Negotiation: Is The Seller Motivated?
When you're buying a piece of real estate, for example, one of the key questions to ask the listing broker is: "How motivated is this seller?"
Usually, you'll get an answer that will tell you something significant:
(1) If the realtor balks or hesitates before answering, you can fairly safely surmise the seller is not motivated, and neither is his agent, for that matter. In this case, where there is no urgency you can't look forward to picking the property up at a bargain price or achieving any kind of deal quickly.
(2) The most frequently occurring reply is either "Very" or "She's motivated." Then, you need to ask a simple question. Just repeat what the agent said: "She IS?" This should be enough to induce the person to disclose some details, for instance, that the seller purchased a new home out of state, or that she is going through a major life event, such as an empty nest or a divorce.
You can follow-up these probes with another that I've found very useful:
When do you expect a price reduction?
Again, this is a litmus test of the seller's motivation. While realtors are supposed to maintain a certain amount of confidentiality, face it, they're talkers and they want to earn a commission and the sooner the better.
Often, they'll say: "I don't know if I should tell you this but I think we might be seeing a reduction before too long."
Cool!
Now you have confirmation that there is motivation.
Another pertinent question is: "How many offers have you had?"
You might be thinking they'll never tell me that!
Wrong, many of them will and this is one more indication of a motivated seller.
By the way, all of this probing is a precursor to making an offer. If you don't see a string of green lights ahead, inviting you to tender an offer, go no farther!
Related Tags: real estate, sales speaker, keynote, conference, convention, ucla, usc, buying property, negotiation speaker
Best-selling author of 12 books and more than 1,000 articles, Dr. Gary S. Goodman is considered "The Gold Standard" in sales development, customer service, and telephone effectiveness. Top-rated as a speaker, seminar leader, and consultant, his clients extend across the globe and the organizational spectrum, from the Fortune 1000 to small businesses. He can be reached at: gary@customersatisfaction.com. Your Article Search Directory : Find in Articles
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