A glimmer of hope

Today is a busy day on the 9-to-5 so I only have a few minutes, but there seems to be a glimmer of hope on the REO property. At first the bank countered our counter at $69K. $69K!!! A mere $1K less than their first counter offer and only $2K less than their listing price. This does not sound like a motivated bank to me at all. This was yesterday. Anyways, the listing agent asked me if I wanted to counter again and the asset manager also wondered if they could perhaps give us a $5K credit and do some of the repair work needed on the house....I told her no way...offer stands firm at $56.5K and we'll buy it as-is. The listing agent called me back this morning and said she told the asset manager that we're holding firm and that the property has been on the market for a looooong time so he should at least take that offer up to his manager and see if he can get it closed. Apparently the asset manager decided that was a good idea so we'll see what the bank decides to do. Time is ticking.