Tips and Traps When Negotiating Real Estate: Invest in Time

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

Tips and Traps When Negotiating Real Estate: Control Time

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

Tips and Traps When Negotiating Real Estate: Conclusion

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

Tips and Traps When Negotiating Real Estate: The Real Explanation

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

Tips and Traps When Negotiating Real Estate: At Last!

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

Tips and Traps When Negotiating Real Estate: More Complications

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

Tips and Traps When Negotiating Real Estate: The New Sale

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

Tips and Traps When Negotiating Real Estate: Complications

Negotiating a Successful Deal: Complications Sondra and Dana immediately put their home up for sale. They listed it with Madeline, who said she would give them a break on the commission since she was getting two deals out of it. They compared five other homes very similar to theirs that had sold in the past … Read more

Tips and Traps When Negotiating Real Estate: Pushing the Time Line

Negotiating a Successful Deal: Pushing the Time Line Madeline presented the offer and reported back that the sellers understood it, but weren’t too happy about it. They said they wanted to take a few days to think about it. She said she was worried, how­ ever, because the seller’s agent, Max, said that other brokers … Read more

Tips and Traps When Negotiating Real Estate: The Contingent Offer

Negotiating a Successful Deal: The Contingent Offer Madeline explained that a “contingent” offer was one in which the buyers said they would purchase the home, provided they could sell their existing home. The new purchase was contingent on the sale of the old property. If Sondra and Dana couldn’t sell their existing home, then they … Read more