Jump In With Both Feet?
We live next door to a home that has foreclosed and the bank is selling. Spoke with the realtor and they were asking $73,000 and we got him down to $67,000. The home is a brick ranch in a great re-sale neighborhood that sold 4 years ago for $124,000. It needs a lot of cosmetic and about $15,000. We are having it inspected to confirm there is no major structural problems before we go under contract. We have to move fast if we want it. We are rookies and we are not sure if we should we jump in with both feet or would we be in over our heads? Any Advice?? 
Make sure you get comps to see what the ARV would be and if the numbers work, then proceed carefully. Getting an inspection is very smart on your part. In fact, the first property I bought, I paid for 2 inpections!!LOL Talk about paralysis of analysis.........
Prosperous investing,
td
As td said, make sure your comps are accurate. Second get it under contract contingent on the inspection. Some RE agents working on behalf of the bank do not like this, but you have to protect your interests.
Is the realtor an independant realtor or is he/she working for the bank?
I'm not sure why you're negotiating with the realtor. They are the middle man and have no power to accept or reject an offer. They do however have the obligation to pass EVERY offer on to the seller (the bank). You may want to listen to what he has to say, but offer whatever you want.