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Fifteen Benefits of
Working with a
Buyer’s Representative

  Advanced tip

Understanding Agency
  Broker tip

Contract Terms for Buyer’s Representatives
  
Qualifying the Buyer
  Advanced tip

How Well Do You Listen?
  Advanced tip

Who Are Today’s Buyers?   Advanced tip

Advanced: Psychographics
—Understanding
Buyer Motivation


Prospecting for Buyers

Working with
Internet-Empowered
Buyers


Servicing the Buyer
  Advanced tips

Closing the Deal
  Advanced tip

Due Diligence and Disclosure
  Advanced tip

Staying Safe While Showing Homes
  Broker tip

When to Call It Quits

Quiz: Buyer’s Representation

Bright Ideas: Working With Buyers

Code of Ethics: Working with Buyers

More Resources: Working with Buyers

Vendor Resources: Working with Buyers
  Closing the Deal

A successful negotiation is a win-win situation. A good salesperson knows what it takes to seal the deal.
  • Make concessions. A buyer who isn't willing to make concessions isn't bargaining in good faith. But don't offer too much, too soon, or you’ll appear to be dealing from a position of weakness.
  • Sweeten the offer. A large earnest money deposit, quick closing, and a preapproved mortgage are all part of a good offer—even if it isn't the highest offer.
  • Don't tip your hand. If the sellers know your clients are in a must-buy mode or are in love with the property, they will dig in their heels and make few concessions. Protect your clients' interests by protecting their privacy.
  • Ask questions. Find out as much about the sellers as you can, while revealing as little as possible about the buyers. This knowledge will help you structure an offer and develop a strategy.
  • Use a satisfaction clause to create an option. Buyers may purchase a property subject to their attorney's satisfaction with the contract or subject to satisfactory structural and environmental inspections. Remember that too many contingencies may weaken your negotiating position.

TIP: Don’t leave the offer open for too long, it just gives sellers more time to think of objections. Make the offer good for only 24 hours.

For the Advanced Salesperson
The 7 Deadly Sins of Negotiating—and How to Avoid Them

1. Poor planning. Analyze the strengths and weakness of both parties, identify areas of mutual interest, and define the issues of likely contention.

2. Failure to negotiate with the client first. Know what the buyers must have and what they are willing to give up. Otherwise, you don’t have any negotiation options.

3. Failure to gather adequate information on the property and the seller. Discovering a problem when the negotiation is underway weakens your position.

4. Unwillingness to make concessions. Your power is seldom sufficient to roll over the opposition. And if you do “win,” the sellers will often create later obstacles to the deal because of their anger.

5. Premature concessions. Nervousness or overeagerness to make a deal usually indicates that even greater concessions can be expected.

6. Ego involvement. Don’t let your desire to “win” sabotage the deal.

7. Dishonesty.

Avoiding an Impasse
  • Set a time by which you must finish the negotiation because of another appointment or a business trip. Knowing that the clock is ticking helps keep the negotiation going.
  • Break an insoluble problem into several parts, and try to solve one at a time.
  • Set an insoluble problem aside. Make a note of the point of disagreement and come back to it at the end of the negotiation. If you’re very close to a deal, both parties will be motivated to find a solution to this last piece of the puzzle.
  • Take a break or change the setting. It gives people a chance to relax and may break an impasse.
  • Ask the other side for help. “How do you suggest we solve this problem?”
  • Review the points that you agree upon. This will help you create an atmosphere of shared interest.

TIP: If price differences create the impasse, restate the difference in another perspective. For example, $2,000 translates into the cost of hamburger and fries at MacDonald’s every day for a year. Ask the buyers if they’re willing to lose this house because of the price of a hamburger and fries. —Courtesy of Samuel Miller, STARS, Mt. Vernon, Ohio

Due Diligence and Disclosure, next page >