If buyers and sellers are wondering why they need a real estate agent, it is for their negotiation skills, so let’s show them what we have instead of being fearful the deal will fall through and buckling.
What makes us professionals is our ability to close a deal from a first conversation with the other party — our ability to find an agreement on the terms and create a happy client the day after closing.
The most skillful agent will never narrow negotiations down to one issue (the price) because this allows for one winner and one loser versus both winning.
While sellers want the highest price and buyers want the best deal, the two have to meet somewhere in the middle for the deal to close. Negotiating for a home is important since this is the largest asset most people own and there’s potentially a lot of cash at stake.
The foundation for negotiations is looking at the data and the black and white of it all; then it becomes a dance of personalities — the two agents and the parties of buyers and sellers.
At the end of the day, all parties involved has a goal to close the transaction; Sellers want to sell their property and buyers want to buy their home and/or investment, but it sometimes gets a little muddy in between.
For those new to the real estate dance: The negotiations start once the seller receives a written offer. Since everything is negotiable, agents for the buyer and seller go back and forth in writing, whether that communication is via email or signed forms.
The objective is agreement on the deal’s terms, which include price, time lines, contingencies and items that may convey with the property. There’s a constant negotiation until the deal is actually closed.