To learn about Real Estate Marketing, look at Marketing For Deals or to attend Than Merrill’s exclusive weekend seminar, check out the Marketing and Wholesale Bootcamp

Negotiating Tip #7: Determine Your Position

Most negotiations are doomed to fail before they ever begin because the negotiator lacks preparation. Great negotiators determine their position before the negotiation begins. I will never walk into a negotiation without knowing what I want to accomplish. Before every negotiation I always determine my maximum allowable offer and establish a reasonable minimum starting point. Remember tip # 2. Although I have established a minimum starting point I don’t offer anything until I’ve asked enough questions to understand the sellers’ needs. Your ability to determine your position prior to the negotiation allows you to concentrate more on your counterpart’s needs and desires. Therefore, because I have pre-determined my position during the negotiation I spend most of my time satisfying the concerns and objections of my counterpart. I want my counterpart to feel as if we reached a mutual understanding that we both agreed upon. To achieve this goal with every negotiation you must determine your position; then present all possible rationale to support how your position satisfies their goals, needs, and desires. If you can do this, a mutually beneficial solution is always attainable.

Negotiating Tip #8: Focus on the Possible

While negotiating any deals, especially real estate transactions always, always focus the negotiation on all the possibilities. Many people you negotiate with will be negative. They will ask for the impossible. When that happens, be prepared, rather than getting stuck on, “That’s impossible,” divert the conversation to, “What we would be able to do is…” and suggest an alternative that actually is possible. Dealing with negative negotiators can be difficult, believe me I know. There have been numerous occasions where I had to negotiate with someone who was only focused on the impossible. Sometimes you have to become a creative thinker and think of a solution for your counterpart. In moments like these I find staying focused on the goal of a mutually beneficial solution helpful. Be creative consider alternatives, which although possible, may seem wildly impractical. This illustrates your flexibility and commitment to your counterpart and ultimately leads to a more positive negotiation focused on the possible solutions. The more time you can spend focusing your negotiation on what is possible the better the overall negotiating experience will be. Therefore, be productive, proactive, and creative when searching for all possibilities in your negotiations.

Negotiating Tip #9: Take Regular Breaks

Many negotiators have a tendency to rush through a negotiation. If you are one of those people, like me, remind yourself to take regular breaks. Stop and take frequent 5 to 10 minute breaks, even when a negotiation is going well. Allowing yourself and your counterpart to take a break will allow you to relax, stay fresh, and thus result in a better negotiation and a better experience for everyone involved. Get up and take a walk outside, especially during the middle of the day. Regular breaks increase retention of ideas, allow you to start the discussion from a fresh viewpoint, and let you re-group and think about the issues pertinent to a successful negotiation. Lastly, negotiations should be fun, productive, and hopefully stress free. This is not always possible, but taking breaks during a negotiation will make a noticeable difference in not only the outcome but the process. Try it and tell me what you think.

BONUS TIP

Negotiating Tip #10 Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff

Negotiating tip # 10 is a bonus. Remember not all negotiations will turn out the way you want. You may even find at times you fail to come to a mutually beneficial agreement. That’s ok. If you negotiate long enough you will find you have good negotiations, and bad negotiations. Your job is to learn from the bad negotiations and attempt to prefect the good ones. But most importantly enjoy what you’re doing and remember “Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff”.

To find out more about our life changing home study courses and live seminars, see them using the corresponding links or email us at info@fortunebuilders.com

To learn about Real Estate Marketing, look at Marketing For Deals or to attend Than Merrill’s exclusive weekend seminar, check out the Marketing and Wholesale Bootcamp

Negotiating Tip #4: Creating Rapport

Creating Rapport is the single most important factor leading to a mutually satisfying outcome. Solid rapport literally enables both parties to achieve their desired objectives. Rapport occurs when you and your counterpart attain both trust and a positive relationship. Your goal is to move from agreement to agreement rather than from disagreement to agreement.
Successful negotiation begins with finding a common ground, no matter how insignificant. Do this immediately upon entering the seller’s home. It is your responsibility in the negotiating process to develop an understanding of the seller’s point of view. It is crucial in reaching an agreement to understand and support the seller, especially in distressed situations. Building rapport is essential to achieving the contract, and the closing; producing the mutually desirable outcome all great negotiators strive for.

Negotiating Tip #5: Building Credibility

Building credibility is crucial to any successful negotiation. It is even more important when negotiating real estate deals. People are skeptical, especially when negotiating the sell of their home. One of the biggest challenges you will face as a real estate investor will be overcoming a sellers skepticism. People will question your ability to close and more importantly your willingness to keep your end of the deal. Bottom line is most people don’t understand what we do as investors.
The most frequently asked question is; “How are you able to buy my house for cash?” This is where credibility comes into play. I build my credibility from the moment I make contact with the seller. I do so by being truthful in all aspects of our relationship. I fully disclose everything that I am planning to do with the property. I have found that honesty and full discloser really helps people feel more comfortable. A comfortable seller is a happy seller.
When meeting with sellers I always bring along a “credibility package” highlighting our business and what we do. The “credibility package” includes testimonials, an example of a past deal, and real estate terms and definitions. I like to educate my sellers on my business so that they feel like a part of the process in the services I provide. Making the seller part of the process builds credibility, as well as building rapport, which will lead to a mutually desirable outcome.

Negotiating Tip #6: Putting a Value on What you’re Doing for Free

Negotiating tip #6 is the least utilized negotiating tip in the series. Negotiators often forget their counterparts are unaware of what they would willingly give up for free. When negotiating you must use everything to your advantage and negotiating tip #6 will improve your position. By equate a value to things that we at CT Homes would do for free I am able to not only separate myself from other local investors but also improve our negotiating ability with sellers. For example, we automatically help the seller move by finding them new housing and eventually assisting them with the entire moving process. We also provide sellers with a free credit repair program, which is invaluable to sellers in foreclosure or behind on payments. This costs CT Homes money; ten thousand dollars to be precise. Therefore, although we freely offer our clients these services, I still use them as a negotiation tool to help me achieve my desired goal or preferred outcome such as a lower price, better terms, or a more preferable closing date.

To find out more about our life changing home study courses and live seminars, see them using the corresponding links or email us at info@fortunebuilders.com

To learn about Real Estate Marketing, look at Marketing For Deals or to attend Than Merrill’s exclusive weekend seminar, check out the Marketing and Wholesale Bootcamp

I believe it is absolutely crucial to your success, both personally and professionally, to negotiate effectively and often. If you want to survive in today’s fast-paced environment, you must understand that first; negotiating is an integral part of living, and second; the quality of your negotiating determines the quality of your life. Whether you are negotiating your very first real estate deal or a first date; there are nine tips that I find separate good negotiators from great negotiators.

Have you ever noticed that some men have a magic touch when it comes to women? They might not be as good-looking but they have a way with words that rivals the better looking guys and allows them to communicate more effectively, allowing them to close the deal more easily and quickly. It is the same level of communication that is required to be great at closing real estate deals. To become a successful negotiator you must become an expert communicator. Listening to the needs of your customer and providing solutions that work out in both parties’ favor is essential. It is my goal to ensure that you become the very best negotiator. In this series, I will teach you nine success tips for negotiating that allow you to negotiate outcomes that are mutually satisfying to both parties. Your first three tips are detailed below in Part 1 of my series, stay tuned for Parts 2 & 3.

Negotiating Tip #1: Overcoming Fear

Oftentimes, fear inhibits first time negotiators from initiating a negotiation in the first place and keeps more experienced negotiators from achieving their ultimate goals. When I first started negotiating I was terrified. I was afraid of confrontation and rejection. More importantly, I was afraid that what I was asking for wasn’t negotiable. I was wrong! Negotiators of all experience levels should remember when confronted with the fear to negotiate that fear is; False, Evidence, Appearing, Real and should therefore continue with the negotiation and stop fearing what does not in fact exist. It didn’t take me long after overcoming my fear to realize everything is negotiable. Think of yourself as a seasoned negotiator, because you are. You negotiate daily with your spouse, children, friends, and family.

Negotiating Tip #2: Ask Questions

To become a highly successful negotiator you must continually ask questions. When negotiating I think of myself as a detective searching for the answers I need to negotiate a mutual, desirable outcome. I ask questions throughout the negotiation because it allows me to listen. I typically allow my counterpart in any negotiation to talk 70 percent of the time while I talk only 30 percent of the time. By continually asking questions you will allow the other negotiator to tell you everything you will need to know to negotiate effectively. Try it! Asking questions and listening has allowed me to gain more from a negotiation than any other single technique. Moreover, it often times allows me to resolve and avoid many conflicts that might have otherwise presented themselves in the negotiation. By asking questions and listening you are always able to get what you want and allow the other person to feel that they have successfully achieved what they wanted as well.

Negotiating Tip #3: Never make unilateral concessions

The third tip to negotiating successfully is to think about your negotiation as a series of trade-offs and compromises. Your ability to give and take concessions is essential to achieving the goal of mutual agreement. More importantly never give a concession with out making it count. In other words, be sure to assign value to each and every concession you give. A failure to do so is failing to negotiate. If you do not require a reciprocal concession your concession will be perceived to have little or no value. For example, when meeting with sellers, I’m always willing to give them the home’s appliances. But, I never do so without getting something of equal or greater value in return! The appliances are my concession; I equate a value, and use that value to negotiate something I am more interested in such as price, time to close, and access to the property. I gain a negotiating advantage by offering a small concession, then asking for a large concession in return. You will control every negotiation by simply remembering to say “I’ll do this for you, if you do that for me”.

To find out more about our life changing home study courses and live seminars, see them using the corresponding links or email us at info@fortunebuilders.com