Negotiating Strategies That Work

While Negotiating, no matter what side you are on,

always keep in mind your ultimate goal.

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  • Remember that price is NOT the only point to look at on a sales contract !  Consider the offer as a whole:

    • When do they want to close?

    • What Inspections have they elected and what have they waived?

      • If they elect only the Property and Pest inspections and waive the rest you can see that the buyer is not going to be as likely to nitpick on what the report comes back with.

    • Do they have a “House to Sell” contingenecy? If so:

      • How long have they given themselves to sell

      • Is it already on the market and if so do they have a buyer already?

      • Have they given you the option to continue marketing your property in the meantime and accept backup offers?

      • Are they alowing you to take a better offer that does not have the contingency on it if one would come your way?

      • Is there a “first right of refusal”

  • Prioritize key factors and detremine what your throw away points may be this way you can use them as leverage.  Throw away points are negotiation points that you would like, but are not adiment about.  Knowing ahead of time what those points are can make it easier for you to tell the other party that in exchange for one of your requirements, you will give in on the throw away item.  This allows the other party to feel that you are really being more reasonable and that they have gotten something out of the deal as well.

  • Put price differences into perspective, 

    • Sellers: how much do you stand to loose if your property sits on the market for another month or more?  When you add up all of the expenses including: mortgage payments, taxes, insurance premiums, utilities costs, lawn and garden care, and other general maintance items will you very well may loose the very amount that you are argueing over in no time.  After all you never know how long it will be untill you receive another offer.  Also statistics have shown that your first offer is more often the best! 

    • Buyers: How much will your monthly payment increase if you raise your offer by a few thousand dollars?  Often times, it is a mere $5-20 depending on the value of the home.  To do this accurately consult your financer and ask them what the big picture is, just be sure not to overextend yourself.

Above all Else, Remeber that a well negotiated deal will leave everyone feeling good about the sale.

You do not have to bulldoze the other party to say that you won…afterall we are all working toward the same goal.

This entry was posted on July 10, 2007 at 9:29 pm and is filed under Real Estate Basics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.

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