The value of trust in a negotiation cannot be overstated. Most people are fair minded and reasonable. They respond well to respectful treatment and to having their concerns heard. If seller feels that buyer and agent are acting with integrity, their attitude will be much more cooperative. Contract negotiation is a sensitive area, and anxiety can be high. The buyers may have had an unpleasant past experience with buying a home. The seller may be under pressure, with future plans at stake. Acting with integrity does not mean that all "cards have to be put on table." It is not proper to discuss personal issues that affect buyer, such as your financial ability or urgency to move in. It is valuable to develop rapport because trust increases your leverage. Here are ways:

Listen and understand what seller has to say.

Express appreciation for seller's home, gardens, decorating.

Respond within a reasonable time to counter offers.

Reassure seller of your ability to close.

Reveal some personal information about yourselves.

Finding common ground with seller can be a very powerful tool in event of multiple offers. I can think of several instances in which sellers selected their contract for very personal reasons. (The family reminded them of themselves when they moved in with young children years before. Or, they were both of same religion. Or, new owners would care for their gardens.)

Understanding your leverage

The more we can find out about seller's needs, better chance we have to find solutions to negotiation hurdles. We will be able to offer information or concessions that appeal to seller's deepest concerns. Obviously, if house has been on market for 300 days, you have a lot more leverage than you would with a brand new listing. If their time frame is immediate, and you can meet it, you have some leverage. If they have multiple offers, you have very little leverage!

How much under list price should you offer?

Buyers usually offer less than list price, unless it is a strong sellers market. There is no standard percentage "under list price" that can be used. A market analysis will show recent sales for neighborhood, which is best way to establish offer price.

It is usually counter-productive to offer so low that seller will automatically reject offer. This will set a negative tone, and may result in an emotional response from seller.

What if we have a multiple offer situation?

Occasionally seller receives more than one offer on their property. The Austin Board of REALTORS® has a policy that allows two options: disclosure to all parties that multiple offers have been received, or disclosure to no one that there are multiple offers. We prefer disclosure to all parties. However, listing agent and seller will make decision as to how they will handle offers. By simply disclosing that there are multiple offers, they are not "shopping" your contract. Shopping occurs when seller discloses terms of an offer to induce a buyer to submit a better offer. This can result in major distrust of process by parties, and likelihood of loss of buyers.

Usually procedure is to notify each party that multiple offers have been received. Each party is then given opportunity to raise or adjust his offer by a certain time. After that time, seller is free to review all offers and choose one to work with. They are not obligated to choose "first" offer that came in. The selected offer may be countered, or accepted as is.

By: Roselind Hejl www.weloveaustin.com

It may also be interesting to look at the loss of personal freedom compared to escalation of violence in our society while remembering old adage “obligation breeds resentment”. How much conscious choice and how much freedom do you really have left? More importantly, how often do you exercise it?

The opportunity, “You never go sightseeing in your own town”. For those of us that see this inflationary trend as a struggle for maintaining our human dignity, we offer a suggestion as to most powerful and vulnerable (NOT weakest) place to start, yourself! With risk of becoming more monotonous than “human doings” that seem to be multiplying around us, we invite you to do an inventory of your own qualities and values to monitor inflation going on in your own backyard. For instance: • How solid are your ethics and morals? • How clean is your language? • What is value of your word? • How “close” are you to your family? What is quality of those relationships? • How is your health, weight, stress level, etc? • How many people do you really trust? How many trust you? • How much peace of mind can you muster before craving something to do?

In Swedish, word for behaviour patterns is beteende mönster, we invite you to ask yourself how many of your beteende mönster are really inflated beteende monsters? We hope message is clear enough, if you don’t maintain values, in these inflationary times, they will erode.

"So what" you ask? Our answer: How is your quality of life? How is it compared to what you expected when you dreamed of it so many years ago? If you are like most of us there is probably been a certain amount of price inflation since you first dreamed about how it would be. It also seems that price for many of us is finally beginning to show its ugly face. Sick leave is increasing drastically, stress is an epidemic and we just keep working more. If you watch news, you are probably seeing inflation’s effect on world around you. If you are trying to raise children you are probably feeling its effect close to home. Now ask yourself what is direction of trend?

Living your life in a Spreadsheet We are in danger of becoming a society of individuals living in a spreadsheet; and don’t forget that each box on a spreadsheet is called a “cell”. The more we allow our values to deteriorate more desensitized we become. For instance, what is your reaction to level of violence on TV? Has it degraded over last 20 years? What about inflation of democracy compared to power of lobbyists? Some have likened degradation in process of voting to a legal form of monetary "mob rule". What do you think?

Your "human being" use it or lose it. We think it is past time to address this inflation/degradation process of what makes us human. Regardless if you believe in a great conspiracy, plain old chaos or nothing at all; result might just turn out to be same. We may be losing our dignity as humans even faster than we collectively seem to be losing our wealth. Trust, respect and confidence are in danger of become relics of past. Has your child been assaulted in school yet?

Hope through action As grim as it may seem, solution to this personal form of inflation maybe so simple that it defies logic which may, ironically, be just point. What if leverage point to lower inflation starts with being present and expressing your true emotions? Observe what happens in your world if you: * Choose to be consciously friendly towards others * Make someone’s day by just acknowledging them * Say or do something that really “moves” someone * Just breathe more... do you know where word inspired comes from?

If these questions interest you also and if you see a connection between quality of your life and depth with which you dare to answer them, then we would like to hear from you! Inflation can be beaten, but you have to feel it first!