By Living Room Realty, December 7, 2019
From an outsider’s perspective a career in real estate can seem like a dream. With HGTV cranking out series after series depicting agents showing a few houses one day, a short montage of renovation and a happy family reveal, it makes it all look so easy. With it’s flexible schedule and theoretically enormous income, what’s not to love?! Well, as with any job, there is more to being a REALTOR® than meets the eye. A truly dedicated realtor, in my mind, is far more than a salesperson. Although marketing and showing a home in it’s best light is indeed a much needed skill, a good REALTOR® is most importantly an advocate for their buyers and sellers and, as such, there is great depth to the job. All said and done, our work requires us to utilize a very diverse set of skills and this blog series lets you in on the nitty gritty of some of the less commonly acknowledged hats that we wear.
Real estate agent as a negotiator:
Most people might think that the sales price is the only point of negation between buyer and seller, but the need for negotiation goes far beyond just sales price. It is an agents responsibility to understand the variety of terms that can be negotiated to create incentives and opportunities for our buyers to secure the property of their dreams and for our sellers to accommodate their desires. Maybe my client doesn’t have the funds to offer the highest purchase price of all the offers on the table, but perhaps they can be flexible with the date they need to move in. For the seller, who is looking to purchase a new home with the money from this sale, the flexibility of a buyer to move in a little later could offer great appeal. If you’re selling your home and receive multiple offers, we might present a counter offer to one of these buyers to negotiate favorable terms for repairs and appraisal shortfalls. If you are not lucky enough to receive multiple offers on your home, an agent negotiates during the repair and appraisal phases of a sale on the client’s behalf to minimize expenses, retain equity and keep the sale moving toward closing. In a recent purchase of a home with one of my clients, we were able to secure them a home over other, equally priced offers, by appealing to the seller with a letter from my client. Many people have an emotional attachment to their home and want to see it go to someone that they believe will care for the home. So sometimes, our best negotiation tool can be the heart.
In the role of negotiator there is great potential for client advocacy and I deeply believe in working across party lines to ensure the best result for my client and a positive experience for others involved.
