Negotiation Strategy

Strategies are interchangeable. Unlike the horse, strategies can - and do - change in the middle of the stream. The buyer fires the first salvo, by reason of the offer he makes, trying to establish his strategy. The seller reacts: he can go along with the buyer's strategy or shoot back a counter-strategy.

Musashi said, "There is timing in everything." Timing can be critical in negotiating. Keep this in mind.

Also, remember my "Undeniable Truth of Real Estate No. 7":
'The buyer or seller you've been working with will not be the same person when it comes time to negotiate.'

So if you feel nervous or pressured, you're normal!

Chris Furgerson Buyer Negotiation Strategy

For lack of a better name...this is what I recommend as a strategy about 80% of the time: try to determine what the seller's bottom line figure is and, assuming you are willing to pay that price for it, make a solid offer as close as possible to that price with as few contingencies as possible.

Here is the reasoning: let's be realistic, most sellers have a bottom line figure somewhere below their listing price as they feel that buyers will want to negotiate somewhat, the seller will have to come done a little, and so they pad the price. Most sellers also won't sell below their bottom line figure so any offer below that figure means nothing to them.

Keep in mind that when an offer is presented to a seller they have 4 options: accept as is; reject; make a binding counter-offer; or, make a non-binding counter offer indicating to buyer what they may be willing to accept. Now, the buyer's offer is binding to the buyer the minute the seller's acceptance of that offer is delivered back to the buyer. However, if the seller changes anything on the offer the buyer is relieved of any obligation to buy the home.

So, if you make an offer too far away from the seller's bottom line they have nothing to lose by making a large counter-offer back to you because they won't sell at that price. However, the closer your offer is to the actual bottom line, the more the seller has to lose by changing your offer and possibly losing you as a good, qualified buyer. They'll think twice before making a large counter back. It has been my experience that this strategy gets most buyers the best possible price on the home of their choice.