Day 26 of 90-Starting Over Rainy friday, is this good of bad?

 
Negotiate, negotiate, negotiate.  This, to me takes the place in today’s market for the location, location, location axiom.  With plenty of property on the market, about to come on the market and still on the market, there is availability.  The good and great houses are being picked up in a very short time.  The houses with a bit less desirability and in need of considerable work are sitting. This is emboldening  the buyers to ask for more.  This puts the agent in a more difficult spot with both their client and the agent on the other side of the deal.  Sometimes it will take the two agents sound minds and determined attitudes to help our clients through the closing.  We had a deal blow up after considerable work the last couple of weeks.  Emotion, ego and hubris drove the break, not fact but a bit of fancy. This calls for resilience.  A slow deep breath and maybe a walk around the block.  (ok, no walk it is raining here in Dallas) are better options than yelling and screaming.  I can safely say that yelling and screaming are never the right option.

The art of negotiation demands that we understand what is driving both the seller and the buyer.  It is imperative that you are close enough to your client that they feel comfortable sharing with you ALL of what they are thinking about a house and it’s purchase.  It takes a detective like skill to read through and into what is being said.  Personally I think the best negotiations are those where you allow your counterpart to share all of what they want before you speak.  It is easier to negotiate your point when you know theirs.  You can shape your rebuttal with their goals in your mind.  This is a way to shape a win/win scenerio for everyone involved.  Ego should not be part of the mix, understanding and seeing the bigger picture should be the crucial aspect of the mix.  When put in a situation that seems untenable for you, the best action at first is gather information, not immediate reaction.  Assessing the new information against the established goals is your first step.  This is a business filled with high stakes and emotions.  Our homes define us.  Our neighborhoods can nurture us, or be prisons to our lack of effort in finding the right place at the right price.  A top agent knows the neighborhoods and gets to know their clients enough to know if they fit in to the neighborhood and will add to the culture there.  For instance a family with young children is not really best served if you show them houses in an area where the neighbors are all retired.  At every point it is important for the agent to understand what the client wants and help them get there.  Actually I am saying this here, but what I am really doing is anchoring the information into my own brain.  Yesterday was a tough day, today can be much better and will be with focus on what is important for the client and how I can help them get to that place.

TALE OF THE TAPE:
Yesterday and today, in fact all week I have been working on both my duties as Director of Marketing and Realtor®.  Our website, built by a monkey last year, is being upgraded and supplied with a great search tool.  Seems the general public wants access to the information that we have on MLS.  This has trended this way with the availability of on-line tools for the consumer.  My iPhone has a free App called ZipRealty.  What this does is allows me to pull up all the actives and sold's in any neighborhood I happen to be standing in.  It is a fabulous tool for the consumer.  As an agent I need to redefine what value I bring to the table because comps and actives the client can get themselves.  It is essential to know what you, as a professional, bring to your clients to make their goals attainable.  Today I will focus on listening and gathering information to help our clients reach their goals.  What will you do?