1) React without thinking!

Good, bad, or indifferent, an offer, no matter how low, is not the time to chastise the other agent or their clients, nor give a hypothetical over-hyped reaction from the seller who has not yet even seen it.

You never know what might be in sellers’ heads, depending on the day or time an offer is presented.

The worst thing an agent can do is create any sort of expectation of how that offer will be received and what the response might be.

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2. Make assumptions and posture

Avoid making statements such as “There is no way the seller will even entertain that,” “You’ll need to come back with something much stronger,” or “I cannot bring that to the seller.”

Agents are legally and ethically obligated to present all offers unless the seller has instructed the agent in writing on handling offers below a certain price point, etc., and even so, the agent should err on the side of informing the seller of the offer because circumstances change, time marches on, and the market — not the listing agent — dictates what it is willing to pay for any home for sale.

3. Act as the decision-maker

There is nothing worse than when one agent tries to get the other agent to agree about what their buyers or sellers will do before they’ve had a chance to relay and present the information to them.

They also want to dictate all else in the transaction before anything has been agreed to.

This type of agents’ love being the bully, trying to intimidate and using strong-arm tactics to bend things their way.

4. Be offensive – arrogant

Don’t say anything that could offend the other agent or their buyers or sellers.

Statements such as, “The property has been on the market so long, there must be something wrong with it — that’s why the buyers came in where they did with their offer.” 

Or, “The buyer saw what the seller paid for the home just two years ago, are sure deal killers!.”

5. Shut it down

There is nothing worse than entering into a negotiation in good faith where sellers barely counter, the buyers start to get discouraged, yet make a decent counter or two — and the seller refuses to do anything else.

Keep the communication going – your commission check depends on it!

6. Be the messenger

A surefire way not to negotiate is to simply play messenger, relaying whatever the buyer or seller says without any input or effort to facilitate a response that will work toward closing the gap with the other party.

Buyers and sellers want to be led to good decisions.

They might not recognize it until it’s offered, but simply repeating buyers’ or sellers’ sentiments might not make sense as it only alienates the other party.

7. Forget problem-solving and creativity

There are many transactions that never come to fruition because the agents refused to put their heads together to figure out how to bridge the gap between the buyers’ and sellers’ wants and needs.

There are multiple ways to accomplish this with regard to an agreeable purchase price relative to the closing date, closing costs, interest rate buydowns as well as things that could be included or excluded with the purchase of the home, a home warranty, professional cleaning, etc.

Keeping the emotion and posturing out of it with the buyer and seller will help to position the negotiation from an objective point of view to work toward a set of mutually agreeable terms and conditions.

8. Serve as an armchair expert

A great way to start building walls during a negotiation is to speculate about all that is allegedly wrong with the property.

The selling agent knows that the roof is old and will need to be replaced, the electric is bad, and there appears to be a foundation issue.

While some or all of this might be true on some level, it’s best left to the experts to determine during inspections and then broach the seller with tangible findings from the due diligence process.

On the flip side, a listing agent attempting to minimize any potential issues that are visible or documented from inspections does not help the situation.

9. Be vague

When parties are vague, doubt creeps in.

When one agent’s response to another agent’s questions regarding information on the seller’s disclosure, or lack thereof, is not clear or continually avoided, it can create a sick feeling wondering what the sellers and listing agent may be trying to hide.

That doubt can lead to negotiations to stall until the buyer and the selling agent can do their own investigation to get to the bottom of whatever they need to know.

10. Squeeze out every last drop

There is nothing worse than finally getting everything worked out and then one party insisting on trying to squeeze the other for a few more things.

11. Make “One Last Change”

To the above point, once all gets worked out, the seller insists on changing the closing date because they realized they won’t be in town for the closing.

Newsflash: Are sellers ever in town for a closing anymore, let alone buyers?

The sellers certainly have the option to pre-sign, but the sellers refuse because they don’t trust anyone or anything, never mind that this is not their first rodeo selling a property.

This one can wreak havoc as the buyer explained through their agent that they would not be available to close until the particular closing date and that was why it was requested upfront.

The lender has made it clear that it cannot guarantee making the closing date a week sooner, and while the seller might hear this, I’m not sure they are really listening.

Perpetual pushback about a closing date can wreak havoc on all involved, particularly when external circumstances can’t be changed & agents are not working on getting everyone to compromise.

Cara Ameer is a broker associate and global luxury agent with Coldwell Banker Vanguard Realty in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. You can follow her on Facebook or Twitter.