{4:18 minutes to read} Making the deal is all in the negotiation. The job of an agent or broker is basically to be the matchmaker, bringing people together. When people start to feel confident or comfortable with each other, they may be more willing to make concessions on their original proposal in order to work out a deal.
A lot of agents and brokers try to protect their client’s and their own interests by not having the buyer and seller meet. However, at times, the best thing is to bring the buyer and seller together and let them face each other. The broker can then facilitate a negotiation, whether it’s a small deal or a big deal. I have found many times that, if the buyer and seller are reasonable and rational, they’ll find a way to make a deal when they meet each other.
A lot of times, the negotiation method is to go back and forth between the buyer and seller with offers and counteroffers. During this emotional process, it is easy to imagine what the other person is doing and thinking, and begin to blow things out of proportion. For example:
A guy broke down on the highway with a flat tire. He needed a jack to fix it and knew that an acquaintance had a gas station and repair shop about a mile down the road. It was a hot summer day, but there was no help for it; he would have to walk the mile to the shop and get a jack.
As he walked, his mind began to wander and imagine what would happen when he got to the shop. The further he walked, the more he imagined and the more irritated he became:
“George is such a cheap person, he’s probably going to want $50 for the jack. I could buy my own jack for $50, why should I give him my $50?”
“This guy knows that I’m stuck now because I need this jack, but does he care?”
“He’s such a selfish person. He’s cheap and he has no heart, and he doesn’t care about me or any other person.”
By the time the guy finished his mile-long walk down the road, he was so emotionally pumped up from his own thoughts, that he stomped into the shop and announced, “George, you can keep your damned jack!”
People can certainly have imaginations. Some people’s imaginations can create a great story and fantasy which could lead to their being the producer of the best movie in America, but that does not help in a negotiation.
When people meet with each other and they talk, they see that everyone is human and everyone has wants and needs. It’s important for people to put things in perspective and try to have respect for the other person.
In any kind of negotiation, no matter whether it’s a relationship or a business transaction, it’s all the same: everybody has their part of the story, and then there are the truth and the facts. This is why we bring buyers and sellers together to try to negotiate in person and not through email, a fax, and/or a text. When you are face to face, it makes it real.
Negotiations are never easy, but if you are willing to meet and talk about it, you will have a happier and more successful outcome.
Mendy Lipsker
Mendy Realty Inc.
822 Montgomery St
Brooklyn, NY 11213
Phone: 646.662.5454
email: info@mendyrealty.com
website: mendyrealty.com
