Realtor’s knowledge can help prevent negotiating mistakes

You’ve heard that everything is negotiable when it comes to real estate: price, closing date, who pays for new carpet in the bedrooms, and whether the patio furniture comes with the house. Any of these can be part of the deal.

Just remember that whether you think negotiating in a real estate transaction is exciting or terrifying, you won’t get the things you don’t ask for. If there is something special you want, speak up.

Your Realtor is an expert at hashing out contracts so both parties are content. Whatever your opinion of the process of reaching consensus may be, here are some mistakes to avoid when negotiating a deal.

Too many people let emotion dictate their negotiations. Don’t get angry when a buyer presents a low offer for your home. They’re not insulting you, and they don’t think your house is a poorly maintained shack. The buyer needs to start the negotiation somewhere and may be testing the waters to see how low you’ll go.

Or the negotiation tactics could have been formed in a country where negotiating is handled differently. Whatever the case, if you see the offer as an insult and choose not to counter, you may be cutting off the process that would have resulted in a sale.

On the buying side, don’t get bent out of shape if a seller rejects your offer or counters with his original asking price. You may have determined that you presented a very fair price for the house. Good for you. Try again or move on. It’s not personal.

Keeping emotions out of a deal also means maintaining a business relationship and not feeling sorry for the other side. If the seller rejects your fair offer based on “needing more money for my retirement fund,” ask for a reason that’s relevant to the property sale.