Negotiating a Successful Deal
Everything in real estate is negotiable. That includes the price, the terms, the appliances, the commission, the light fixtures and, in some strange cases, even the pets! However, the word negotiable is not magic. It doesn’t mean you’ll always get what you want. If you’re a buyer who wants a 15 percent reduction in price, you could get it if you’re willing to pay cash, do a quick deal, make other concessions, or buy when the market is cold. If you’re a seller who insists on getting full price, you could get it if the market’s hot, or you’re willing to loan the buyer money to help make the purchase, or you’ll allow the buyer to move in before escrow closes, or make other concessions.
Negotiation is give and take. Of course, what we all want is to be able to give as little and take as much as possible. And, indeed, we’ll see just how to do that in this book. However, keep in mind that the best negotiations end with a win-win situation, one in which all par ties are happy with the deal.
TIP
Think of negotiating as the art of accomplishing the possible, not the impossible.
The actual rules of negotiating real estate begin in the next chap ter. However, I encourage readers to go through the following true story of Sondra and Dana carefully to see negotiating in practice during an actual residential real estate transaction.