Mind Strategies

The best negotiators I know are Chloe and Pickles and Moo Moo. Chloe is our little Cavachon. She has a desperate whine and at times will stand on her hind legs digging her paws up and down your leg like she is in the 50-yard dash and being chased by a coyote.

Pickles, our tiny Persian cat, takes a different approach and is super vocal. She opens her mouth super wide and lets out a series of meows. Both do not stop until they get a sample of food like they are waiting in the Costco hors d’oeuvre line.

And then there is Moo Moo, the other Persian. Moo Moo jumps on the bed early in the morning and just sits still. He won’t move from that position until someone gets up and feeds him.

All 3 are excellent negotiators with different successful techniques. But they are missing one strategy that is less straight forward from their arsenal. Mind negotiating.

We are hired to get deals done. Here are 9 Seller and Buyer “Mind Strategies” we use to get a deal across the finish line….

Seller Mind Strategies

1. Let them see another buyer.

Yes, I’ve timed this so the Buyer sees another buyer coming out of the house before they come in or right after they arrive. The anxiety it creates is delicious.

2. Don’t return a call.

Nothing makes me prouder than getting a call from an outside agent complaining that our agent didn’t get back to them. It’s almost always because we are deploying mind strategies. Americans like to get deals done. The rest of the world is much more patient in negotiations. Sometimes you have to act like the rest of the world. Slooooow it down. Silence creates anxiety. We want the Buyer to call up their agent and say out loud, “What if there is another buyer out there?!?”

3. Sunday Open House.

At times the biggest purpose of an open house is to have it for negotiating power. If I’m showing a home on a weekday and the buyers agent says, “can we get back in for a second showing”, I make sure to invite them to a Sunday open house. The Buyer then feels the loss of someone taking away their home. If they want it, they work to get the deal done before Sunday and insist they want the open house cancelled.

4. Don’t want to insult them.

Get them to counter their counter.

If the offer is low, much of the time, I want the Buyer to counter their own counteroffer. “My client doesn’t want to insult them if they really can’t afford this home. Please thank your clients for their interest.” To me this works much better than the tired, “They were insulted!!!!” This reverses it. Now it’s the Buyer who is insulted politely. The goal is to get the counter up before you start splitting the difference going back and forth. Not so easy to do and it takes a good agent to read the situation before executing.

Buyer Mind Strategies

1. Wait till next year.

As a Chicagoan, that is the famous saying from Cubbie fans. It’s a nightmare when a Seller hears that as they know the Buyer can walk away.

2. Don’t return a call!

Silence can be useful in negotiation. Unless of course you want the house desperately.

3. Say nothing!

We train our clients to give very limited feedback when showing. The less you say the better. The quiet types are the hardest to read.

4. Talk about other homes you’re going to see!

It’s good to talk about other homes you are looking at. This lets the listing agent know there is plenty of interest. Also, its best to talk about other areas. The less they are married to an area, the more edge it gives the Buyer and tells the Seller that they don’t have to buy.

5. Going to go look on Sunday.

A listing agent’s worst nightmare is they might find something else. It’s always best from a Seller perspective to wrap deals up once the Buyer is ready. I’ve used this line to a listing agent many times. “See if you can get your clients to accept. I’m already getting the vibes of let’s go look at “these” on Sunday.”

Bonus Mind Negotiation

If all else fails, remind them if the deal doesn’t get done, that one spouse is going to talk about not selling or buying the house they wanted F-O-R-E-V-E-R. That mind strategy might be the best of them all.