When we brought this place I had put in 3 offers on other places and got royaly dicked around. So I called the agent and went "My offer is 5k below asking range. Take it or leave it. Present it to your clients and if they agree you'll have the writing in offer 2 seconds after you call me. But Im not sending you a deposit to just talk to them". Turns out we were the only one, got it for 5k below the asking range (which even then was probably 10k too much). Worst case, they come back and say "Nah, how about X instead". But you never open negotiations high in the vendors favor. You miss 100% of the shots you dont take. Good luck!

That's not really good advice. If you insult the person they'll reject it. Being ruthless wins no friends. Especially in small towns. Definitely cost the kitchen and take that off, and the other repairs. But most likely the person has an amount in mind which has already considered those factors.

Just lowballing someone because you don't think anyone else is interested won't necessarily sway someone who has a figure in mind. Don't listen to real estate agents or anyone else with a financial interest in the sale other than the vendor. Apparently desperate to sell doesn't mean someone will take something insulting or would not line up with what they need the money so desperately for in the first place.

If you're wanting to make an offer, set out some conditions, like pending finance and pending building inspection. Go 10-15% under their asking price as a place to start a negotiition so the vendor knows you're serious. Lowballing often means tyre kicker. Source, I just sold my place and had a few fuckheads who wasted my time and tried to lowball me.