A lot of Realtors boast in their marketing about their fabulous negotiating skills. Given the agents role in helping clients come to an agreement on contracts worth hundreds of thousands of dollars this is certainly a desirable skill set.
But let me ask you… what is the best strategy? When we are dealing with people you never know what the reaction will be. What the motives are. Where one stands at any given moment. What is their frame on the situation?
I personally find that nothing prepares me better to start the negotiations than to gain as much insight as possible. How can I gain insight by simply emailing an offer? There is much data to show that voice inflection alone can help understand the position you are starting from. Have I really done due diligence by just writing the offer and emailing it?
On numerous occasions I will see in the MLS the remarks of “email offers to assistant at XXX.com”. My experience on these transactions is that the listing agent never will have a discussion with me. I am put into a perpetual email discussion with their licensed assistant. Many times, these assistants have even shared that they will forward the offer to their client. Did the listing agent even review the offer? Who did the seller believe they hired to negotiate? The agent who took their listing, or their assistant?
Perhaps the seller’s agent could argue that they are protecting any of the verbal insight I am looking for. After all, loose lips sink ships.
How about the buyer’s agent? What do they stand to gain by emailing an offer with nothing but “Great offer for 1234 Any City Road.” No phone call to even say they sent offer, or even to notify the listing agent that an offer is being submitted. What if there is already an offer for full price… did you just waste your time writing that lowball offer? Most likely the answer is yes.
I find that technology is leading people to believe that verbal communications are not necessary. Just a quick text will suffice. Maybe when you are checking in on availability… but not as a negotiations strategy. At least not for me. I work with EVERY tool I have available. Picking up the phone and having a good old conversation with the other party has always been a priority. The technology is amazing and should always be used. It doesn’t have to be one or the other.
What is the trick to this? Know when to be quiet and yet still remain present. The goal is to find out information, not give it away! When you have two agents on both sides of the line who are good at this strategy then the data becomes even more important. It’s my job to gain the best possible outcome for my clients. Not to forward and fill in the blanks.
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