For agents, real estate negotiation is nothing new. The process starts once you receive an offer and since everything is negotiable, you and your buyer will go back and forth with both parties offering and counter-offering. The objective is to close the deal once you and your buyer have reached an agreement. Yet, these negotiations are not without its problems.
Here are the dos and don’ts to help you seal the deal with confidence:
- Don't Let Emotions Affect You
Don’t take it too personally when a buyer presents a low offer for your property. If you see the offer as an insult and don’t counter-offer because of emotions, you may be cutting off the process that could result in a sale. If a buyer rejects your offer, don’t get upset as it isn’t personal and you can always try again or move on.
- Don't Be Afraid To Say No
Keeping emotions out of a deal also means not feeling sorry for the other side. Everyone has burdens so don’t allow others to dump theirs on you. If the buyer rejects your offer based on “needing to save more money for his or her retirement fund,” then perhaps you can ask for a reason why that is relevant to the sale of the property.
- Don't Exceed Your Own Limits
What is the lowest price that you are willing to accept for your property? What concessions are you willing to make? What is your highest limit on your buyers’ affordability? How close are you willing to reach that number? Answer these questions before you put your property up on the market.
- Do Pay Attention To The Market
Paying attention to the property market doesn’t mean you should offer a deceptively high or unrealistically low price for your property. Likewise, you shouldn’t dismiss every less-than-perfect offer for your home in a buyer’s market.
Many real estate agents make the mistake of looking at negotiation as a means of how to price their listings. They may even include the concept of a counter-offer in their bag of negotiation tools. The truth is that proper negotiation is more than simply the price of a property listing or an earnest deposit used in the offer. Just keep calm, take a deep breath and keep your emotions in check before you start negotiating.
