Belle Oberbrunner Play the Players: Always Strive for the Moral High Ground This may seem to be a peculiar rule since, after all, you’re presumably not trying to do anything dishonest or illegal. However, there are more ways to kill a deal than being dishonest or illegal. If you portray yourself as tricky, underhanded, or sneaky you … Read more
Play the Players: Go Directly to the Buyer/Seller I want to introduce a theme that will recur throughout this book, namely that if you’re a good negotiator, you may want to change the normal system of handling a real estate negotiation. Normally, the buyer/seller uses the real estate agent as the negotiator or intermediary. I’m … Read more
Play the Players: Only Deal with the Person Who Has the Power to Decide Would you walk onto a car lot and try to buy an automobile from the person who’s standing there washing the cars? Would you go into a jewelry store and attempt to buy a gold ring from a security guard? Would … Read more
Play the Players: Beware of Choosing “Nice” People to Represent You This is a simple rule to understand, but difficult to follow. Most buyers and sellers of real estate are average people who really don’t want a lot of hassle in their lives. Therefore, when it comes time to find an agent, they often choose … Read more
Play the Players The basis for this chapter comes from an old friend of mine named Harry, who was a great poker player. In the past, Harry and I would go to a game, and after an evening of playing, I’d look down and be happy because I’d won 50 bucks. When I’d go over … Read more
Control Time: Act in a Timely Fashion Once again, we’re not in contradiction to the rule about investing time. Yes, you want the other party to invest time. But you don’t want to lose out to a better offer from someone else. I can remember a broker friend working with buyers a few years ago, … Read more
Control Time: Set a Deadline If you’ve ever watched a telethon fund raiser, you quickly realize that 90 percent of the money is raised in the last hour. That’s regardless of how long the telethon lasts, whether it’s 5 hours or 50. It isn’t until it gets down to the actual deadline that people contribute. … Read more
Control Time: Invest in Time This is a little bit tricky to understand at first, but once you get the hang of it, you’ll find it really works. Let’s say you want to lease a house. But instead of the customary one-year lease, you want a lease for only six months. And instead of taking … Read more
Control Time As we all know, time passes. It tends to slip away. And unless we’re in control of what happens with time, particularly when we’re involved in negotiations, it can do us in. Consider the professional football team that’s down by three points in the last two minutes of the game. A good quarterback, … Read more
Negotiating a Successful Deal: Conclusion No, Sondra and Dana were not Donald Trump, who might have ended up owning all three houses if he had been involved in the deal! But, then again, presumably neither are you. When negotiating in real estate, it’s very important to keep your eye on the donut and not the … Read more
