Negotiation strategy

This is what I learned by taking a negotiation class at UC Berkeley.


When I am writing an offer, I ask my buyers to think about three numbers.

1. Target price – the reasonable number at which they would like to get the home.

2. The highest number they are willing to pay. This number they should keep to themselves. But I also ask them: if someone outbids you by $5,000, will you be okay with that? We are trying to get to the highest number. The number they absolutely can’t go over.

3. Our initial offer – I help with this one. It is lower than the target price. Especially if we are the only ones writing, this initial offer can tell us a lot about the seller’s flexibility.