Lost our 4th offer.

If you're going to require the seller to pay any portion of closing, which is not uncommon, then you HAVE to offset the offer with a higher price. When you say "at list or reasonably close", your NET offer, after the seller-paid closing costs, needs to be above what they're asking or they are going to look the other way. If your agent is not explaining this to you, you need a new agent.

You can also include a letter with the offer, explaining a bit about yourself and why you love the place, etc. If you're not going to be the highest bidder or you need the seller to help you with closing, you have to do other things to make yourself stand out. Offer a quick close, quick inspection period, etc. This is the job of your agent though, and again, if they are "stumped", then you need to cut them out of the equation.

/r/RealEstate Thread