When it comes to buying or selling a home, the idea of having to negotiate can be intimidating. There are a lot of people who didn't know they have negotiating skills even though every day, they would skillfully negotiate. After all, who takes the kids to school, walks the dog, goes out to pick up lunch, prepares the report, etc? Shall we try to debunk some myths about negotiating?
This is Not Considered Negotiable
Often, sellers would tell themselves "This is the deal I'm willing to make. It's not negotiable." Having no room to negotiate is not what this really means. It is the simple result of anxiety about negotiating.
You may be chasing away otherwise good potential buyers if you take this approach. When the buyers get into huff about the seller's inflexibility, then everything will go downhill from there. This need not happen. Sellers should be willing to enter into reasonable negotiations and just remember that they can say "no" at any point along the way toward working out a deal. What they need to do however, is to ask themselves "Am I willing to lose this deal over this point?" when each subject comes up.
The buyer needs to have a similar mindset. When seller and buyer are thinking along the lines outlined above, and each acknowledges the possibility of working out a deal in which both buyer and seller come away feeling like winners, the stage is set for successful negotiations. It is fortunate that most folks do think along these lines.
It's also helpful that buyers and sellers are not always focused on the same things to the same degree. To one person, price may be more important and the time of the sale's completion may be more important to another. There are times when negotiations are just a matter of balancing things out.
Typical Pattern
Usually, successful negotiations don't drag on for a long period of time. There's usually an offer, and a counter-offer which is accepted. Many times the first offer is actually accepted if it is the result of a conversation between buyer and seller where subtle negotiations took place. Usually concluded with an offer, a counter offer, and even a counter-counter offer would be successful negotiations. If the negotiations continue much beyond that, then it's usually a sign that the deal is not going to work out.
The minuet of negotiations can go on for quite some time where two people who love to negotiate are involved and there are exceptions to everything as well. However, even in those cases, most of it tends to be verbal with the written sales contract changed very few times.
The biggest point of this article is don't get intimidated. If you stay objective, you will be able to get what you need from your home.
This is Not Considered Negotiable
Often, sellers would tell themselves "This is the deal I'm willing to make. It's not negotiable." Having no room to negotiate is not what this really means. It is the simple result of anxiety about negotiating.
You may be chasing away otherwise good potential buyers if you take this approach. When the buyers get into huff about the seller's inflexibility, then everything will go downhill from there. This need not happen. Sellers should be willing to enter into reasonable negotiations and just remember that they can say "no" at any point along the way toward working out a deal. What they need to do however, is to ask themselves "Am I willing to lose this deal over this point?" when each subject comes up.
The buyer needs to have a similar mindset. When seller and buyer are thinking along the lines outlined above, and each acknowledges the possibility of working out a deal in which both buyer and seller come away feeling like winners, the stage is set for successful negotiations. It is fortunate that most folks do think along these lines.
It's also helpful that buyers and sellers are not always focused on the same things to the same degree. To one person, price may be more important and the time of the sale's completion may be more important to another. There are times when negotiations are just a matter of balancing things out.
Typical Pattern
Usually, successful negotiations don't drag on for a long period of time. There's usually an offer, and a counter-offer which is accepted. Many times the first offer is actually accepted if it is the result of a conversation between buyer and seller where subtle negotiations took place. Usually concluded with an offer, a counter offer, and even a counter-counter offer would be successful negotiations. If the negotiations continue much beyond that, then it's usually a sign that the deal is not going to work out.
The minuet of negotiations can go on for quite some time where two people who love to negotiate are involved and there are exceptions to everything as well. However, even in those cases, most of it tends to be verbal with the written sales contract changed very few times.
The biggest point of this article is don't get intimidated. If you stay objective, you will be able to get what you need from your home.
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