Should A Realtor Be A Good Negotiator In Your Real Estate Purchase or Sale?
Realtors gain more experience with every transaction. Each one offers it’s own traits and character as much as every home offers unique characteristics. As a Tallahassee, FL Realtor who STILL learns from her transactions, I will readily admit, that taking the real estate exam and jumping into work under a broker, does not prepare you for the art of negotiation. It takes years of training, experience, classroom instruction and knowledge of current rules, regulations of financing, insurance, building codes and more.
The worst feeling in the world is watching a buyer or seller’s hopes fall apart in a transaction where one or both sides have reached their emotional or financial limits and the transaction fails to come to fruition. Unfortunately, this does happen for a variety of reasons such as emotions, financial qualifications, or lack thereof, insurmountable requests or discoveries of a home inspection or outside influences of others.
Four Things a Realtor Needs to Be A Good Negotiator
Their Own Cool Head and a Firm Stance Realtors can not afford to get caught up in the emotions of buyers or sellers. I often say that “buying your first home makes you feel like an adult. What no one mentions is selling it turns you right back into a child.” Buyers, especially first time buyers want it all, they’re excited and they’ve been watching HGTV for months, browsing beautiful design magazines and their expectations is that the homes they will be buying will look just like that! Realtors know how to tame the reality TV beast and re-focus buyers to their needs and their abilities.
Knowledge of Market Conditions: Realtors are often caught in impasse situations involving what a buyer is willing to pay (market value) vs what a seller expects to make when selling. Knowing information from active, competitive listings, as well as from Sold home statistics and factors included in those sale amounts such as seller concessions or allowances is a constant evaluation and re-evaluation process. In Tallahassee, Florida real estate values can very even between back-to-back neighborhoods and researching values when listing and when selling is critical to a transaction
Knowledge of Home Construction or Condition: When a property requires repair, Realtors who are knowledgeable of new construction, cost of repairs, and values of repaired items and how those will affect selling value are all key elements to being able to negotiate and problem solve to remedy any issues as well as create value. Coordinating repairs is like being a clerk of the works on every transaction as well, overseeing all parties to meet deadlines and appropriate levels of repair.
Creativity: Realtors have to have skills of presenting alternatives to financing issues, the resources to find lenders willing to be creative and creative abilities when it comes to presenting and marketing a home to buyers. Creating alternative offer terms that both parties agree to as also. This week, after negotiation an 8 month short sale, I found my buyer was not able to qualify for his loan with a standard lender. 4 lenders later we found a creative lender and salvaged our transaction.
With these skills, Realtors can problem-solve, work with time constraints, become the liasons between all parties and will be organized enough to co-ordinate the entire transaction. If your Realtor does not exhibit all of these signs, think of finding one who does. This is one of the most important transaction you will deal within your lifetime. Some are lucky enough to have been a part of both the buying an selling side and get lucky enough to facilitate difficult transactions as Transaction Brokers.
Here’s a request however- Don’t make a Realtor give up what they have worked so hard for by asking them to pay for deferred maintenance issues, or your oversights. Their expertise brought you an offer and will see you through to the end during the negotiation process. Good Realtors help make sellers money and find buyers affordable homes and manage much more than finances, they shoulder a lot of your emotions along the way as well. They earn their money, and this is the only way they get paid. This is not their transaction, but yours.
The last trait your Realtor should have – a sense of humor. Some of the things you see and hear will make you laugh, so have fun with it! Happy buying and selling!
Our team at HomeSalesofTallahassee.com is here to help you negotiate. Wondering What Is Your Home Worth? We can help. What is your biggest home buying or selling fear? Chances are, we have a solution! Begin your Search Here and Contact Us for personable and professional advice!