Negotiating With Buyers and Sellers
Negotiating a sales deal is never easy. Buyers often look for the best deal and often are so focused on negotiating that they have a narrow mindset. Sellers, in contrast, treat negotiations as an after thought. They think their home will sell at any price they feel is right. As a result, buyers usually outmaneuver the seller to sell the home below market value or not selling it at all because they lack the negotiation skills.
Sellers do not have to negotiate from a position of weakness. Since buyers negotiation tactics are predictable, you can strategically plan for them and work with your Broker to be prepared. The prepared seller starts preparing for the negotiation well before the house is listed. Buyers often think they can get the same value in another home somewhere else, at a cheaper price. It may be true or it may be false. As a seller, its important to communicate with your broker the value placed in the price point so they can negotiate on your behalf.
The brokers on the listing and buyer side will work together, analyze the verifiable data and use it to both the buyers’ and sellers’ advantage. Always move the conversation from price to value. Taking the emotion out of the conversation, gives both sides the facts to make the right decision for themselves.
Negotiation is, and always has been, about data, data, data, and more data. You should never enter into a negotiation without a blueprint comprised with comprehensive research and accumulation of data concerning all aspects of the deal. Analyze what these facts mean to the buyer and the seller. Are they aware of all the details?
When you go into a negotiation, remember money is just one aspect of it. Its the surface of what truly matters. Have your broker dig deep to find the “why” behind the needs of the seller or buyer. Why do they need that chandelier? Why does the updated kitchen need to add an additional 50,000 to the asking price? Why do they have to close in 30 days or no deal? A negotiation is like peeling back layers of an onion. When you peel back the surface, it may not always make you cry but you get to the core of what matters.