Steve: Hey, this is Steve Strickholm and we're here meeting with Julie Olson on Real Estate negotiations 101. Looking forward to talking with you Julie.
She's got over 30 years of experience in real estate and we're going to be talking about win win strategies. Determining leverage, market value and communication, competitive terms and objectivity and fiduciary duty. Those are the five different sessions that are here today and that will be talking about with negotiations 101.
So, the first thing we're going to be talking about is a win, win strategy. Julie, tell me about this whole idea of going in battle, we don't want to go into battle every day and get dressed up in armor. How do you handle that issue and make it so you're not going into battle when you're negotiating.
Julie: Well, the important thing when you're negotiating is to start building a relationship with the other person and if you go in there with your dukes up, it isn't going to work very well. You have to go in there and understand that the buyers going to have to win something and the seller is going to have to win something. The agent is going to have to win something. To be able to provide a solution that works for everybody. Nobody wins everything.
Steve: How do you then focus on solutions so that solutions rather than problems are the way to bring people together. How do you do that?
Julie: Well, you want to ask as many questions as possible, which we'll talk about in depth as time goes on with these coffee with the coach meetings. What you want to find out is what's most important to the other party and maybe what the bottom line is for you so that you can start crafting the negotiations in a way that you are finding a solution for everyone's problem. And then that gives people a win win outcome.
Steve: So, how do you then turn it from, you know, maybe being competitive to being cooperative. Not only being cooperative but helping the other agent and parties come there with the cooperative attitude
Julie: Well you offer them a series of solutions, and it depends on what kind of personality you have on the other side of course, and in the delivery of that. But what you do is you start creating options as you would with a client. So, you generate a couple of different options, typically three different options, to the other agents. So, they pick one and they usually pick the one in the middle. So, you want to make sure your ideal outcome is the one in the middle, is door #2 so to speak. And you throw out solutions until the other person says, I think that'll work for my client.
Steve: Then how about like making it easy so you're easy to work with. How do you do that?
Julie: One of the main things that I see, and it's particularly when you're working with another agent, is in the arena of multiple bid offers. You want to be the easiest person to work with, the most professional person to work with, and the one that they are not afraid to call or dread calling. So, you want to be the person that they can tell anything to and sort of be their partner. To get a solution that works for everybody and ultimately get what you need to get done, which is get the property sold. Doesn't matter how good of a negotiator you are if you can't come to a solution that works with everybody.
Steve: That's a really good point about you know with multiple offers in the market that it's not just price but it's also easy to work with and a sense of confidence that we're going to be able to close with this agent and with the with the office they're bringing in. How do you find out what is important to all the parties need to work together to get that close put in place. How do you do that?
Julie: Well there are some certain questions that are, you know, paramount and when you when you are asking questions like: Can you tell me an ideal closing date? If you're working with a buyer, what's your ideal closing date for your seller? You can ask them questions about, you know, what's your seller situation? They're not supposed to answer you, but they do. Ideally, you’re going to have a counter offer. Would it be better for your client, if the counter was in a in the buyer paid closing costs, or would it be in the price? What works best and start generating solutions right away and asking as many questions without it, you know, feeling like you're interrogating them. Find out what the priorities are to their client, because you already know what the priorities are for your clients.
Steve: I would imagine that that's part of making it easy to work with them. If you're asking questions that are going to make it easier for you to come forward with the right kind of offer, or to make it easy for the seller or buyer to close their side of the deal again, that person is going to look positively upon your client and your offer, and the agent will look positively on you. You can have that better open communication and really put a deal together. Yeah, I remember you had this great quote from one of your early managers who said if both the seller and the buyer really want to put the deal together, even real estate agents can't screw it up.
Julie: If you have a willing buyer and a willing seller, even a real estate agent can't screw it up. And that that is true. That is very true, hah!