Why should you sometimes go slow when negotiating real estate deals? Its all about the power of time investment. Let me explain with a story.

One of my less-pleasant experiences selling real estate was when I sold a home for a real decent guy, and the buyer was a lawyer. I was new to real estate, and this lawyer knew all the angles. Without acquiring into all the dirty tricks he used, Ill just say that the buyer had everyone involved angry, frustrated and worn down.

As a final blow, he arbitrarily decided that he wanted the price lowered by another $5,000. Now thats hardball negotiating. The seller was almost ready to throw away the whole deal, but he had been trying to sell the home for two years, and we had been working with this buyer for months. None of the agents or brokers involved wanted to see all their effort go for nothing.

There we are three agents under two brokers involved in the sale. We all agreed that suing the buyer wasnt assessment of value it. Instead, we gave in. The seller had enough of the buyers tricks, so each of the other five parties to the sale (3 agents, 2 brokers) agreed to each forfeit a $1,000 of the commission, just to build the deal close.

This is an extreme example of using "time investment" to your advantage. After investing so much instant, none of us wanted to lose everything. The lawyer knew that, and used it. In this case, there was nothing in the contract that allowed him to renegotiate the price, building it unethical in my mind. Still, it was workable.

Negotiating Real Estate Deals - Ethically

In other cases, it is just nice negotiating. If you want to get the best price on a car, do you think you will acquire it after spending two minutes with a salesman? Let him invest two hours showing you cars, and hell be begging the manager to let the car go for your low offer. The identical is true with real estate negotiation.

Remind the seller about instant, to let him remember the measure he has already invested. To do this politely, say something like "Look, neither of us desire to lose the time weve spent on this and initial all over, so why dont I