Negotiation Strategies For High End Real Estate
As a luxury property agent, one’s personal power and reputation enhances their ability to successfully negotiate an offer. It is their standing in the market and their top-most position that makes them the go-to negotiator. The perception of power, prestige and standing are huge factors while negotiating. A key to successfully negotiating offers is to give the buyer or seller an analysis based on the market knowledge and comparable sales. To maintain integrity in the market place, we believe an agent should charge a fixed percentage of commission to any of their clients, irrespective of the property value. It is recommended that an agent develop a fee structure or policy that is unanimous for all their clients. This gives the clients the confidence that they will not be cheated or deceived.
High End Real Estate Negotiations
We believe that one of the main responsibilities of a real estate consultant is to get their client the best price possible through negotiation. Sure, negotiating can get undermining and unnerving at times, but an agent must recognize that negotiations are a mandatory clause in the career of any property agent. A skilled negotiator is of paramount importance to the buyer or seller looking at dealing in high-end properties. More often than not, a client will select an agent based mainly on their ability to successfully negotiate a deal in their favor. Since competing on the real estate field for clients who are regular negotiators of deals that run into crores of rupees in their own respective businesses can be intimidating, the following strategies should be implemented to ensure successful negotiations.
Negotiating from a Position of Power
One of the essential teachings I’ve received from the real estate business is that a Realtor must strive for a position as a leader in the marketplace. As somebody who is negotiating real estate deals for high-end buyers and sellers, an agent should make sure to work towards achieving a position of power in the field. Only then will they be approached to handle high end real estate deals and negotiations that run into crores of rupees. Once the agent comes to be known as a force to reckon with, they will, automatically, prevail over the other skilled yet non-persistent agents because a buyer or seller always wants to put their high end property in the hands of somebody who is perceived as responsible and powerful in the real estate property market. Becoming a distinguished achiever in the market place is a constantly prevailing journey. Thus, being realistic in one’s goals and achievements is imperative. As a realtor in the luxury market striving for preeminence, one must realize that almost all the high-end buyers and sellers are preeminent in their respective professions.
So, while striving for excellence, and towards success, we believe that we must put in the required hard work and effort to be able to match the standing of a high-end real estate negotiator.
• Assumptions, Negotiations and Primary Objectives
Many a time, the one thing that gets a property deal in trouble is assumptions. When an agent makes assumptions about the needs and wants of their clients and of the people on the other side of the table, they might end up taking off on a non-productive course on action. Negotiating based on assumptions can end up leading to a dead-end. Therefore, in order to avoid an unfortunate situation such as this, a skilled luxury real estate agent must negotiate by understanding, and not based on assumptions. When dealing with buyers who are determined and insistent on paying only a fixed percentage of the selling price, we as agents must try and provide market evidence based on the extraordinary value of the property transaction to assure the buyer.
Providing the unsure and hesitant buyer with data on the total cost of building and managing similar properties, assessment ratios and other evidence based on market research can help when trying to convince the buyer to finalise a deal at the set price.
As a seller, one must hire a property consultant who is an expert in the sale of luxury real estate and who possesses the knowledge and experience that the market demands. He / she must be skilled enough to put down a well-mapped plan that manages to create a sense of urgency for purchase among the buyers for the purpose of the property. Sometimes, a seller’s agent might often encounter sellers who are not willing to pay more than a certain percentage on the selling price in commission. We have often noticed that the higher the price during negotiations, the lesser the seller wishes to pay their agent as commission. To avoid situations like these, we always inform the seller about the negotiation policies, if any, related to the selling beforehand.
With every negotiation and interaction, the agent’s goal should be to dig deep and know why exactly the sellers want what they say they want. As important as the process of negotiation is, being an agent one must be well-aware of the reason behind every step taken by the client, too.
If a buyer says they are looking for a property that offers complete privacy, as agents it is easy to assume that they’re probably looking for a secluded property. But, it might not be so. Thus, as a high end property agent, it is important to have the negotiating points out there in the open. Also, agents should make sure to create a checklist of the client’s wants and needs, but most importantly, they must keep in mind their top priority while looking to buy. This might include financial needs, potential relocation in the future, better deals, physical additions to the house, if any, and pet or child accommodation and safety measures. Whatever the priority, a responsible property consultant should keep their priorities on top of the checklist. Many times, a certain priority while looking for a place overshadows the others, and this should be taken into consideration before the other factors. Hence, prior to negotiating, the property consultant must establish and uncover the primary objectives and final goals of their clients by asking as many questions as need be.
• Outcomes are inevitable
In a challenging real estate market, like the one today, sales are few and far in-between thus making it easy for the property agent in charge to get attached to the deal and thus, the outcome. After all, cracking a deal means receiving a big, fat paycheck as commission. But, as a real estate agent, one must realize and understand that during negotiations, certain outcomes are inevitable, and so, they must make it a point to stray away from any attachments to the outcome.
Attachments can lead to drifting from the negotiation process and hamper the work of the agent as they might begin to take into consideration the position of their clients rather than their needs and wants while negotiating the deal. Whether on the listing side or buying side, a real estate agent must let their high net worth clients know that though they will give the deal their 100% hard work and dedication, they are not desperate to complete it. 
Sometimes, due to certain circumstances, an agent might have to take the decision to walk away from a deal. And sometimes, the aggressive pricing of the property or impractical wants on part of an egotistical buyer, might demand a change in approach to the deal on the agent’s part. Therefore, the concept of being detached from the outcome is a bitter yet sweet lesson a property agent must learn early on in their career, especially when they are dealing with high end luxury real estate properties and owners.
What makes real estate agents professionals is their ability to negotiate and find middle ground for both the teams, thus, successfully closing deals by leading the way for their clients and guiding them through the process of buying and selling.
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