One of the hallmarks of the home buying process is the issue of negotiation. Keep these three things in mind while negotiating your home purchase:
Build a Relationship with the Seller
Whether you are negotiating in a yard sale or in a property purchase, you increase your chances of success by building a relationship with the seller. Building a relationship with the seller helps you to know them. This will help you with the negotiation because you will know your opponent's weak points and strengths, which you can use to your advantage.
For example, after building a relationship with the seller, you may realize that they are motivated to sell to a buyer who will live in the home and take good care of it. In that case, you can share with the seller your plans of living in the property and how you plan to make it a great home for your family. You will be surprised at how fast you can win over a seller that way.
Be Confident
You also need to be confident with your negotiation arguments. The moment the seller realizes that you don't even believe in your own arguments, you won't stand a chance of convincing them. In fact, wavering in your own presentations may make the seller think that you aren't serious with the purchase.
Assume Everything is Negotiable
The fastest way to fail is to assume that some of the issues are non-negotiable. Approach the negotiation with the assumption that everything is negotiable, and you will be increasing your chances of success. Some of the points you can negotiate on include:
- The price of the house
- The necessary repairs
- The closing costs
- The appliances to include with the sale
- Problems realized during the inspection
If you assume, for example, that you have to bear the closing costs, then you will not make any effort to have the seller share them with you. This means you will lose the opportunity to have the seller share the costs with you, even if they would have done it. In short, even if you think something is non-negotiable, just ask anyway; you might just be surprised enough to get a positive response.
As you can see, negotiating a property purchase needs serious preparation and skill; it's both a learned skill and an art. Luckily, you just need to get a professional real estate agent working for you, and you won't have to worry about your negotiation skills.
