DO BE QUIET AND LIS T AND LISTEN
Back to the power of silence: whether you are approached by the buyer or the buyer’s agent, remaining quiet is one of the best ways to negotiate the sale. Developing a feel-good, friendly relationship with either the buyer or his agent might lull you into dropping your guard and can interfere with your focused efforts to sell your home quickly and for a good price. Buyers who are uncomfortable with your silence may want to break it and, in doing so, end up providing too much information, crucial for you to know. Again, the more knowledgeable you are about the buyer, the better poised you will be in negotiations. Remember, the first one to speak loses!
DON'T BE MOVED BY AWKWARD SILENCE
When you are in negotiations and the buyer makes an offer, don’t be compelled to respond immediately. Whether it be 10 seconds or 10 minutes, make the buyer or his/her agent speak first. Buyer's offers are typically submitted with the expectation that the seller will have 24 hours to respond. I like to wait until the evening of the expiration date to begin negotiations. Not only does it give the buyers a full day to envision themselves in the house and to begin dropping, "emotional anchors", the silence also sends a non-verbal message that there is no element of desperation present on your part as a seller. It also puts a shortened time constraint on coming to terms, so the process of negotiating and getting the buyers to put their "best and final" offer on the table is expedited. This works to your advantage because they are now under pressure to get to "yes" before their offer expires at midnight. I have used this technique countless times, successfully. They may even see your silence as disappointment and choose to revise their offer or offer a concession just to break the silence. Conversely, do not let experienced negotiators use this same tactic to get you to accept successively lower offers without a counteroffer from you and
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