Table of Contents
1 Be a Winning Negotiator 1
You Can Negotiate Anything 2
When There's Apparently No Negotiating Room 2
Everything Else Is Negotiable, Too! 3
Is It Hard to Learn to Be a Good Negotiator? 4
Is It Really Worth the Effort to Negotiate in Real Estate? 5
2 Knowledge Gains You the Upper Hand 7
Who Has the Knowledge? 8
Knowledge Is Power 9
Knowledge Affects Negotiations in Every Aspect of a Real Estate Transaction 11
How You Present a Property Can Mean the Difference Between a Sale and No Sale 14
Knowing Market Conditions 15
Negotiating Tools 16
And More 16
3 Remember, It's Strictly Business 17
Never Take It Personally 17
Beware of Choosing "Nice" People to Represent You 20
Only Deal with People Who Have the Power to Decide 22
Deal Directly 22
Always Strive for the High Moral Ground 24
4 The Rules of Time 27
Invest in Time 27
Set a Deadline 31
Act in a Timely Fashion 33
5 The Psychology of Negotiating 35
Push Back at the Put-Down 36
Don't Waver over Your Expertise-or Lack Thereof 36
Bring It Out into the Open 38
Be Irrational Occasionally 38
Strive to Be a Beginner 40
Always Ask Why 43
6 Challenge Their Words 47
Try Using a List 49
Listen Carefully 50
Listen to What's Behind the Words 51
Question Authority 53
Challenge the Authority's Credentials 54
7 Five Basic Tactics Negotiators Use 57
1 Always Give Yourself Another Option 57
2 Only Work on Issues That Can Be Resolved 59
3 Never Respond to an Offer That Can't Be Closed 62
4 Don't Stick to the "Pie" Analogy or "Bottom Line" Reasoning 64
5 Remember that Some Deals Can't Be Made, No Matter What 67
Walking Away a Winner Is No Baloney 69
8 Negotiate the Actual Offer (Including Counteroffers) 71
Arriving at the Terms of the Deal 72
Price and Terms 77
The Deposit 78
Financing Contingencies 82
Dealing with Time 84
Other Contingencies 86
Buyer's Final Approval and Walk-Through 90
9 Get a Better Deal When Buying a Foreclosure 93
What Is a Bank-Owned Property? 93
Why Dealing with a Bank Is Better 94
Why Dealing with a Bank Is Harder 95
Making the Offer 96
Dealing with the Bank's Intransigence 97
Dealing with a Low Appraisal 98
Concluding the Purchase 99
10 Fend Off a Lender That Wants to Foreclose 101
How Did This Happen to Me? 102
The Turn Down 102
Slow Down the Process 103
Case History: Playing the Lender 104
Ask for a Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure 106
Another Case History: A Deed in Lieu 108
Try a Short Sale 111
Walk Away 111
Review Your Options 113
11 Sell Your Home When You Owe More than It's Worth (Short Sale) 115
Are There Any Drawbacks to a Short Sale? 116
Are There Benefits to a Short Sale If You Can Still Make the Payments? 117
Why Would a Lender do a Short Sale? 117
How to Do a Short Sale 118
What to Do if You Have a Second Mortgage 120
How to get Secondary Mortgages to Sign a Release 123
Watch Out for Deficiency Demands 124
Who Pays the Commission and Other Sale Expenses 126
How to Put Pressure on a Lender to Act 126
How Closely to Work with Your Agent 128
Watch Out for Scammers 128
Forms and More 130
12 Successfully Buy a Short Sale 131
The Short Sale Hurdles 131
Negotiate with the Seller 132
Get the Right Agent 132
Talk to the Seller's Agent 133
Coax the Buyer to Accept Your Offer 135
Negotiate with the Lender 136
Keep in Touch 140
Forms and More 140
13 Win a Bidding War 141
For Buyers Only 141
When the Bidding War Starts 144
Negotiating in a Difficult Market 144
Look for Fixer-Uppers 146
For Sellers Only 147
Understand "Forward Pricing" 147
Purposely Underpricing 148
Negotiate. Negotiate. Negotiate. 148
14 Negotiate a Lower Commission Rate When You Sell 149
From the Agent's Viewpoint 150
From the Seller's Perspective 150
How Does the Commission Impact the Agent's Role in Selling? 151
Offering a Good Commission Rate to the Selling Agent (the One Who Produces the Buyer) 153
Adding a Bonus 154
What About Negotiating a Lower Commission for Your Listing Agent? 154
Should You Tie the Fee to the Services Performed? 155
Should You Deal with Discount Brokers? 156
What About Negotiating the Commission as a Percentage of Equity? 156
Can You Get the Agent to Accept Paper Instead of Cash? 157
Should I Try Negotiating Directly with the Other Party? 159
What If the Agent Throws Up a Roadblock? 159
Would You Be Better Off Having a Separate Buyer's/Seller's Agent? 160
Can an Agent Work Against You? 161
Strictly from the Buyer's Viewpoint 162
The Agent Answer 163
15 Argue for a Better Appraisal 165
When the Lender's Appraiser Says "No!" 165
How Do You Challenge a Lender's Appraisal? 167
Appraisal Costs 169
Can You Challenge the County's Appraisal? 170
When You Decide to Appeal 171
How Do You Appeal an Improvement? 172
16 Negotiate Personal Property 175
Very Personal Property 175
Negotiating to Get Personal Property Included in the Deal 178
Keeping Personal Property Out of the Deal 179
Even Personal Property Is Negotiable 181
17 Pressure a Builder over Price and Upgrades 183
Dealing with the Builder's "Front" 184
Submitting Your Own Offer 184
What You Can Negotiate 185
Understanding the Builder's Costs 186
Negotiating for Options 187
Knowing What You Want 188
The "Upgrade" Trap 189
Getting an Option Discount 192
Mortgage Buy-Downs 193
18 Gain an Advantage from the Inspection Report 195
What Is the Professional Inspection Report? 196
How to Leverage the Inspection Report into a Better Deal 198
Renegotiating 198
Preinspected Homes 199
Why Would Sellers Want a Home Inspection? 200
Dealing with Lenders 201
Does a Defect Need to Be Corrected? 201
Buyers Who "Set Up" Sellers 202
The "Aboveboard" Approach 203
19 Deal Points When Buying Investment Property 205
Negotiating the Price of Income Property 205
How to "Negotiate" Rents 207
How to Negotiate Deposits 208
How to Negotiate Financing 209
20 Negotiate Your Way Out of Closing Problems 211
What Can Go Wrong? 212
What Can You Do to Avoid Closing Problems? 213
What Do You Do When Things Go Wrong? 214
Who Controls the Escrow? 216
Who Pays the Escrow Fees? 216
Glossary: The Language of Real Estate 219
Index 239
