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Real Estate Negotiation is a fine art. It does not matter how good your investment strategy is or how profitable the Utah real estate market is for others. It does not matter if you are investing in a hot market like Provo real estate. If you can not close the deal in a win-win manner at the negotiation table, you will not find the success you are seeking. Here are some practical and basic tips for successful negotiations.

1) Don’t try the Arab trader approach. Many investors view negotiation for an expensive piece of real estate much as they would view buying an old lamp at the flea market. You make a ridiculous offer first, and your counterpart makes an even more ridiculous counter offer. Then, eventually, you meet in the middle at a fair price. Real Estate negotiations do not work like that. You should start off with a fair offer. The area for compromise is restricted to the range of fairness right from the beginning if both parties start there.

2) Try on the other guy’s shoes. You should try to understand the priorities of the other guy. If you can find out what is most important to him, you know where to make concessions in order to get even better concessions in return. If your counterpart’s major concern is the move in date, giving up some ground in that area will encourage him to make major concessions in areas more important to you. You might view this as knowing your opponent, and that is not the wrong way to look at it.

3) Compromise is the key. The idea of win-win does not mean that each side is going to get everything they want. You have to give up something to get something. If you do not approach the negotiation with that concept firmly in your mindset, you are not going to have much success.

4) Meet under that old oak tree. A recent country and western song spoke of a couple who would meet in the middle between their two homes under an old oak tree. That is the key to successful compromise and eliminating little hitches in the negotiations. You should always be willing to just split the difference on the little things. When you pay half and he pays half, it is fair and things can proceed.

5) Don’t sweat the small stuff. Many negotiations get bogged down in minor details before the major issues are even broached. This is foolish. It is the major issues that are going to decide the success or failure of the negotiation. You can just leave the little details until last, and tackle the big ones. Once the big issues are settled, the little ones seem less urgent and are quickly settled.

Preparation, Presentation, Persuasion are the key ingredients when you are speaking to 10 or 500 people. Your audience will judge your presentation within 30 seconds; 55% by your body language, 38% the quality of your voice and 7% the words you say. The most effective way to communicate to your audience is with accuracy and energy.

55% of how people perceive you is body language:
* Look at your audience, glancing at your notes only occasionally.
* Step out from behind the lectern or podium to make yourself accessible to the audience.
* Use your hands to emphasize a point, otherwise relax them at your side.
* Use flowing movements. Rocking side to side indicates insecurity.
* Smile and be dramatic or humorous when appropriate. It denotes you are a multi-faceted person.
* If you need notes make them on 5 x 7 index cards; not paper because it’s noisy. Use black ink for your main bullet points and red or another color for sub-points. Number the top corner of the cards.
* Place a glass of lukewarm water near your notes (cold closes your throat).
* If you blank out and forget a point, take a sip of water and check your notes.

38% of how people perceive you is by your voice inflection:
* Practice your speech out loud repeatedly. Eliminate umms, ahs and maybes. A pause is more powerful. If you connect your name and your company together: “Hi, I’m Bill Smith and my company is XYZ”, it would not be as effective as “Hi, I’m Bill Smith. (pause) The name of my company is (pause) XYZ.” This method draws the listener’s attention toward what you will say next. Pausing also helps the listener to digest what you have said before you go on speaking.
* Female speakers, lower your pitch.

7% of how people perceive you is by your words:
* Eliminate words like if, someday, but, problem, issue. If you have a problem, mention it once, and then go into conclusions, results, answers and solutions.
* Use powerful words: memorable, colossal, limitless, family, friendly and excellence.
* Opening your speech is your chance to attract your listeners attention. A powerful technique is to open with a statement or question to get them focused on you and your presentation. An eloquent analogy or comparison to preface what you intend to say is an audience grabber.
* Closing your speech is another opportunity to create a call to action finish for your audience in. You could end by using an famous quotation, or a slogan or a story that sums up your topic.

Your audience is rooting for you. They want to benefit from what you have to say. Practice your speech standing up, record yourself, play it back and have friends or family critique you. Take deep breaths and realize that nervousness is normal. The secret to giving an excellent speech is to commit, prepare and rehearse. Have fun, make audience eye contact, project your voice clearly and be committed to what you are saying.

I enjoy the show “Shark Tank” and when I was watching a recorded episode last night, I thought it was pretty gutsy for an eleven year old boy to ask for more money when the Sharks made him an offer. The move almost cost the boy and his sisters (they were the business owners, though Mom and Dad were there too, and had financed the business to this point) a deal. The family ended up taking the initial offer, and when asked whose idea it was to ask for more money, because it almost cost them, the boy answered that they did get a deal, and that’s what mattered. And the boy was right, he did get the deal, and in fact I believe the Sharks respected the guts the boy showed. After all, the group of investors wouldn’t have massed billions between them if it weren’t for negotiating and taking risks. It does bring me to an important aspect of negotiations. As a general rule, don’t accept first offers.

Some people would insist that you never take the first offer, but I don’t like to say never, so I’ll stick with it being a general rule. There is a concern, like on the episode of “Shark Tank,” that if you make a counteroffer, they will refuse and you have given them a reason to back out of the deal altogether and you get nothing. And this is a valid concern, and could very well happen. In some cases, it may be that the person wasn’t serious about negotiating in the first place, and in others such as the above television show, the shrewd negotiators opened with their one and final option. That or they were just good at negotiation and knew their stance would make the family reconsider. Regardless, the refusal of the initial offer does have the potential to stop the deal. However, more often, the acceptance of the first offer will create the feeling in the initial party that they could have done better. Otherwise, why would you jump at the first offer so quickly? This feeling could turn to remorse and second thoughts, and they may want to change their mind about the deal.

This is especially true when negotiating products or services that are routinely negotiated upon. If you accept the first offer right off the bat, the other side may wonder what you are up to, and suspect that something is being hidden, or that they are missing something about the deal. An exception to this is when negotiating with an unsophisticated or novice negotiator. They may accept the first offer you make and you can just be happy they did so. But in most negotiations, it is not only normal, but expected, that offers and counteroffers will go back and forth until a deal is made. There will be less remorseful and suspicious feelings and both parties will feel better about the negotiated deal. So just remember, as a general rule, when bargaining is expected, don’t accept the first offer.