The best real estate investing negotiation strategies have ONE thing in common:
Honesty.
Donald Trump and Robert Kiyosaki describe what it takes to negotiate in this quick 7:29 video:
But there’s much more to this video than real estate investing negotiation strategies…
Here’s my take on it:
Even though the video talks a little about negotiation, it really is about life in business.
I’ll come back to that in a moment because I want to talk about the honesty part first.
Disclaimer– I’m not a real estate investing negotiation wizard. Evaluate my experience on your own terms…
…but it really pisses me off when real estate ‘trainers’ and ‘educators’ suggest dishonest ways of negotiating the ‘best deals’.
For instance, the “bad-partner” method.
This is where your “partner” ( whether she’s real or not ) is the “bad” one.
And you’re just the spokesperson…the ‘bearer’ of bad news.
“Sorry – my partner says I can only spend up to $250k”; “I really want to make this happen at 10% for you, but my partner would kill me if I came back with that deal – how about we split the difference and agree to 8%?”
Does it work?
Sure it does. Not all the time, but it works.
It is honest? I’m sure you know the answer to that one.
IMO, if your real estate negotiation strategies involve any form of B.S., then sooner or later it’s going to catch up to you.
And what happens when the other party wants to “talk” with your partner? ( btw, if you HAVE that bad partner, all the power to you – but bring them along and do the good-cop-bad-cop thing right there)
I’m not going to go into all the manipulative tricks that are out there because we just don’t have the space here.
My point is, just be honest when your negotiating.
“I’m only prepared/comfortable to pay $250k, and this is why.”
THIS is what being a business professional is about. Stepping up, being honest and willing to walk away based on your own boundaries…which we’ll talk about later on.
The life lessons I picked up in this video
Both Donald and Robert talk about “strength”.
The strength to think bigger and move forward.
The strength to get up when you’ve been knocked down.
And I’m sure you’ll agree with me that both of them have been knocked down a couple times.
I’ve often wondered the same thing Donald does when it comes to the strength to get back up and keep moving…
…”is it possible to develop that strength, or are we born with it?”
Because I’m an entrepreneur.
That means I get up and go. No matter what.
I don’t need plans. I just need belief…and inner strength.
And it doesn’t take me long to find that inner strength. I don’t have to dig deep for it…because it’s always been there.
So was I born with that strength or did I develop this watching my dad build his business?
I still don’t have the answer.
However, after coaching so many real estate investors over the years, I’ve found that MOST of the time we have to DIG deep to find and create their strength.
And some never find it because they’re constantly distracted with shiny objects.
Strength is not in chasing every opportunity.
Strength is in the ability to say “No” and stay true to one thing…build that first. THEN move on.
That’s what I got from this video … and there’s lot of other underlying messages.
A few more real estate investing negotiation strategies…
If you want to know about negotiation, there’s no trick – just be honest and be flexible…because BOTH of you are coming to the table wanting something.
Like I said, I’m not a master negotiator like Donald or Robert…but I can tell you the first thing I do is decide what I’m willing to give up to make the deal happen.
I don’t go into a negotiation to try and squeeze everything out of the other side so I “win”.
But I also don’t let THEM walk all over me either.
I believe that when we set boundaries in our business, our life AND in our negotiations, it helps us define the next steps.
It helps us negotiate what is good for BOTH parties.
The last tip I want to share with you is when you walk into a negotiation, go in with a mindset about how you can resolve the situation – rather than WHY aren’t they giving me [X].
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– Joey