Is this really a buyer's marker?

I have a question and am simply looking for advice. My wife and I are in the market for a house, and have been pre-approved with a VA home loan. We are looking in the Havertown,PA area to start off and we think we have a decent property picked out. Initially, the house was on the market for about 245K and has been on the market for over 100 days. The house is now listed at 235K. Considering I would also like the seller to contribute half of the closing costs in a seller's ist (about 5700) our initial offer is 225,750 (this includes the seller's ist as well.) We don't have any property to sell and can move in at the drop of a dime. Is this initial offer a reasonable first offer? Everyone keeps saying that this is a buyer's market, but I believe some of the people that we have talked to (realtors) want to offer the seller's asking price with minimal negotiation. This doesn't seem like a "buyer's" market to me!! Any advice would be awesome!!!