MATT SLOAN | 5 Negotiating Secrets to Save Your Real Estate Deal

On more than one occasion, negotiation skills can come in handy. 

 

In real estate, negotiation comes down to making sure my clients get the best deal possible.

 

The next time you need to win, here’s six negotiating secrets to save your real estate deal.

 

Remember, statistically, August and December are the best times to buy in any given year, based on average sale price. So, if you’re looking to get into the real estate market today, let’s work together. After all, you’ll get to see my negotiation skills in practice.

 

KNOWLEDGE IS POWER. LEVERAGE IT.

 

In almost every negotiation situation, the more educated you are, the more opportunities and strategies you have available to you. 

 

When you’re educated thoroughly on any given topic, you enter the negotiation more confidently, primed with the right language to communicate effectively, and the ability to leverage a number of different creative approaches to get what you what. Knowledge is power. Use it.

 

IDENTIFY VALUE-ADD MOVES

 

Value-add moves typically mean it doesn’t cost you much but can add a lot of value to a deal. 

 

Typically, this is easiest to exemplify when it’s initiated on the seller’s side, but buyers can leverage the idea of throwing in value-add perks to make a deal sweeter too. 

 

This can take on a number of different strategies and forms, including adding conditional clauses, timeline extensions, inspection-fees covered and so on.

 

KNOW HOW TO NEGOTIATE BASED OFF MARKET VALUE, NOT ASKING PRICE.

 

Naturally, negotiations involve talking about terms and sale price. 

 

It’s not out-of-the-box for people to look back at historical data on the neighborhood to try and project or prophesize about what the sale price should be. 

 

However, whenever you’re calculating the value of a property, and about to enter a negotiation, you have to take into account hot markets that might require offers above present market value to get a deal to successfully go through.

 

MAKE IT FEEL LIKE A WIN-WIN

 

Listen, at the end of the day, the best negotiations are when both parties feel like they’ve won. 

 

It’s important to subtly encourage the other party to think that they’re steering the direction of the ship, on occasion. 

 

In fact, it turns out that research actually shows using affirming language like, “you probably won’t accept this, but…” or “you’re free to say no to that of course, but would you be willing to consider it?” actually leads to an increase in compliance behavior. 

 

DON’T LOW-BALL

 

It doesn’t make sense to give a low-ball offer that would never be accepted.

 

Instead, it’s much more strategic to offer just below the minimum price the seller would be willing to accept. The seller is then forced to make a decision to accept just slightly less than the asking price, or else counter aggressively and risk losing a really strong buyer.

 

For some parting words of advice, when it comes to negotiating a deal, learn how to identify issues and focus on solutions. Be calm and respectful. Leverage persuasion techniques that focus on making both parties feel good through using reciprocity, scarcity, authority, consistency, connection, and reputation. 

 

If you want to work with an agent that has strategic and effective negotiation skills that work, contact me to help.