Sometimes the best deals take time.
I once worked on a deal that required about a year to close (15 months, to be exact).
But here’s the thing: it really wasn’t that much work. All those emails back and forth probably added up to about an hour of my time in total.
This deal taught me something important: great opportunities don’t always arise in the first conversation with a salesperson. Or even your second or third. Sometimes it takes months or even years before they finally agree.
So why does it take so long?
It’s not because you’re doing something wrong. The problem is simple: you are the buyer and the seller doesn’t trust you yet.
They realize that you are trying to get the lowest price possible (which is true), so they are naturally suspicious of everything you say.
Here’s what I’ve learned: You can’t always convince a seller to accept your offer. They need to figure it out on their own. And if you push too hard or give too much advice, you could make things worse. This whole process takes time, sometimes a lot of time, but it is often worth the wait.
Many real estate investors give up after a seller says “no” the first time. They think the deal is dead and move on. But that is a mistake.
Most sellers have a hard time accepting a large discount on their property. And it makes sense, especially if they are emotionally attached to it. They need time to feel comfortable with the idea.
Conclusion? Patience pays off in negotiations.
Solitaire in action (a case study)
Let me give you an example.
One day, I received a proposal on my shopping website from a woman who owned two adjoining parcels of vacant land that she wanted to sell. These were the data he gave me:
(Note: several sections of this correspondence have been redacted for privacy reasons.)
The property seemed quite interesting at first glance, so I did some research to get an idea of its value.
Not surprisingly, the seller had a rather exaggerated perception of the value of the property. This is how I responded:
She didn’t like my offer (and her response was quite polite). She thought her properties were worth between $12,000 and $17,000, and while this might have been feasible at the height of the market (when many people were making many stupid things with real estate), I knew this was still way out of line by today’s standards.
This was my second response to her:
Most sellers act as if their property is worth much more than it actually is. They speak as if they possess some special knowledge that you do not have.
After I submitted my offer, she stopped responding. It was clear that we were not even close to the price.
A few months passed. Then he emailed me again:
I learned this trading trick from another investor years ago (and honestly, I was low on cash at the time anyway). When a salesperson answers you like this, they are basically admitting, “You were right, I was wrong. Please buy my property.”
This is your chance to offer even less if you want (remember, you were ready to go the first time and they ignored you). It also sends a clear message: “Accept this offer now or it will be lower the next time we talk.”
As you can see, lowering the price further did not result in acceptance, but read on and you’ll see how it played out later next year…
This was his response…
At that point, he was still wearing his “investor” hat and had not yet reached the point of true motivation.
Let’s see what happened more than 6 months later…
So, let’s review. This seller initially thought her properties were worth between $12,000 and $17,000 and was willing to accept as little as $10,000 for both.
Now he wants to sell both (plus an additional parcel he doesn’t want) for a total of $1,000.
That’s a 90% licorice in its selling price over the course of our conversation.
The Ultimate Negotiation Technique
There is an important lesson in the above email chain.
It’s very possible to negotiate a deal exactly where you need it, and it doesn’t require any clever wordplay, psychological mind tricks, scaremongering, or intimidation of the seller (I’ve experienced all of these things when trying to sell property, and it’s not fun).
The only real trading technique I used here is patience and keep track. I knew what the property was worth to me, I knew what it was worth to the market and there was really nothing more to say about it.
And this is exactly where Passed can make a big difference.
Most domestic investors understand the power of tracking, but few apply it consistently.
Because? Because doing it manually is time consuming and easy to forget.
With Stride, you can send offers to sellers with a single click, track and sign them digitally, and even see the moment a seller opens the contract for review.
If the seller does not sign, Stride will automatically follow up on your behalf via email, text, or any other method you choose.
This type of automation keeps your offers top of mind for sellers, ensuring no potential deal goes unnoticed. It’s the kind of silent, persistent system that works for you in the background, so even if a seller takes months to reach you, your follow-up never stops.
You’ll also notice that while I was confident in my position, I didn’t need to be mean about it.. I always maintained a mix of patience and kindness in my communication, which resonated with the seller over time.
Do you think she would have kept coming back to me if I had been mean to her? Did you notice that she never responded to me and I never responded to her? It was a relatively pleasant conversation that lasted a year and a half.
Many people have the subconscious idea that the relationship between a buyer and a seller is inherently hostile (as if one party had to conquer the other).
It is quite common for me to find buyers and sellers who have resentment from the moment I greet them. Yet when I meet them with kindness, no matter what happensultimately builds trust and shows the other party that I am not your enemy. I’m just here to make a deal with your blessing, and it’s okay for you to tell me no.
What is really needed
Any good negotiation must begin with a buyer who is confident in what they are willing to offer for a property and just play the game by those rules, Don’t let yourself be seduced or forced into a compromised position that won’t work in your favor.
It also requires a mix of patience and kindness, showing understanding along the way. Remember, the goal IS NOT to scam a person out of their property!
Although my offers are what some people would consider “crazy,” the fact is, I don’t want to buy from people who have better options.. Not really!
I want to buy from people who:
- I don’t care enough to expect better treatment, or
- They have already done everything they can to sell it and determined that there are no better options than working with me.
If you are in this game with the right attitude and don’t allow yourself to be pressured into a price that you know it doesn’t make sense in the long runYou will find that you have a lot of negotiating power at your fingertips just by waiting it out. if you have patience, you will get what you deserve.
