As a Certified Negotiation Expert (CNE), I often get asked exactly what that means and how much do agents really negotiate in a typical deal. It simply means that I have had extensive training in negotiation techniques and earned the CNE designation. It also includes many years of transactions, both for my own real estate and on behalf of others, where each time I put different strategies into play. And each time I learned something. I learned that negotiations start before I even list a house, in how I write my agent remarks and public description. I learned when representing a buyer, the negotiation starts before I write the offer and start when I call the agent asking questions. And, I learned (the hard way!) how to check each line, blank and box on an offer.
As an agent representing both buyers and sellers, I negotiate every step of the way, but truthfully, many agents do not. I get very upset and feel bad for clients on the other side when their agent drops the ball or fails to even try to negotiate.
For those of you still reading, a few examples: #1 – earlier this year I represented the buyer in a newer home purchase and knew that homes of that age in that county usually have an extra sewer assessment, paid over many years. So I checked the box that has seller pay it at closing, expecting it to be a negotiation point. My buyer would have accepted paying it, its only about $25 a month extra, but the agent did not know it existed till closing and they signed the offer as is. $5,000 + on my buyers side of the table. He also did not even try to counter my buyers offer of $565,000 on a house originally listed at $615,000, even though we’d have gone to $580,000 – another $15,000 still in buyers pocket ( and not in sellers pocket!)
Example #2 – My most recent closing (See previous Just Sold by Kurt post on this page) is another great example. As I mentioned in that post, we had multiple buyers. One needed to sell a house, my seller did not want to wait, so we used the two offers to move them both from the $650’s to $671,000. we accepted the offer that was closing sooner and agreed to pay some closing costs. Then Buyer 1’s earnest money bounced and the agent did not take it seriously (she said ‘it happens all the time!’). Not on my watch! She knew we had another offer, did not return my calls, so I negotiated a full price ($676,247) from Buyer 2, with no closing costs, & a few inspection items. A $13,000 swing into my buyers pocket, because I recognized the opportunity her fumble created. I later found out from Buyer #1’s new agent, that they actually were more qualified than I thought and would have paid full price once they realized the were in jeopardy. But the first agents lack of representation, inability to present her clients as strong and refusal to negotiate cost her clients a very nice, almost irreplaceable home. Sad!
If you’d like someone who negotiates every step of they way to negotiate your buying or selling, shoot me an email ( kurt@kurtkreager.com ) and we’ll schedule a Virtual meeting.