Facing the Music--Negotiations
I got very dressed up and strode up the front walk of the home looking and acting way more confident than I felt. My clients were offering a price far below the recent asking price of a home just recently taken off the market. I'd seen the home when it was on broker preview and thought at the time that this was the place for my clients. They hadn't been quite ready to make the move at the time, but now they were. The day before, I'd called the realtor whose listing it was, asking if we could have a private showing. The sellers agreed, and I was correct: It was their home! They couldn't have loved it more. The rub: they weren't willing to pay the price the sellers wanted. I did a very thorough comparable search and we came up with a price my clients felt was right. I wrote up the offer, called the listing realtor, and our conversation was awkward, at best.
"Kay, I'm not going to present that offer. My clients will be furious with me for wasting their time, especially the wife!" he said testily. "You didn't tell me they were going to low ball this home."
Deep breath. "I am doing my fiduciary duty to my clients as you are to yours. We have a starting point with this price, and you say your clients still need to sell. I have comparable properties to show them in defense of the offer. I'd like to proceed with it." I understood his irritation. Our offer was pretty far off the mark, but the seller price was also very high.
"Well," he said, "here's how it's going to go down: I'm going to pretend I never heard the actual amount of the offer. I will act like this is the first I've heard of it, too, and you can come to the home and face the music yourself."
"Okay. What time? I'll be there." Sounding, again, more confident than I was. Praying for favor. The realtor had just told me I was walking into the lion's den, so I needed angels.
The door was answered by a very affable middle-aged man who smiled broadly as he invited me in. I could tell he was hopeful to sell his home--hopeful that I brought a resoundingly good offer since he'd opened up his off-market home to my buyers. I completely understood his demeanor and knew I'd be the bearer of less than perfect news. However, I sat with him at the gorgeous Carrera marble kitchen island while the other realtor paced the kitchen on the other side, obviously nervous. "Will your wife be joining us?" I asked.
"No. She is out of town until tomorrow," he responded. "I will relay our conversation to her."
That seemed to be my first break. Knowing this was one of the most well-designed, well-built homes in our city, I proceeded to let the owner understand that I was aware of the amenities of his gorgeous home. I brought pictures of the family I represented, told him about them and their children, their jobs, their dreams for the home. Then I went over the other homes with comparable amenities, square feet, beds and baths and what they'd sold for. I still had him tracking with me until I finally mentioned the price. There was the look in his eyes like I'd just hit him in the stomach. His face flushed. The smile was gone.
"I hope this doesn't in any way insult you," I said. "My client is a numbers man...he deals with that all day in his CEO position. This is the price they feel the home is worth given the other homes in the area that have sold."
"I didn't know anything about this," said the realtor, throwing his hands in the air. Sheesh.
I don't know that the seller heard either of us realtors. He seemed lost in thought, maybe wondering how he was going to tell his wife. Finally he said, "Thank you for your offer. I'll, of course, have to think about it."
"Thank you so much for the opportunity to speak to you about this home. My clients have a sincere desire to purchase it, and I want to make it happen for them." With that I shook his hand, he escorted me through the front door in a very amiable manner...and that was that.
The next day we were presented with a counter offer for almost full price. My clients came back a little higher, then it died for a while.
The thing with me is, I'm persistent. I knew this was their home. So I'd call every week or so and speak with the realtor who one day let me in on a secret: They wanted to move out mid-summer and were about ready to put the home back on the market. What did I think my clients would be willing to do?
Ultimately, my clients offered up and the sellers altered their asking price downward, and we opened escrow! My clients needed to sell their home first, so the final deal was contingent upon the sale (opening escrow on) their home. We put it on the market and sold it in two days. Miraculously, for full asking price. I will have to say it wasn't as smooth at the end as it could have been because of the loan on the home my clients were selling (another story for later), but both homes closed escrow on time and the ultimate outcome was successful moves for three families. Most importantly for me, my clients were moving into the home they wanted.
Just because a seller says no the first time to an offer...or a realtor is skittish about presenting a price he or she feels is too low...there are times when realtors can keep a transaction afloat with some finesse and persistence. Real estate, for better or for worse, is a negotiation process. And that often takes patience and the ability to not take things personally (very hard to do sometimes, I know). With my eye on the prize--winning a new home for my clients--I'm less aware of myself, realizing sometimes I have to go full Wonder Woman for a transaction I believe in!
Bottom Line: Negotiations can be daunting and intimidating, but when a realtor remembers that both sides of a transaction involve people with expectations and hopes, that we are all wanting a good outcome and that we must work for the highest good of those we represent, then we can proceed with more confidence and trust the outcome to be the best possible one for all those involved.
"Kay, I'm not going to present that offer. My clients will be furious with me for wasting their time, especially the wife!" he said testily. "You didn't tell me they were going to low ball this home."
Deep breath. "I am doing my fiduciary duty to my clients as you are to yours. We have a starting point with this price, and you say your clients still need to sell. I have comparable properties to show them in defense of the offer. I'd like to proceed with it." I understood his irritation. Our offer was pretty far off the mark, but the seller price was also very high.
"Well," he said, "here's how it's going to go down: I'm going to pretend I never heard the actual amount of the offer. I will act like this is the first I've heard of it, too, and you can come to the home and face the music yourself."
"Okay. What time? I'll be there." Sounding, again, more confident than I was. Praying for favor. The realtor had just told me I was walking into the lion's den, so I needed angels.
The door was answered by a very affable middle-aged man who smiled broadly as he invited me in. I could tell he was hopeful to sell his home--hopeful that I brought a resoundingly good offer since he'd opened up his off-market home to my buyers. I completely understood his demeanor and knew I'd be the bearer of less than perfect news. However, I sat with him at the gorgeous Carrera marble kitchen island while the other realtor paced the kitchen on the other side, obviously nervous. "Will your wife be joining us?" I asked.
"No. She is out of town until tomorrow," he responded. "I will relay our conversation to her."
That seemed to be my first break. Knowing this was one of the most well-designed, well-built homes in our city, I proceeded to let the owner understand that I was aware of the amenities of his gorgeous home. I brought pictures of the family I represented, told him about them and their children, their jobs, their dreams for the home. Then I went over the other homes with comparable amenities, square feet, beds and baths and what they'd sold for. I still had him tracking with me until I finally mentioned the price. There was the look in his eyes like I'd just hit him in the stomach. His face flushed. The smile was gone.
"I hope this doesn't in any way insult you," I said. "My client is a numbers man...he deals with that all day in his CEO position. This is the price they feel the home is worth given the other homes in the area that have sold."
"I didn't know anything about this," said the realtor, throwing his hands in the air. Sheesh.
I don't know that the seller heard either of us realtors. He seemed lost in thought, maybe wondering how he was going to tell his wife. Finally he said, "Thank you for your offer. I'll, of course, have to think about it."
"Thank you so much for the opportunity to speak to you about this home. My clients have a sincere desire to purchase it, and I want to make it happen for them." With that I shook his hand, he escorted me through the front door in a very amiable manner...and that was that.
The next day we were presented with a counter offer for almost full price. My clients came back a little higher, then it died for a while.
The thing with me is, I'm persistent. I knew this was their home. So I'd call every week or so and speak with the realtor who one day let me in on a secret: They wanted to move out mid-summer and were about ready to put the home back on the market. What did I think my clients would be willing to do?
Ultimately, my clients offered up and the sellers altered their asking price downward, and we opened escrow! My clients needed to sell their home first, so the final deal was contingent upon the sale (opening escrow on) their home. We put it on the market and sold it in two days. Miraculously, for full asking price. I will have to say it wasn't as smooth at the end as it could have been because of the loan on the home my clients were selling (another story for later), but both homes closed escrow on time and the ultimate outcome was successful moves for three families. Most importantly for me, my clients were moving into the home they wanted.
Just because a seller says no the first time to an offer...or a realtor is skittish about presenting a price he or she feels is too low...there are times when realtors can keep a transaction afloat with some finesse and persistence. Real estate, for better or for worse, is a negotiation process. And that often takes patience and the ability to not take things personally (very hard to do sometimes, I know). With my eye on the prize--winning a new home for my clients--I'm less aware of myself, realizing sometimes I have to go full Wonder Woman for a transaction I believe in!
Bottom Line: Negotiations can be daunting and intimidating, but when a realtor remembers that both sides of a transaction involve people with expectations and hopes, that we are all wanting a good outcome and that we must work for the highest good of those we represent, then we can proceed with more confidence and trust the outcome to be the best possible one for all those involved.
You really know how to weave a good story. You are a Wonder Woman at writing, not just real estate.
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