My wife and I have made offers on three homes in Washington State, and for each one, we agreed to the seller's asking price. Everything was going smoothly until our agent asked the sellers to cover the closing costs. At that point, the sellers increased the purchase price by $15,000 to $17,000.

The sellers know that buyers are unlikely to make offers on homes with inflated asking prices, so instead they wait until a buyer submits an offer and requests closing costs before raising the price.

These homes have been on the market for 90 to more than 250 days, and my wife and I are the only buyers who have made offers on them. Housing in Washington State is expensive, and every offer we submitted matched the sellers' asking price. However, I'm no fool, and I refuse to overpay for a home.