Negotiation Guide - Government Contract And Negotiation Section

Welcome to Negotiation Guide

 

Government Contract And Negotiation Article

This is a selection among article about Government Contract And Negotiation. For a permanent link to this article, or to bookmark it for further reading, click here.

Real Estate Negotiation - Time Power
Steven Gillman

Time is one of the basic elements of real estate negotiation. Do you know this secret of using it well?

One of the crucial elements of real estate negotiation is time. Understand and master the use of time, and you can buy a home for thousands less. Here is one of the most important aspects of time:

Deadlines In Real Estate Negotiation

Time is of the essence. It even says as much on most real estate contracts. What does this mean? It means that whoever controls or understands the elements of time has the better negotiating position.

When I bought my first piece of property, I asked the seller why he was selling. He said he was moving. I asked him when he was moving, and he said in a couple weeks. He also mentioned that he wanted to close the sale before he moved. I offered him 20% less than he was asking, and he accepted.

He gave away too much information. Specifically, he gave away his deadline. One of the most important things to understand in real estate negotiation is deadlines. The two specific things to remember are: 1. Don't give away your deadline(s), and 2. Find the other side's deadline(s).

Find out whatever you can about any relevant deadlines. Sometimes there isn't a clear deadline, or there are several deadlines for different parts of the negotiation. Whatever the case, the more information you can gather about those deadlines, the better.

How do you use that information once you have it? The crudest method is to simply delay and wait until the last moment to negotiate. This only works if the other side doesn't walk away, and if your own deadline permits it. It also requires that you don't violate any of the terms of your purchase offer, so the seller can't sell to someone else.

A bit of sophistication is required to use this information effectively. You may want to start by identifying what is most important to you in the negotiation. For example, is the price or the terms the crucial element for you?

Let's assume that price is most important to you. When you wrote the offer, you put some price on it, but you have inspections and other contingencies that allow for everything to be renegotiated. The process of inspections and negotiations ties up the property, so your competition is excluded for the moment. Then you learn that owner really wants to sell by the start of the school year, because he will be moving with his children.

Work on everything else in the negotiations except the price. Have inspections done, agree on what will be included with the property, etc. As the seller's "deadline" approaches, he will be getting anxious to close the deal. Then you let him know you're ready to close quickly. Of course, you'll need the price adjusted due to the results of the inspections.

At this point the seller has the choice of throwing away the whole deal. This means starting over, and not moving when he wanted to. Alternately, he can be happy that he got what he wants most - a quick close. This means giving you your price.

This points up the importance of getting information on the other's deadline, but also the importance of not revealing your own. When I was a real estate agent I heard the story of a man who sold his property for a large profit. He had to pay $80,000 in capital gains taxes unless he rolled the money into another property, as a "title 31 exchange." He had 60 days to close on the new property.

Imagine the abuse he would open himself to if, with ten days to go, the seller learned of his deadline and the cost of missing it. He could threaten to delay closing unless the buyer paid $10,000 extra for some old coin-operated washing machines, for example. Overpay by a few thousand, or lose $80,000. What do you think he would do? You can see the power of time in real estate negotiation.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Steve Gillman wrote the book: Cheap Homes - How To Save Thousands Buying Your Next House. To learn more about time, and the other elements of real estate negotiation, and to see a photo of the beautiful home he and his wife bought for $17,500, visit http://www.YourCheapHome.com

Free Articles Home | Register | Submit an Article | Links | Contact | Archive | Terms of Service | Privacy Policy NAVIGATION

Government Contract And Negotiation News

Van Quyen – Song Lam Nghe An negotiation almost over (Vietnam Net)

VietNamNet Bridge – On Thursday, the former football star, Pham Van Quyen, and the Song Lam Nghe An club met again for the signing of a new contract. Both sides seemed to be more open than ever.

Read more...

---

Ontario's elementary teachers set contract deadline (CTV.ca)

The head of Ontario's public elementary teachers union says provincial school boards have until Feb. 13 to provide contract offers to teachers before he calls a strike vote for his 73,000 members.

Read more...

---

As temperatures plummet, the government considers warm weather payments to pensioners (Guardian Unlimited)

As temperatures plummet across Britain, the government is being urged to consider making warm weather payments as climate change makes our summers hotter.

Read more...

---