Tuesday’s Negotiating Tip:

I can’t stress enough the importance of a positive outlook when negotiating. Several times I’ve heard “really, I don’t think they will go for that” or “there’s no way they will drop the price that much.” The fact of the matter is that you never really know. That’s why I approach each negotiation with a positive outlook and reinforce this by remembering the times I’ve gotten a great deal even though I thought it would never happen.

My brother is skewed a bit to the negative side. He called me in to help him negotiate the purchase of a house. This was a few years ago when housing was at a premium in Atlanta and often you paid more than the asking price for certain homes. When the first attempt at a house fell through, he was quite discouraged. I told him to hang in there and we’d try again.

He found another home that he liked and he told me right away that there is no way the builder would come down on the price. How did he know that? He didn’t. He just pushed his emotions onto the deal and all the negativity went into his perception of the negotiation. After a short chat or two with the real estate agent I found out some wonderful things. First, the builder had passed away and his son had taken over the business. This house was the first one that he the son had built. My brother is an engineer and he and I confirmed the fact because the house was not only well built but was in fact over-built. The young builder had not sold a home on his own and it was December, so I picked up that it was urgent for him to move this property so that he didn’t incur taxes and more payments.

With only a short period of actual negotiation I submitted a take-it-or-leave it offer and was able to get the house for him for $32,000 below the asking price. This was because I approached the negotiation with a positive outlook for success and an open mind to new information. I’m positive that you can do this to save money!