Negotiating is one of the least understood aspects of your property value. If you believe that the value is the value no matter what then no one can help you. But consider this – some people are better negotiators then others. If you’re not used to negotiating over hundreds of thousands of dollars, you may be at a disadvantage compared to someone with a higher understanding of the processes and who has years of negotiating experience behind them.

Simply put there are two positions to negotiate from. Care to guess what they are? If you cant’ figure these out you should have an experienced negotiator representing you especially when selling or buying something as valuable as real estate.

You can negotiate from a position of strength or a position of weakness. Something else you have to understand when selling your home is that the price is only one small part of the contract, albeit an important part. Timing of conditions, wording of conditions and terms can have a substantial impact on your sale. If you’re like most people who don’t negotiate for a living then you probably won’t even be aware that negotiating tactics are being used on you.

Some real estate transactions can be complex and a simple explanation here on negotiating won’t suffice because negotiations can go so many different directions depending on the circumstances and personalities involved. The courts are littered with case law on Real Estate and ignorance is no excuse and can be extremely costly especially if you are representing yourself.

In fact most often a well negotiated contract is one that has no problems and therefore you may see limited value of how it was negotiated. In fact you may never realize how well it was done until the contract is tested. That’s when you will see the value of a properly negotiated contract.

Imagine you go to the Louvre in Paris, or any museum for that matter. You can walk through and with limited knowledge you might even enjoy your visit. Or you may just look at things and not even truly understand what you’re looking at. Now go through with a guide. Someone who has been there before, someone who knows the subtleties, nuances and is there for your benefit. This can add priceless value to you.

Everything you do in selling your home, from the timing, to the marketing, to the service you receive and the pricing strategy will determine if you negotiate from a position of strength or from a position of weakness.

An experienced negotiator can reduce risk and add significant value or you can cross your fingers and hope it all goes according to plan.

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