Whatever you say may be held against you
It's Monday. Today Sam Schneiderman, broker owner of Greater Boston Home Team, explains why you should think ahead before you open your mouth.
It's easy to say things that you'll regret later in a real estate transaction. The problem is that most buyers and sellers don't know when a transaction begins.
Negotiations begin as soon as either party begins talking about buying or selling. Whatever either party says, no matter how seemingly innocent, will probably will be used against them later if the buyer, seller or other agent in the transaction learns about it. Uninformed buyers (even second time buyers) often walk into my open houses and volunteer information about themselves that they really should keep to themselves and FSBOs say too much to my buyers.
Buyers have come to me to represent them after they think they found a home to buy and sellers sometimes come to me thinking that they have a buyer. When that happens, they usually tell me that they barely spoke to the other parties involved and now they want me to step in and evaluate the property, write an offer and negotiate the best deal for them. When I have conversations with the buyer, seller or agent on the other side, I'm often surprised by how much they know about my new clients. Often, its enough to take away some of my negotiating clout.
For example, many buyers and sellers will talk about their new job, their circumstances or why they are motivated to buy. They don't understand that this is not small talk once we begin formal negotiations. If a buyer knows the seller needs to be in Chicago in thirty days due to a job transfer, obviously he might be able to negotiate a lower price than if the seller was under less pressure to sell. If a seller knows that a buyer needs to buy by an upcoming date in order to register her child at the local school, he’ll almost certainly hold out for a higher price.
Experienced listing agents are skilled at having seemingly innocent conversations at open houses that give them lots of information to bring back to their sellers when buyers decide to make an offer on the property. Some of these innocent questions include:
- Have you been looking for a long time?
- Have you seen anything you like?
- How does this house compare to others you’ve seen?
- Do you have anything to sell before you buy?
- When does your lease expire?
- When do you need to be in Boston to begin your new job?
- Congratulations, what’s your baby’s due date?
PERSPECTIVE:
Good agents teach their clients what not to say when interacting with the other side in a real estate transaction.
Whether buying or selling, keep the discussion to the details of the property that you're looking at. The more you say about yourself, the more it will probably cost you.
Have you ever said something in a real estate transaction that ended up costing you money later?
