There’s an old piece of advice generally given to husbands regarding arguing with their wives that goes, “Do you want to be right, or do you want to be happy?”.
And the longer I’m in the wholesaling business, the more I realize that nearly the same advice applies to negotiating with sellers—only it’s, “Do you want to be right, or do you want to get the deal?”
This was a little tough for me at first, as an Engineer, I'd know the Answer and it was the only one.
Don’t get me wrong: I have more than my fair share of gotta-be-right-ness. In my younger days, I often found myself debating with sellers about the “facts”—how much their house would sell for fixed up, how much their neighbor’s house sold for last week, what it would really cost to re-do the roof and gutters, and on and on.
Back in those days, I think I had some of the same psychology I see in you folks when you say to me, “I’m afraid to talk to sellers because I’m afraid they’ll be able to tell that I don’t know what I’m doing, and I’ll lose all credibility.”
This assumption that sellers sell to you because you’re intelligent, experienced, or a bigger expert than they are about houses in their neighborho ... Read More…