Things were moving right along.  We received an offer… that was super exciting  because this particular house had been listed with two other companies prior to us getting the listing. 

We had already coached the seller explaining that offers may come in low, one expects that these days.  Advised them not to take it personally, not to get emotionally involved, to understand that the goal when any offer is received is to bridge the gap, we all want the same outcome and so on and so on.   

Offer comes in a bit low no one was surprised, seller was happy to have a potential buyer.  I asked for the the response… and that is when my Awesome Team Player, Let”s Get Er Done seller, who had worked so hard to get his house ready, followed suggestions from the stager, priced where he should have… before my eyes (actually before my ears, we were on the phone) had a complete personality change.  It was profound.  We named his alter ego….” The Shrewd Negotiator”.  

Seller: ” I think I am going to wait until tomorrow to respond… I don’t want them to think I am desperate, and I am not happy about this low ball offer.”

Me:  Thinking to myself… ummmmm  didn’t we go over this???   Ok  you are not desperate but you do really really need to sell!         Then saying:   ” A quick response doesn’t show weakness or elude to desperation. It is actually let’s the buyer know that you are ready to do business, and in today’s quick paced society dragging things out can actually caused a negative reaction. ”  The warning went unheeded and off I went to let the agent know it would be a bit before the seller could respond. 

The seller called me the next day and gave a reasonable response- I gave it to the buyer’s agent.  Guess when we heard back?  The  next day of course.  My seller set the pace of negotiations without even knowing it.  During that time the buyers also came up with a laundry list of questions to ask and concerns to address.   While he thought they were sweating it out they were coming up with more objections to overcome and possibly continuing to look for other properties.

Their response, reasonable  but not quite where we needed it  yet, was immediately communicated to the seller.

Seller: “They jerked me around without responding all day yesterday and this is what  they are trying to get me to accept”

Me: Thinking to myself you JUST did the same thing

Seller: ” Well I am not so sure I even want to respond now.  I’ll let the damn thing foreclose before I get jerked around”

Me:  Thinking… why didn’t I go for that marine biology degree, I could be scuba diving in the Caribbean right now…                                        then saying:  ” Yes but remember the goal here is to get this property sold, get the offer worked out if possible, so you can move on and not have to deal with this again in 30, 60,90  days etc…after 1, 2 or even more house payments.  I really encourage you to respond.  They took the time to write the offer, we have been negotiating for 48 hrs and we are only 10k apart right now”

Seller: ” I’ll go up another $1000.00 but I am not giving them the refrigerator and that’s my final”

Me:  Thinking…  someone please shoot me….  then saying:  “ Didn’t you say when we took the listing your target price was higher than that?”

Seller:  “Yes I did, but if they want to play hardball,  Iwill too”

This deal never made it to contract.  It easily could have but the emotion and  and the  me vs them attitude, created a road block.   We had several more conversations and I tried unsuccessfully several times to help him see the impending  implosion of our deal but he wasn’t willing to consider another point of view.   Unfortunately he blew it.  The buyers left ticked and bought somewhere else.

 The house stayed on the market for another month. We did get another offer but  he ended up having to make 2 more house payments and  ended up where we probably would have if  he had been a little easier to deal with.

 The 2nd time around was better.  Lesson learned the hard way.

I am not sure who came up with the  ”let’s not respond right away during negotiations” but Paaaleeeassse…. that is so…. I don’t know 1970s?  And we aren’t the Hatfields and Mccoys during negotiations or at least it isn’t necessary to be. 

Today is about the now.  Let’s get it done, let’s move, let’s not give either party the opportunity to second guess their decision to buy your property.  People are busy, most are nervous when making an offer and the added stress of  tactics of either party trying  to establish themselves as the Alpha only establishes them as another word that starts with A these days, and IT KILLS DEALS.

Things run so much more smoothly and everyone ends up with more of what they want and need if we all just work toward the common goal and leave all BS and temper tantrums out of it.   My Grandma Hazel always used to say that you can attract more flies with honey than you can with vinegar.  So much truth in that.  If she were still here I would make it a requirement for all of my clients to not only sign an agency agreement but to also have a conversation with her before I worked with them!  She sure did have that one pegged.

If you are not like ” The Shrewd Negotiator” and  are thinking about buying or selling a home  please give us a call. We will help you reach your desired goals without boxing gloves!  Thanks for reading our blog.  Come back to see us! 

Adrienne and Connie 919-810-7446

facebook.com/deansgroup