Our CAN system - Negotiate | James Buyer Advocates, Melbourne's Property Buyer Agents

Negotiate

Clarity

Assess

Negotiate

What Are You Going to Do This Weekend on a Pass-In?
Look Pal, it’s Take It or Leave It.

That comment doesn’t work for you!

That’s good because it doesn’t work for most top end selling agents either despite the popular mythology that agro, threats and rudeness form the basic toolkit for every million dollar plus agent negotiation.

Quality agent relationships built up over many years are a cornerstone of our negotiation process.

And that sentence for some will bring out the old chestnuts like "too close"; sycophantic; whatever.

But being frank with you the 2 minute noodle agent rapport building process, the middle east solution for negotiations or at the other extreme the fairy godmother plan (fingers crossed they won’t rip me off) doesn’t work for anybody but other buyers (you missed out) or the seller (you paid too much when you didn’t have to).

Brighton: 4 Dawson Avenue: Matthew Morley in Action. Bidderman 3. Bought under the hammer for $2,460,000 or $3770 a sqm for Golden Mile land.

Alternatively the stick your head in the sand, let’s see what happens at auction and then we’ll negotiate also has some followers.

You're Joking?

You’re joking aren’t you! Did you know that in 2009, which was a strong auction year, we bought less than 15% of the homes we bought between one and four million at auction within 20% of the agents quoted price. That’s right around 1 in 7 homes went something like what you might have thought and we are allowing for a whopping 20% spread - that is $400,000 on a $2m property. 85% of the homes we purchased from Balwyn to Brighton, from Albert Park to Armadale were not "straightforward as quoted auctions".

Lets Haggle

Lets haggle, you can do that! Ok down to Harvey Norman today and see if you can haggle $150 off a computer. Can’t do that then what hope on a home. If you an Australian you ,may feel a little uncomfortable. If you from an Indian or Chinese background you may feel more comfortable but are you haggling at the right level. Have you got what we call the framing right and I ask the same questions of the Aussies and Anglos out there as well. Are you starting negotiations at the right level?

Too Low

Too Low and you are dismissed. Big Jump to get back in the deal and even if you are now at the right point the seller is waiting for another big jump.

Too High

Too high and the deals yours but so is the bigger and unnecessary mortgage or the later dinner party/inner personal anxiety knowing you were a way too generous buyer.

Techniques

The squeeze
Silence
Walk away
Double tag - one responding and one listening
Higher authority
You instead of us
Multiple offers
Over the top - new player
The trial agreement - if I can get my guy to
The deadline
Build the pace
Slow the pace

Hope no selling agent reads this but I think the quality selling agent knows how to counteract them and may well have a few of their own.

Another offer - can’t tell you - but its looking pretty strong.
Vendor thinking of taking if off the market - offer now to keep you in it
Interest is around the $2.3m level and rising
Nice offer but the vendor says it’s not enough
Don’t ring you back
See that person out front they’ve just made us a better post auction offer. Don’t know why they didn’t bid
Is this your best offer
Deadline is tomorrow

So if you don’t have the new whizz bang negotiation technique that only you and no agent saw on Auction Squad or Better Homes and Garden or the Lifestyle Channel then please read on.

This Is What Works

Experience
Relationships
Process
Preparation
Stats

Excuse Our Language

Excuse our language - Balls/ Chutzpah - Not our politest point but at least we wrote it - are you engaging somebody who has the balls to tell you this is a mistake? - there is a better option.

Alternatively somebody who can offer the unexpected in the heat of battle - but not just talk the talk, actually do it.

Somebody who says no don’t offer -because they are experienced and well paid - not just desperate for your fee at any cost.

Somebody who is lateral enough to find a way around a buyer at $2.45m and a seller at $2.62m and buy the home after 4 hours negotiation where the buyer paid $2.45m and they seller got his $2.62m.

Somebody who when was offered a property at $31m countered with $12m and eventually the property was bought for less than $13million and then it was paid for with put and call options over a longer than normal period.

Somebody who said no, lets not offer $3.2m pre auction lets wait till auction where $2.5m was paid.

Somebody who bought a Peninsula home AT FULL PRICE and was then offered more by 3 separate buyers prior to settlement.

Somebody who bought a property in 1994 at less than $400,000 and then sold in 2005 for more than $2.24million and this represented one of the homes in their investment portfolio.

This weekend what are you going to do when things like they do six times out of 7 DON’T GO TO PLAN.

And it’s not just Auctions. There are private sales, expressions of interests, off market negotiations. Your best interests are served if we are included from the start - coming in half way through does not always being you the best result.

Kristen Hatt talking with Glen Coutinho from Hocking Stuart about Boardroom Auction rules

Great Negotiating

GREAT NEGOTIATING is not about missing out - anybody can do that.

GREAT NEGOTIATING is not about paying over the odds by a long way and spending all your money and then some - anybody can do that.

GREAT NEGOTIATING is about getting what you want at a price you are happy with.

Why Should The Seller Have the Odds in Their Favour?

Why should a SELLER have all the odds in their favour - the market maybe shifting direction - ARE YOU?

If you think we can help you with Negotiations then please view our contact details.

Please take the time to read about the other parts of our CAN sytem; Step 1 Clarity and Step 2 Assess.

Auction in 24 Hours?

Getting ready for an auction in 24 hours - We can do this

Get an architect or builder to assess the home’s current condition. A pest inspection in many cases is also money well spent.
Documentation needs to be checked by a solicitor - not a conveyancer, but a solicitor who can give you a legal opinion on its validity.
Get some professional help - and we don’t mean the help that involves somebody giving you medication. We mean a professional buyer advocate, experienced in the type and price of property you are looking at. A buyer advocate experienced in the ways of the other side (granted good selling agents also know a thing or two about managing buyer advocates - so make sure it’s an experienced advocate at the price levels and property types you are looking at).
Of course we are going to say get a buyer advocate - but we can show you numerous examples where we have had a lot of money left in our pocket (or should I say your money stayed in your pocket) when acting on behalf of clients who freely admit they would have planted it down on the table if asked. This is not a slight on selling agents - to the contrary, this only confirms why 99 per cent of all sellers hire selling agents because they do work, they do make a difference and, in this market, good selling agents make a difference more than ever. For some reason, many buyers are embarrassed or feel it’s an assault on their manhood or feel they can, on their first or second go at auctions, match it with the best in the business (high-end selling agents) and therefore they don’t hire a professional buyer advocate.
Get a FIRM idea on different value ranges - in today’s market, last year’s data is a guide but not a bible. The market is always shifting and next week it may shift again - we are in volatile times, so you need different price guides for different situations. ON THE SAME PROPERTY.
Get a plan - flowchart scenarios, prepare scripts on what to say when under pressure.
Practice your breathing, your scripts. We know some clients laugh when they read this bit. It’s true. If you cannot get up in front of 20 office colleagues and give an off-the-cuff talk on why your dream home is in fact not your dream home, then are you sure you are the right man (or woman) for the job this weekend against experienced buyers and quality selling agents? Alternatively, have you the skills to take advantage of poor selling agent preparation?

OK, So Now to Auction Day

Does the auction feel alive or not?
Should I open the bidding or not? The advantage to opening the bidding is you can make it lower than a vendor bid and, if you are smart, that may stop the vendor bidding. The disadvantage is it gives your buying opponents, Nervous Nellie or Nervous Neil, a confidence boost that somebody else likes this and then they start bidding.
You’ve bid $1.83 million. The vendor bid is $2.1 million. OH MY GOD. What do I do now????

Roll forward: it’s passed into you and you are sitting in the lounge room of your dreams and your final bid was $1.125 million and the agent has said you can buy it for $1.35 million. What do you do?

Thoughts that Run Through Our Mind:

The quote
The agent and his or her experience (What have been their recent successes? Or not successes?)
Was there any other bidding?
Has the vendor bought (research beforehand)

Negotiate with agents

Who we are

What Are You Going to Do This Weekend on a Pass-In?
Look Pal, it’s Take It or Leave It.