Thursday, May 08, 2008

Negotiating a Successful Real Estate Deal

People negotiate almost every day one way or the other, even if it may not be directly obvious. You can learn from these commonplace negotiations plus learn from some keys which can be examined and used in negotiation.

One of the biggest keys to successful negotiation is motivation. Simply put, the more motivated you are to obtain your goal, the more likely you are to push to obtain it. But sometimes it pays if someone else is that person instead of you. If you are working with someone who is motivated enough to sell their property, you can catch a nice deal.

Another key is following what the market says. If at all possible, you want to be on the favorable side of the market whether it's the buyer's side or seller's side.

The next key is knowing who has leverage. If you have had a a major well known setback, you are most likely going to be the one without leverage while if you happen to have had a major win, you could be the one with the leverage.

Another key is knowing the details. On the surface, deals may seem equal. The key in this case is to look further to see which has extras or not and in the end becomes a better deal. Or if you are on the selling side, you do better through not giving out extras.

Next comes financing information. For the seller, it's much lower risk to deal with someone who has been pre-qualified or pre-approved than to deal with a buyer who has yet to meet with any lender. Even though the terms mean different things in different areas, they at least mean some form of financial backing should be there.

Knowing who has has expertise is another key. You may not always be the one with expertise. It's vital to know who involved is the one with the expertise as this person will be the one to win. This can be used as a motivator to gain more expertise so that you will be the winner more often than not.

Another key is not taking negotiation too seriously as it's a game without any fixed rules. With this lack of set rules, you are free to learn, follow, and maybe even create some of your own rules for playing the game. A bit of creativity can make negotiation be pleasant for yourself and those you are negotiating with.


Julia Vakulenko is a licensed broker associate with Tampa4U.com Realty. She has one of the hardest working Tampa Real Estate team in Florida and also in2Va Team for Northern Virginia Homes.