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Entire books have been written on the art of negotiating and I don't plan on going into that much detail here. I will however go into some of my philosophy's on negotiating and into what you can likely expect in negotiations when you are selling a home.
I have three basic philosophy on negotiations;
1) It ain't over til it's over!
2) Negotiations usually begin before most people think that they do.
3) He Or She Who Cares Least Always Wins.
It Ain't Over Til It's Over
Allow me to explain. Often times when a purchase offer comes in on a property it is for a considerable amount lower than the asking price. Many times the seller will get angry over the buyers attempting to "steal" their home (I do find it a bit ironic that it seems that the very same people who get the most upset by a buyer low balling them are the same people who will go out and low ball somebody else!). When this happens the sellers will jump up and down and want to "reject" the offer out right.
I'll sit there and let them vent for a bit and will then ask them at what price they would be willing to sell their home at. When they tell me, I proceed to start writing up the counter offer. If the seller objects, many times I will sit there and out last them. You never know where any particular set of negotiations will lead. I've had offers that were for $100,000 less than the asking price that we were able to come to terms with. That's why negotiations ain't over til they're over!
Negotiations Usually Begin Before You Think That They Do And Aren't Over Til Closing
Remember that when the contract is initially negotiated that there will be additional negotiations as the home buying process works it way though, such as after then building inspection, etc. Sometimes all the way up until closing a buyer will attempt to renegotiate your deal. Keep this in mind when you make your initial concessions.
The point that I made about negotiations starting earlier than most people realize is that people and agents can start the process before a formal offer is made. Such as when an agent will tell me that our home is only one of the ones that their buyer is interested in or when a potential buyer complains about some feature of the home. It might not be that they are really all that concerned with the fact that there is a hill in the back yard, but rather they are setting the stage to go after a lower price.
He Or She Who Cares Least, Always Wins!
This Bobism works in love and in real estate! Think back to relationships that you've had in the past that haven't worked out. Who was in the drivers seat with that relationship? I would guess that it would have been the party who didn't care as much as the other party. Am I right?
Works in St. Louis real estate too. If you care more about selling your home than the buyer does in buying your home, then they are the ones in the drivers seat. The way to avoid getting into this situation is to start preparing for negotiations before you even put your home on the market.
Make sure that you know what you are attempting to accomplish. In other words, what are your goals? Is it more important to get your house moved and your kids into the new school or is it more important to maximize what you get out of the house? At what point is it not worth selling? What are the market conditions and how hard a bargain can I drive.
The better prepared you are going in, the smoother the transaction will go when you get to the point of negotiating your deal all the way through to closing.
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