Mike Eastman,  Atlanta Realtor, www.TheIvyRealtor.com. says, "This is the year of the Hot Deals for my clients. He recently negotiated a contract during the last week of December on a brand-new home in a new development by Decatur, which was finalized at $200,000 below the original list price. At the closing, the builder (who had gone belly up, as had the bank financing the deal) was counting his blessings - his health and his family, while letting my client know he was broke. There would be no opportunity to get any more work done on the house after closing as builders will traditionally do. My client was very respectful of his position and situation, as was I. She got the home for $575,000 with an all-cash offer (a very powerful bargaining chip) even though the builder was assuming a material loss for anything below $650,000 on a home originally listed at close to $800,000. He was essentially paying her to buy his house. Understand that builders like this one make tons of money some years and have years like 2008, its part of the game. Still, we felt his pain. The positive side of that is that the market is so soft right now that some very striking deals are available. They are not everywhere and going into this, even I had no idea how much this builder would come down in price. But this turned into a dramatic example of what is possible in this market. There is actually still one brand-new home by this builder left in this new development where my client  bought."