How to NEGOTIATE a Real Estate Contract

This agent kept going back and forth to the price, back and forth, back and forth. Price, price, price, price, price. And I said, "Stop. Price is not our only negotiation tool in a contract." So, I want to share with you five negotiation points in every contract. Hey, my name is Chance Brown. I'm the broker owner of CB&A Realtors and I make video content like this because I'm passionate about helping agents build great businesses. Five points of negotiation. Are you ready? Start with price. But it's not just sales price, is it? At the end of the day, the sales price is a math formula. It's yes, the amount of money that we're going to sell the home for, but it's also the costs that are built into a contract like a title policy or a escro fee or a survey or a home warranty or seller paid closing costs. Every one of these costs affects a seller's bottom line and therefore every one of them is part of the pricing structure. So, let's not just focus on this is the sales price. Let's look at everything and be able to put a good clean offer together based off of pricing. But that's not all that's there. We also have terms. Terms could be option period timing. It could be earnest money. It could be different contingencies. It could be a down payment. It could be repairs. There's so many different terms that we can play around with in the contract that are negotiable and help put together a deal that makes sense for everybody else.

Number three is the dates. And again, I go option period timing, dates for delivery of funds, dates for inspection, dates for closing, dates for a lease back, either before or after sale, depending on what's happening in that seller or buyer's life that they may need help on. All of these are negotiation points that can make somebody's life easier. Number four is what's being included, what's being excluded. Are there non-realty items? Are there furnishings, tools, parts of the property that we want to convey with the sale that make sense? And can we negotiate using those items? Sometimes even after the contract is executed and we're negotiating on those items for repairs in lie of repairs or something like that, we can do those things as well. And then the last thing is contingencies. Do they have a home to sell? Is there a job transfer contingency? Has the spouse seen it? You know, whatever that looks like, we have these contingencies. And so between those five things, pricing, terms, dates, inclusions and exclusions, and then contingencies, you've got way more than just the sales price to negotiate on. And when you start to look at the contract as a whole like that with a bunch of different pieces that slide around into a puzzle that fits the need of either party, that's when you start to win more negotiations. Now, there is a big asterisk to this. In addition to knowing these five things, you also need to know how to be able to communicate them to the agent on the other side of the transaction because they may not be as well trained as you. They may not be as savvy a negotiator as you. And so you've really got to be able to communicate, hey, listen, if I give you this amount, but we'd only do this, this, and this, then it's really this amount, and your seller gets X, whatever that looks like. You've got to be able to write that down and put it in or talk to them on the phone and really make sure that they understand it and can present it to their seller. Know those five things. get to know how they work with your contract and think about what your seller needs. Think about what your buyer needs in each transaction and try to fit them together so that it's a win-win for everybody, but then be able to communicate that to the other side of the transaction. And that is how we really become experts at negotiating contracts. I hope you found that helpful. If you want to see more videos like this, just give me a like, subscribe. If you have any questions on this stuff, I am always happy to answer.

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