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Don't Get Left Behind: Essential Negotiation Strategies for Modern Realtors! · The Real Estate Agent Playbook

• 0:00
  What's up, Realtors?
• 0:01
  Welcome to negotiation season.
• 0:02
  What's that mean?
• 0:04
  Well, usually in Q4, especially in my market, maybe not yours,
• 0:07
  but there are deals to be had, and negotiations kind of kick back up.
• 0:11
  Granted, we did take a, you know, two to four year hiatus through
• 0:14
  the COVID years, where negotiations were pretty straightforward.
• 0:18
  The seller pretty much got what they wanted.
• 0:19
  But now, we're in a real negotiation season, and it could last a little
• 0:23
  bit longer due to high interest rates and the market in general.
• 0:27
  So you want to make sure that you stay tuned.
• 0:29
  I'm going to give you some serious negotiation tips that I've used
• 0:32
  to become a top producing agent.
• 0:35
  Not only at my company, but in the state of Colorado.
• 0:37
  So stay tuned.
• 0:42
  What's up guys?
• 0:43
  Jeremy Kane, Real Estate Agent Playbook.
• 0:45
  Please like, comment, subscribe, share the podcast.
• 0:47
  We're going to get into this one.
• 0:48
  I love negotiation.
• 0:50
  I love everything about that part of my job.
• 0:53
  First things first, I want to tell you, spoiler alert, Don't be a jerk.
• 0:57
  That's will be in and out and weaved in and out of every single one of
• 1:01
  these things, but as an agent We don't have to be a jerk, especially in
• 1:05
  these modern times to succeed So yeah, let's take it back to the beginning
• 1:08
  days ten years ago when I was a new agent and I was like, okay Like I
• 1:11
  got to learn all this Negotiation and you know take half and give back,
• 1:16
  you know go Double what you want.
• 1:18
  Maybe you'll meet in the middle and everything will work out and everyone's
• 1:21
  happy and that's great And you know that stuff in principle still definitely works
• 1:26
  and you have strategy to it however, there's a lot more to it in the actual
• 1:31
  real estate negotiation Piece of the puzzle and so I want to share a couple
• 1:36
  secrets that I use Tips and tricks and just you know guide you along the way To
• 1:42
  make sure that you are doing your duty as an agent For your buyer or your seller, or
• 1:47
  yourself as an agent, which we'll go into a little bit and make sure that you're
• 1:51
  spot on and doing everything you can to get the best deal and the best outcome, no
• 1:56
  matter what you're negotiating, throughout this wonderful career called real estate.
• 2:01
  So let's start right there.
• 2:03
  Now, more than ever with the, you know, NAR, Lawsuits and the buyer's
• 2:07
  commission, you know, questions flying around and, you know, we've all heard it.
• 2:11
  We're all interested to see kind of how it shakes out.
• 2:15
  The negotiation may start a little bit sooner and it may be the
• 2:18
  ability for you to negotiate as a professional to provide value, right?
• 2:23
  So how are you showing up?
• 2:24
  How are you showing your value and your worth to that buyer's client or even to
• 2:30
  the, you know, listing agent and so on as.
• 2:32
  You know, those, those standard commission in the MLS is, are
• 2:36
  all obviously being wiped out.
• 2:38
  Now we're going to have to dive in there and be like, okay, well, this
• 2:43
  is, you know, this is where it's at.
• 2:45
  You know, I, this is our offer price.
• 2:47
  My buyer would like you to pay, you know, X amount commission.
• 2:50
  We may get there at some point for now, for the most part in our
• 2:53
  market, you're seeing, you know.
• 2:56
  Decent commission rate being offered on most listings, but your negotiations
• 3:01
  has to start with education explanation up front to your buyers, as well
• 3:06
  as, you know, negotiating with your sellers, the listing agent, like, Hey,
• 3:10
  this is how, how it's going to be, you know, these are our options, right?
• 3:15
  And that bottom line is always something that we discuss in
• 3:18
  those listing appointments.
• 3:19
  We just have always kind of skimmed over that.
• 3:22
  That commission piece every, ever since I've been in the business 10 years ago,
• 3:26
  I've always said, you know, commissions are a hundred percent negotiable.
• 3:29
  This is what I see that is best benefited my sellers and you know, so on.
• 3:33
  So you can build that script, but the honest truth is you're going to
• 3:37
  have to have these conversations a little bit more upfront and even,
• 3:40
  especially on the buy side right now.
• 3:43
  So that negotiation and that kind of understanding.
• 3:46
  Of your value proposition, what you're bringing to the table and your ability
• 3:49
  to communicate that is absolutely huge.
• 3:51
  And that's, so that's the first negotiation point that you can have
• 3:56
  as well as, you know, at some point the buyers may, you know, vet you
• 4:00
  based on how you can negotiate that because they will see that if you
• 4:04
  have those strong negotiation skills, that it may benefit them down the
• 4:07
  road throughout the transaction.
• 4:09
  So that's definitely the first piece and, you know, kind of the hot topic.
• 4:14
  But let's get into it a little further with the ability to negotiate.
• 4:18
  We must understand the client's motives.
• 4:21
  What are the clients looking for?
• 4:22
  What's most important to them?
• 4:24
  You know, what's, what are they willing to slide on?
• 4:27
  I will tell you that sometimes when I'm talking to sellers, I tell them, I
• 4:31
  say, okay, this is kind of the market.
• 4:32
  And I say, I want you guys to discuss your bottom line.
• 4:35
  And I don't really want to know that, right?
• 4:37
  I don't want to know your bottom line because the last thing I want you to
• 4:41
  think is, you know, if we get an offer and we end up at that bottom line
• 4:45
  that I was somehow, you know, tipped off the buyer's agent or whatever.
• 4:49
  So that's one strategy that I use so that I truly don't know what their
• 4:53
  bottom line is, you know, unless we're, we're up against, you know, overpriced
• 4:58
  listing or something like that.
• 4:59
  And you know, every situation is different, but we're going to sit down.
• 5:02
  We're going to say, okay, you know, this is, this is my strategy to
• 5:06
  get you the most for your property.
• 5:08
  But what's important to you, right?
• 5:10
  Is it important for you to have a quick close or is it important for
• 5:14
  you to have a post closing occupancy or is it important for you to, you
• 5:19
  know, not have to take that hot tub?
• 5:22
  Right, or things like that that are, you know, kind of up in the air, kind
• 5:26
  of negotiable items within it, you know.
• 5:28
  Do you absolutely love that refrigerator?
• 5:30
  You want to leave it here?
• 5:31
  Well, I need to know that so I can negotiate on your behalf
• 5:34
  to hopefully keep that dream refrigerator in your, in your family.
• 5:37
  Just kidding.
• 5:38
  So that's the first thing and that's one thing that I think we
• 5:41
  don't always Remember as agents is our clients motives like we need
• 5:47
  to understand them as a person.
• 5:48
  This is no longer, you know, a one in one out.
• 5:51
  This is not a Zillow lead situation where, you know, it's very transactional and you
• 5:56
  know, internet leads and things like that.
• 5:58
  Sure, they still exist, but I think that that's the first and foremost
• 6:01
  point is what's your client want?
• 6:04
  What's your client able to do, from the sell side again, I don't tell them to tell
• 6:08
  me a bottom line because I don't want to be anywhere close to their bottom line.
• 6:11
  To be honest, as a real estate agent, my job is to get them the most
• 6:14
  sort of money as a buyer's agent.
• 6:16
  You probably need to know what their bottom line is, you know, through
• 6:19
  a lender and that kind of stuff.
• 6:20
  But you also, you know, don't want to show your hand.
• 6:24
  So honestly, as you know, in sports, as you know, real estate agent playbook,
• 6:29
  the game plan, you have to be willing to adjust your strategies based on what your
• 6:35
  client and the person that's actually paying your paycheck, Is, is up for, and
• 6:40
  that'll take you to the next level, right?
• 6:42
  If you hit all of these points and you know, for, for one, you know, on the
• 6:46
  listing side, you've heard my story where I had a lady who had listed her
• 6:51
  home three times with three different agents over three different years or
• 6:54
  whatever it was, and she mentioned in the listing appointment that you could
• 6:58
  walk to the schools, to the grocery store without crossing a major street.
• 7:02
  When I did the video.
• 7:04
  You know, featuring the property.
• 7:05
  I took some drone footage and I showed that and I said it verbally in my
• 7:10
  review after the transaction was over.
• 7:12
  She said, Jeremy was the only real estate agent that highlighted this thing.
• 7:16
  And the way I knew it is because I just listened to her, right?
• 7:19
  I was at the listing appointment and that's what it did.
• 7:21
  So that's taking something that's a little bit.
• 7:24
  You know, maybe some agents would think it's obvious.
• 7:26
  Maybe some agents wouldn't think it's a great, you know, perk to the property,
• 7:30
  but it was important to the seller.
• 7:32
  So I took that and I put it into play, into action in my marketing,
• 7:36
  as well as, you know, throughout my conversations with other agents.
• 7:40
  And so that's huge.
• 7:42
  And the next, the next important piece of negotiation is
• 7:45
  reading the other agent, right?
• 7:48
  Having a conversation with the other agent.
• 7:50
  This starts by not being an asshole.
• 7:52
  Right.
• 7:52
  And I'm going to say it straight out.
• 7:54
  We no longer are in an environment where it has to be cutthroat, right?
• 7:59
  The knowledge is vast, right?
• 8:01
  We're no longer waiting on Fridays for a magazine to come out with listings.
• 8:05
  Like the, the information is out there.
• 8:08
  So now our jobs have to be to provide value to our clients.
• 8:11
  But I think the best way to do that is get along with the agent on the other
• 8:15
  side, because let's face it, if we're not getting along with the agent, we let our
• 8:19
  egos kind of get involved and we don't.
• 8:22
  Things don't work out, maybe because we're like, Oh, this person's this, you know,
• 8:25
  whatever, and you have that attitude.
• 8:27
  Well, no one's getting paid, so no one wins.
• 8:29
  So there's absolutely no reason to be a jerk to the agent on the other side.
• 8:33
  Whether they're brand new and don't, you know, know anything, or they're seasoned
• 8:37
  vets that are doing things old school, and it's not the way you would do it.
• 8:41
  It doesn't matter.
• 8:42
  That's not your client.
• 8:42
  Your job is to serve your client and your client is best served
• 8:46
  with a culpable relationship with the other agent on the other side.
• 8:50
  And so as problem solvers, it's really interesting to hear the good agents,
• 8:54
  you know, kind of trash other agents and say, Oh, I'm so happy that all the bad
• 8:58
  agents are getting out of the business.
• 8:59
  That's not, that's not my style.
• 9:01
  Right.
• 9:01
  As you can tell this content for real estate agents that I put out both on my
• 9:05
  Instagram and here definitely go over to the RE agent playbook on Instagram.
• 9:09
  Give me a follow subscribe here if you like what you're hearing, but
• 9:13
  you must get along with other agents.
• 9:15
  You must, you know, have the common goal of getting the home, the buyer into
• 9:20
  the home that they want to buy and sell the home that the seller wants to sell.
• 9:23
  Cause ultimately the buyer's money is paying you and the seller's
• 9:27
  net is affected by, by what it is at this stage of the game.
• 9:30
  So that's super important to really understand, but read the other
• 9:33
  agent, ask them questions, right?
• 9:36
  It's, it's really interesting to me, especially in the competitive market.
• 9:39
  When I just get blind, you know, offers, obviously you have the investor offers.
• 9:43
  That's not what I'm talking about as much here because that's a volume play.
• 9:47
  But you know, when I get a, I have a listing and I have a.
• 9:50
  An offer from an agent who I haven't talked to, right?
• 9:54
  What are we doing?
• 9:55
  Like pick up the phone and have a conversation, right?
• 9:58
  Not, you know, there's rules on what you can divulge and that kind
• 10:01
  of stuff, but there's no rules against asking questions, right?
• 10:05
  And so I can usually.
• 10:07
  Almost pinpoint exactly what it's going to take to win an offer before
• 10:11
  I write it before I waste, you know, 15 minutes writing an offer that I
• 10:14
  know is not going to get accepted.
• 10:16
  I will do that a couple of times, but if I have that information, I have that
• 10:21
  knowledge and I take it back to my client and say, Hey, this is what I think.
• 10:24
  I think it's going to take 526, to.
• 10:27
  You know, get this one.
• 10:28
  What do you think?
• 10:29
  Is it worth it?
• 10:30
  Here's what the comps say, you know, when you have that conversation and it
• 10:33
  depends on how far over it is or how far under it is or whatever, but then
• 10:37
  the budget and the client's feeling, so you take it back to them, it's kind
• 10:41
  of like a second showing like, okay, so let's say that 500, but I think it's
• 10:44
  going to take five 26 K does it still, you know, check all the boxes and is
• 10:48
  it still as amazing as you thought it was when we walked through at five 26
• 10:53
  and they say, yes, then let's roll.
• 10:55
  Almost to the T.
• 10:57
  I can follow up with the agent afterwards if I got it or I didn't get it.
• 11:01
  Obviously, I got it.
• 11:02
  I know exactly what's at.
• 11:03
  But if I call up the agent and say, hey man, what's the,
• 11:06
  what's the contract price?
• 11:07
  I just want to, you know, give some feedback to my, my buyer
• 11:10
  on, you know, where we were at.
• 11:12
  Almost every time I'm within 5, 000 because I have that conversation with
• 11:17
  the agent, ask them what it's going to take, ask them what's important, right?
• 11:21
  Because I need to know, Hey, these guys need a post closing occupancy of 60 days.
• 11:25
  And my client's lease is up in 30 days.
• 11:27
  You know from right now.
• 11:28
  So there's a 60 day gap there Is this even a possibility to put together
• 11:33
  without having someone homeless, right?
• 11:36
  And that that could be a big thing Oh, my mom lives down the street.
• 11:39
  I was moving to her basement or yeah, I'm new here.
• 11:41
  I don't know anyone I'm not moving anyone into my house So, you know, that's,
• 11:46
  that's where that kind of goes awry.
• 11:48
  And so you, you save yourself a lot of time by having these conversations
• 11:52
  with other agents and negotiating little things like that ahead of
• 11:56
  time and seeing if there is a common ground within that you'll build
• 12:00
  rapport with that other agent, the conversations, and they'll be like.
• 12:04
  Oh, I, you know, this person's kind of on top of it.
• 12:06
  I like how ahead of the game they are.
• 12:08
  There's making sure checking all their boxes so that if you do submit an
• 12:11
  offer and you do have all the terms that work out that they told you,
• 12:15
  probably then you're ready to go.
• 12:17
  So that's a huge part of the negotiation as well in this modern era with.
• 12:21
  You know, the advancement of cell phones and technology and
• 12:24
  texting and, and all the things.
• 12:26
  And sometimes people are super close, close to the vest about it,
• 12:30
  but you can even tell them, right?
• 12:32
  I can even say, how many offers do you have?
• 12:34
  Right?
• 12:34
  We have two in hand.
• 12:36
  We have zero.
• 12:36
  We have this and I can base it because I'm in the market and I know it.
• 12:40
  I can give my clients a decent strategy.
• 12:43
  And there's sometimes you just get rolled right by cash offer.
• 12:46
  The seller wants a 10 day close and.
• 12:48
  You know, I have lenders that can do that, but maybe you don't.
• 12:51
  And, that's where, you know, it goes from there.
• 12:54
  So make sure that that relationship with the agent is good.
• 12:58
  Make sure you're taking care of it.
• 12:59
  Oh my goodness.
• 13:00
  Like when you go to showings, make sure the doors are locked.
• 13:02
  Make sure that all the directions are followed.
• 13:04
  Make sure we're not talking about negotiation secrets or plans, on camera,
• 13:10
  because there's cameras everywhere.
• 13:11
  All of those things go into the art of negotiation and something
• 13:15
  that's absolutely key to success.
• 13:17
  Next is the art of active listening, right?
• 13:19
  Whether it's your client, whether, you know, it's the agent conversation,
• 13:23
  whether it's someone in the neighborhood.
• 13:25
  If you are listening more than you're talking and less, more than you're
• 13:32
  selling, I tell people all the time, I've never sold a house, right?
• 13:36
  I don't walk into a house and be like, oh, you know, look at this
• 13:39
  and check this out and whatever.
• 13:41
  Just not me.
• 13:42
  Right?
• 13:43
  I want to make sure, and I, I am scaling up the, the buyer.
• 13:48
  What's their saying?
• 13:49
  What's their thought process?
• 13:50
  What's their, you know, emotions?
• 13:51
  What's their, you know, what's their feedback?
• 13:54
  Nonverbal, right?
• 13:55
  That's what I want to do.
• 13:56
  I'm saying, okay, well, this furnace is older.
• 13:59
  How's your reaction, right?
• 14:00
  Like this may come up at the inspection and probably not going to do it
• 14:03
  in a competitive market or, you know, whatever it looks like there.
• 14:07
  So that's where you really have to kind of step back and just listen, listen to
• 14:11
  the neighborhood, listen to the, you know.
• 14:14
  The buyer, while they're in the home, listen to the buyer after
• 14:17
  they're, you know, out of the home and then let the agent talk and
• 14:21
  let the agent tell you what's up.
• 14:22
  If you're at an open house, give as much information on traffic and just
• 14:25
  listen and every time you listen, you're just gathering data, right?
• 14:30
  Predictive analytics.
• 14:31
  You will get hints about what it's going to take to get that
• 14:35
  property under contract, what the sellers may be, you know.
• 14:38
  Interested in and looking for, you can tell just, I mean, not necessarily
• 14:41
  listening, but just by looking at the house, like, what are they like?
• 14:45
  What are their interests?
• 14:46
  You know, that kind of stuff.
• 14:48
  And you can definitely take a lot in and use all of this stuff when
• 14:52
  it goes into creating an offer.
• 14:54
  Right?
• 14:54
  Oh, it's May and it looks like they have, you know, or it's April and it looks
• 14:59
  like they have a high school senior.
• 15:01
  Maybe they're going to want to close after, you know, graduation.
• 15:04
  Maybe we can throw that in and be really flexible with time.
• 15:07
  Just an example, but the clues are there.
• 15:09
  Right?
• 15:10
  Success leaves little clues, and so does success in real estate.
• 15:13
  So, make sure that you're taking that in, you're actively listening.
• 15:16
  Just like I said with the, you know, listening, talking about walking to
• 15:20
  the schools and the grocery store.
• 15:22
  Just listen, take notes, gather that data.
• 15:26
  And then implement and use it at some point.
• 15:28
  And it's not always in the negotiation.
• 15:30
  It's not always to get that, that sale, right?
• 15:33
  I use this a ton on scouting trips, right?
• 15:36
  Or any time I'm with a client, I'm gathering data on what they're saying.
• 15:40
  If they're like, Oh, absolutely not.
• 15:42
  That house backs to a busy street.
• 15:43
  Well, I'm never taking them to a house again that backs to a busy street.
• 15:47
  Because when something comes up and it looks all pretty inside.
• 15:50
  It backs to a busy street, I say, hey, you know, this backs to street XYZ, um, did
• 15:55
  that change or is that still a part of it?
• 15:57
  And they're like, oh, we didn't even notice, right?
• 15:59
  Well, that just saved me an hour and a half of time to drive 30 minutes over
• 16:02
  there, you know, show the house, make sure it's all locked up and come back.
• 16:06
  Right.
• 16:07
  So you have to listen all the way through.
• 16:09
  It's not just listen for clues so you can get the contract accepted.
• 16:12
  It's listen and be active, in observance of all things, body
• 16:17
  language and everything with your clients, and with the people that
• 16:20
  enter into the, you know, experience.
• 16:23
  And then back to the basics, right?
• 16:24
  The art of negotiation, it's both a science and an art, and you have to kind
• 16:29
  of take the old school stuff and kind of implement it into the new school stuff.
• 16:33
  The modern agent is listening to their client, is building that relationship,
• 16:39
  is able to portray that, you know, whether that's social media or where
• 16:42
  they're doing it, they're taking that information and I take my experiences.
• 16:46
  I put it on content.
• 16:47
  Look, here I am while you're here, like the video.
• 16:50
  Subscribe, give me a call, whatever you need.
• 16:52
  I'm always here to help.
• 16:53
  But that's where you can really focus and understand that negotiation is kind of on
• 16:59
  a continuum and it's changing every day and everything's going to be different
• 17:03
  because every situation is different.
• 17:04
  We're dealing with humans here and that's extremely important.
• 17:08
  So I hope this helped you kind of understand my process of negotiation.
• 17:13
  It's really about gathering data.
• 17:14
  It's really about, you know, your brokerage relationship with your client.
• 17:18
  And I promise you that if you are dialed in and you're present in all of these
• 17:23
  areas, you can absolutely be the best negotiator possible for your client.
• 17:29
  And like I said, that doesn't necessarily mean getting them, you know, the
• 17:33
  getting 5, 000 towards them versus the seller or anything like that.
• 17:37
  Certainly, contract negotiations are part of it, but the art of negotiation
• 17:42
  and using all the things and the data that you've learned along the way from
• 17:46
  an inspection and from your showing and, you know, from the neighbor.
• 17:50
  All the things that you can use in order to better suit your client, better
• 17:54
  prepare your client, especially if you're on the buy side for what it's going to
• 17:57
  be like when they move into that home.
• 17:59
  And that's ultimately the negotiation that matters is that with, you know, whoever
• 18:05
  comes into play and all the information, the best negotiators have all of this
• 18:10
  information and if it goes down this road, they can just grab this piece of data.
• 18:14
  Slide it in there and say, this is where we're at.
• 18:16
  And finally, again, don't be a jerk.
• 18:18
  We're all in this together.
• 18:19
  We have to do this to get paid.
• 18:21
  If you're in agreement with that, give me an amen or a yes
• 18:24
  or something in the comments.
• 18:26
  I would love to see that.
• 18:28
  And I hope you have a good one.
• 18:29
  Please like comment, subscribe, share the podcast and we'll talk to you next time.