...we felt like your contract was clean and simple and she liked your note about the couple :)

The note she referred to was the email cover letter that I sent with the offer attachment.  In it I simply humanized my buyer.

"He is a single guy right now and is looking to get a roommate until he eventually gets married.  His girlfriend loves the place along with his girlfriend's parents.  His mother also loves the home so I think everyone approves and it should be smooth sailing."

Guess what? It just  happened that the seller was in the same position when she bought the home.  She apparently connected with my buyer so much that she was willing to take $5000 less than another offer because she liked my buyer.  She had never even met my buyer.  All she had to go on were my few words in my email. Those few words were worth $5000 to my buyer.

Here's another situation that really shocked me last year.  A home had been on the market for over a year at $965,000, down from $975,000.  It had some issues but I thought that it was probably worth about $750,000.  The listing agent had said that the seller had previously rejected a couple of offers for $750,000.  My buyer wanted to get it for $700,000 but the listing agent assured me that it would never happen at that price. 

I took it as a challenge and went to work crafting a persuasive email that I sent over with our "low ball" offer of $550,000.

Guess what?  They countered at $579,000.  They came down from $965,000 to $579,000 on their very first counter offer! That's $386,000 in one shot! We quickly signed off on the counter.  A few days later we learned that the seller had received other offers higher than ours just the day after accepting ours.  The seller was actually looking for a way out of our contract so he could accept a higher offer.  Fortunately we had all the technical contractual details covered and we ended up at the closing table a month later.

These are just a few recent examples of the results that I've been getting using email as a tool to position my buyers and to set the stage for successful negotiations.  I call it "The Art of the Email Deal".

Email is just one tool, but it's a very powerful tool, if it's used correctly.  There's a time for email but there's also a  time for the telephone and face-to-face negotiations.

I've heard some old timers talk about how, back in the day, they would meet face to face with the seller and listing agent and hash out the details in person.  That just doesn't happen anymore.  Negotiations are now done either over the telephone, fax or email.  The necessity for good writing skills is over-taking the need for great verbal skills.  It's great to have both, but you are really at a disadvantage if you can't write well.

If you ask an agent to describe the negotiating process, they'll probably say that it's a process of faxing offers and counter offers back and forth.  Many agents believe that the contract should speak for itself.  They'll just fax it over and maybe scribble a sentence or two on a generic fax cover sheet.  

Even though many agents are now using email to submit offers, they are treating it like a glorified fax with a text message attached. Why do they waste a great opportunity and not write something significant in the email?  I think it's basically the fact that not many people like to write and they don't have the skills to do it effectively. 

In a typical residential negotiation, you have a buyer and seller, each represented by their respective agents.  The agents are the ones who are interacting.  What and how information gets transmitted to the decision makers depends on the ability of the decision maker's agent.  As a buyer, all of your communications have to go through the listing agent.  The listing agent feels like it is their sworn duty to not  allow direct contact with the seller.  Try going around them at your own peril.  It's usually a very bad idea and will torpedo the negotiations.

If you are the buyer's agent, the challenge is to somehow get the listing agent  to present your offer to the seller in a manner that will best represent your buyer.  With verbal negotiations, you are depending on the listing agent to be as good at presenting your case as well as you did in presenting it to them.

Even if I were the best talking salesman on the telephone or in person, what are the chances that that agent is going to transmit all of that great presentation to the seller?  A lot will probably get lost in the translation or maybe distorted or just plain left out depending on how good the listing agent is. 

Email solves this problem.  You get your well thought out, persuasive points directly in front of the decision maker. Unfiltered. Nothing is lost in translation from agent to seller.  The seller's spouse doesn't have to get it third hand.  Everyone involved can read the details first hand exactly as you crafted it.

The email that  is sent with the offer still goes only to the listing agent.  It is almost guaranteed that the listing agent will feel that it's their duty to forward your email on to the seller exactly as they received it. It also makes their job easier.  The only reason that they wouldn't forward it on is if you made the mistake of making the agent look bad or you included something that the listing agent thought might set a bad tone for the negotiations.  If you are positive, and maybe include something that makes the listing agent look good, you are guaranteed to get your message to the seller, unfiltered and complete.

The outcome then depends on how skillful you are in writing a good email.  That's where the art comes into play.  In my opinion, there are three things that you want that initial email to accomplish.

• Build trust
• Set a positive tone
• Convey that they will be working with a competent professional

In negotiations, trust is key.  Without it, nothing much is going happen.

You also need to be positive.  Negative emotions will destroy everything.  Sure it might be difficult for a low ball offer to be seen as positive, but it's all in the way you frame it.  You have to accentuate the positive.  You have to see the glass as half full.

You can't be sloppy.  It will take away from the trust that you are trying to build.  You want to keep things at a high level of professionalism by paying attention to the details and showing the other side that they will be working with someone who's competent and can get the job done.

In my next post I will go over the six things that I use to make sure these things happen.  They are the foundation of positioning the buyer and setting the tone for a successful negotiation.

My writing skills have been worth thousands of dollars to my clients.  They have been sharpened through constant use and hundreds of negotiations.  Eventually, when I perfect it, I will write the book "The Art of the Email Deal".  In the meantime, I'd love to practice my special art form for your benefit if you are looking to buy a home in the Atlanta area.