In commercial real estate sales and leasing, the real estate agent negotiates every day with different people and different situations. Your skill in the negotiation process will improve over time, although it can be significantly fast tracked through simple daily practice.

Most the property negotiations have some degree of challenge such as:

• The fees are too high for the property owner
• The marketing funds are more than what the client will pay
• The type of agency is not what the client wants to accept
• The timing of the deal is difficult
• The price or rent being offered is unacceptable
• The parties to the deal just don’t get on
• The key elements of the property do not fully satisfy the parties

Given that every deal is going to have some hurdle to negotiate through, the best real estate salespeople become the excellent negotiators. You can do that as well.

In most property situations, the parties to the transaction want to have some simple benefit or win in the process. It is up to the salesperson to reach that point. Every negotiation starts somewhere and it is up to you to start it.

The three stages of negotiation are typically as follows:

1. The parties will tell you that they are interested in the property but something is wrong and is holding them back
2. A series of problems will be tabled by the negotiating parties
3. The parties will tell you what solutions they see as acceptable

In most property negotiations, the parties will move through these three stages; that process is really what you want and you will require in achieving an outcome. When they give you some solutions that they will be happy with you have something to work on.

The best property negotiators will move the parties from item 1, to item 3. The way to make them work through the stages, is to ask directed questions surrounding their ideas and feedback. Here are some examples of open questions you can use in the property negotiation processes:

• Tell me, what are the fees that you see appropriate for taking the property to market?
• Mr. Brown, what are the hurdles that you see given your individual property circumstances at this time?
• Mr. Brown, if the price was not a hurdle for you now, how would you proceed with the contract process today?
• Tell me, what are the elements of the property that you really should have and that work for you?
• What adjustment can we create in the offer which will improve or remove these challenges for you?

There are many variations to the negotiating and questioning process. Importantly, the three stages above should be respected and moved through to get momentum and focus on a positive negotiation outcome.