A successful negotiation
(A Bill Spear gem)
My friend in real estate, Bill Spear, said something today:
“A successful negotiation is a signed agreement that both parties are dissatisfied with.” Isn’t that wonderful?
And oddly enough… It’s true. People often think a good negotiation means one side “won.”
It doesn’t.
If one side feels they have won everything, chances are the other side has lost too much, and that is usually not the best foundation for a smooth transaction.
A good agreement often has a little discomfort on both sides.
The seller wishes they did not have to fix that item.
The buyer wishes they had gotten a little more.
One side stretched on price.
The other stretched on timing.
Nobody got everything.
And that may be exactly why it works.
It's best to always negotiate with a feather, not a sledgehammer.
The goal is not to prove how smart you are.
The goal is to get to the closing table.
Compromise has gotten a bad reputation, but in real estate, it is often the bridge between a dead deal and a done deal.
Some of the happiest buyers and sellers I have worked with started out mildly dissatisfied.
Then they moved in!
Or moved on!
And life happened. And suddenly what seemed like a painful concession looked pretty small. Sometimes success looks less like victory and more like balance.
Maybe Bill of Liz and Bill Spear, was right.
Maybe the best agreements leave both sides thinking,
“Well… I wish I had done a little better.”
And then signing anyway.
That may be the very definition of fair.
Thanks to Bill for a line worth remembering.
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