In Snohomish County, the average sale-to-list price ratio is currently 99.2%, meaning buyers are successfully negotiating sellers down from their asking prices on a regular basis.
Seller-paid closing costs. This is one of the most practical tools available right now. A seller credit toward your closing costs reduces the cash you need to bring to the table without necessarily changing the purchase price. On a $600,000 home, a $10,000 seller credit is real money.
Permanent or temporary rate buydown. This is the one most buyers do not know to ask for. A seller can contribute funds toward buying down your mortgage interest rate, either permanently for the life of the loan or temporarily for the first one to three years. Seller credits, temporary or permanent rate buydowns, closing-cost assistance, and purchase-price reductions all affect the monthly payment differently. Running the math before picking the headline concession is essential. In some cases a rate buydown is more valuable than a price reduction. In others the reverse is true. The right answer depends on your specific loan structure, which is exactly why having an experienced mortgage advisor in your corner before you write an offer matters.
Inspection contingencies and repair requests. For the first time in years, buyers in many segments of this market are successfully keeping inspection contingencies in their offers and negotiating repairs or credits based on findings. With inventory expanding, buyers can negotiate repairs more frequently and financing contingencies are becoming more common. Multiple-offer situations still occur but primarily on the most desirable homes.
Time and flexibility. Sellers who have been sitting on the market for weeks are often motivated by certainty and timeline as much as price. A pre-underwritten buyer who can close in 21 days with no financing uncertainty has real leverage even at a lower price point.
The Difference Between Average Buyers and Strategic Buyers
Here is the honest truth about what is happening in this market right now.
Average buyers are waiting for mortgage rates to drop before they do anything. They are watching the Federal Reserve. They are refreshing rate trackers. They are assuming that the right time to buy is when the rate looks better on paper.
Strategic buyers are asking a different question. They are asking: what can I negotiate today that I will not be able to negotiate when rates drop and everyone comes back into the market at the same time?
Because here is what history shows very clearly. When mortgage rates fall, buyer demand surges. When buyer demand surges, inventory gets absorbed quickly. When inventory gets absorbed, sellers gain leverage back. The concessions go away. The inspection contingencies disappear. The bidding wars return.
What many buyers do not realize is that the headline rate is not always the rate buyers end up with. In 2025, buyers who took advantage of buyer-friendly conditions, including seller concessions, pricing flexibility, and strategic financing options, secured interest rates meaningfully below market averages.
The buyers getting generational value right now are not the ones who timed the rate perfectly. They are the ones who understood that negotiating power is worth something, and they used it while it was available.
What This Looks Like Across the Markets Dan Serves
Every submarket behaves differently, and that matters when you are building a buying strategy.
Snohomish County has seen the most dramatic inventory shift. Inventory reached its highest level since 2015, and buyers now have more alternatives and are less willing to overlook condition issues, aggressive pricing, or costly future repairs. Cities like Everett, Marysville, Mill Creek, Lynnwood, Edmonds, Mukilteo, Monroe, Lake Stevens, and Stanwood are all seeing more days on market and more seller flexibility than at any point in the past four years.
King County is more nuanced. Single-family homes remain seller-favored with tighter inventory and homes still selling near or above list price in many neighborhoods. Condos and new construction have shifted toward buyers, with more months of supply giving buyers meaningful room to negotiate on price, concessions, and closing terms. The strategy in King County depends heavily on property type and specific neighborhood, which is why local expertise is not optional here.
Skagit County, including Burlington, Mount Vernon, Anacortes, and Sedro-Woolley, has also seen inventory increases relative to prior years. Buyers priced out of Snohomish County have been looking north, and the additional competition has created opportunity in pockets of Skagit that were previously moving very quickly.
The common thread across all three counties is the same: this is not a market to sit still in. It is a market to be prepared and strategic in.
The Rate Trap
Waiting for rates to drop feels logical. It is not necessarily the right strategy.
Consider what happens when rates do fall. Every buyer who has been sitting on the sidelines for the past 18 months comes back into the market within the same short window. Inventory that took months to build up gets absorbed in weeks. Sellers who were offering $15,000 in concessions last month suddenly have three offers and are asking for escalation clauses.
The negotiating power that exists today is directly connected to the fact that fewer buyers are active. When that changes, so does the leverage.
And the rate itself is not permanent. A home purchased today at a higher rate can be refinanced when rates fall. The equity you build, the purchase price you negotiate, and the concessions you secure today are locked in. The rate is not.
How to Use This Market Correctly
Getting the most out of the current market requires two things: the right strategy and the right preparation.
On the preparation side, the starting point is getting pre-underwritten before you start making offers. Not a basic pre-approval, a full pre-underwrite where your income, assets, and credit are reviewed and verified by an underwriter before you write a single offer. That level of preparation is what gives you the credibility to negotiate confidently, because sellers and their agents know a pre-underwritten buyer is not going to fall apart in escrow.
On the strategy side, the questions to be asking are not just about price. They are about the total cost of buying this home. What concessions can be negotiated? Is a rate buydown more valuable than a price reduction in this specific scenario? What does the seller's situation tell us about their motivation and flexibility?
These are the conversations worth having before the offer goes in, not after.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Is it a buyer's market in Snohomish County right now?
It depends on the segment. Resale supply measured 2.6 months overall, which is still technically seller-leaning, but buyers have more leverage in segments with more inventory, especially condos at 4.5 months, and in listings that have been on the market longer due to price or condition.The answer is different depending on what you are buying, where, and at what price point.
Q: What is a seller concession and how does it help me as a buyer?
A seller concession is when the seller agrees to pay a portion of your closing costs or contribute to buying down your interest rate. It reduces the cash you need at closing without necessarily changing the purchase price. In the current market, seller concessions are being negotiated regularly across King, Snohomish, and Skagit Counties.
Q: Should I wait for mortgage rates to drop before buying?
This is the most common question right now and the most important one to think through carefully. When rates drop, buyer demand typically increases sharply, which reduces inventory, increases competition, and eliminates the negotiating power that exists today. A home purchased now with seller concessions and a negotiated price can be refinanced when rates fall. The concessions and purchase price you lock in today cannot be renegotiated later.
Q: What is a rate buydown and is it worth asking for?
A temporary rate buydown allows the seller to contribute funds that reduce your interest rate for the first one to three years of the loan. A permanent buydown reduces your rate for the life of the loan. Whether a buydown or a price reduction is more valuable depends on your loan amount, how long you plan to stay in the home, and your specific financial situation. This is exactly the kind of calculation to run with your mortgage advisor before deciding which concession to ask for.
Q: How do I know if I have negotiating power on a specific home?
Days on market is one of the clearest signals. A home that has been listed for 30 or more days with no accepted offer is a home where the seller is likely more open to negotiation. Price reductions on the listing history are another signal. Your agent and mortgage advisor can help you read these signals before you write an offer.
Let's Build Your Strategy
If you are a buyer in King, Snohomish, or Skagit County and you have been waiting on the sidelines, this is worth a conversation.
Not a sales pitch. A real conversation about what you can negotiate in this market, what your numbers look like, and what the right move is for your specific situation and timeline.
The first step is getting pre-underwritten so you are ready to move when the right home comes along. That process starts with a single conversation and costs you nothing.
Call or text (425) 350-7136. Email dan.keller@nafinc.com. Or book a time directly at calendly.com/meetdankeller.
And if you want to understand the full homebuying process before you commit to anything, come to the free monthly First-Time Homebuyer Class in Everett. Every class covers market strategy, loan programs, down payments, and the offer process from start to finish. Register at happyhomebuyerclass.com.
Let's connect. Cheers!
— DK
Dan Keller | NMLS #115349 | New American Funding | 2733 Colby Ave, Everett, WA 98201
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