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
Negotiating a Successful Deal: The Real Explanation A few days later, Madeline, their agent, called to say she had found the trouble. The Loves, who were buying Sondra and Dana’s house, had a problem. The Loves’ house had not passed a termite inspection. Some work needed to be done, which the Loves had agreed to … Read more
Negotiating a Successful Deal: At Last! Two days later, Madeline called to say that all escrows had closed. They needed to move immediately into their new home. Once the escrows closed, everything moved like clockwork. Dana and Sondra moved into their new four-acre home. The Loves moved into their old one. And, presumably, the buyers … Read more
Negotiating a Successful Deal: More Complications Sondra and Dana waited to hear that title had transferred. They waited a day, two days, three days, five days. Finally, Madeline called and said something had delayed the Loves’ getting financing. But now it was all straightened out. Sondra and Dana had to go down to escrow and … Read more
Negotiating a Successful Deal: The New Sale Madeline called a week later and said that the Loves, the buyers of Dana and Sondra’s home, had already found their own buyer, a non contingent buyer. She was trying to hurry the sale and, hopefully, within a few weeks the Love’s new buyer would have a new … Read more
