Put in a bid and got a counter offer - what to do? (long)

So, we found this house we like - we put in an offer $10000 below list (our RE agent kept making us feel like it was very unlikely to be accepted at all - we think maybe he's not the best agent ever - everyone we have spoken to is suprised that A) he never pulled a comparitive market analysis until we asked and B) when we put in the bid, he didn't put an expiration on it - is this very odd? We're sometimes not really sure that he entirely knows what he's doing but he's just sooo nice! I know, terrible reason to work with someone and if this doesn't go through, we really should probably find someone else). Anyway, we heard back this evening that the sellers, at first the wife was very negative about it - didn't want to wavier from the listing price. Then the husband wanted to discuss it and then they told their agent they'd go $4000 less than asking. Now, my RE agent says that he thinks we should jump on this (I wasn't sure if he was 'our' agent or working for them techinically, so I asked and he said of course, them.) So, now we are worried that if we counter offer again, they may just say forget it - we're thinking of $5000 off list and having them 'fix' something that would probably cost about $1500-2000 to do. Now, the other thing is that when we saw the house, basically the owners said they can be out any time but that they don't need to be out till spring. So, we felt that that gave them an advantage. But, when my RE agent spoke with me tonight, he said that the offer was contingent on us doing the deal ASAP. Just cause they want to have it dealt with.
So, I guess if anyone has any advice - should we quibble over a few thousand (I know, hard to say depending on whether or not it's overvalued to begin with) but do you think it sounds like we might be in the advantage now? Also, our agent had told us there were already 3 offers before we placed our bid yesterday, but clearly they weren't as good to the seller as ours.
Like I said, ANY help or advice or anything would be so appreciated.
I feel like I will never get any sleep tonight!!!!

my suggestion is to figure out what you think the house is worth and what you are willing and able to pay for it and not go above that. if that means you counter at less than they are asking......you take a chance and lose the house, but obviously there's interest there on their part so i think you're in a good position.
and i think if this deal doesn't go through - get another real estate agent - this guy sounds a little odd.

good luck!!

I agree...how much do you love this house...is it worth the few thousand to make sure that you get it?

my sister and BIL counter offered a counter offer...but the sellers were a bit desperate at that point...

are the appliances new? if so are they leaving them? if no...then you could negotiate for them...

I agree with the person above - you need to see what this house is worth for you and stick to that. This is very hard to do and you are operating under risk. All of the stuff that you realtor told you, our realtor told us too. There are other offers but you seem the best fit. They aren't too happy about the low bid and I am not sure they will even accept it. They also told us they wanted us to go up in price. Since we went in much lower than what we were willing to pay and much lower than asking price, we knew they would come back with a counter. They did and we met somewhere in the middle and we held to what we wanted (they wanted about $5,000 more than what our max would be). Anyway, they came down and the realtor supposedly cut into her commision to get this deal to go thru...Also, make sure it is all pending inspection. If things come up in the inspection, you should work something out to get it fixed and not feel bad and bear all the burden (cost) yourself. We had our person fix minor things - like sealing the toilets and stuff like that but in retrospect we should have made them responsible for more.

Good Luck to you!

Thanks so much!! I think we are going to go in with a new counter offer. They do just try and make you nervous no matter what, don't they? I don't want to 'offend them' but judging my what other homes have sold for recently and (though, thats kind of hard to say because the homes inthe neighborhood range a lot in size and how they look) I think we are being more than fair. BTW, Thanks, Neicey for suggesting Domania - we actually were able to see that the house itself, the owners only bought it less than 3 years ago and paid less than 1/2 of what they are asking . I know the market is crazy, but it seemed a little extreme though anything is possible and maybe they bought it from a family member or something else like that. Or maybe that's just what it is.
We'll make sure it is subject to inspection - they actually I guess said they want it to be inspected before the contract - that's what my RE agent told me. I guess this is usually the way it goes, right?
Anyway, please keep your fingers crossed for us, and if anyone has any other advice, I'd love it.