"You Don't Have to Live With Them" - A Couple of Suggestions for Dealing with Conflict During Transactions

From time to time, I run across truly difficult people.  If you've been in real estate for any significant amount of time, chances are that you do, too.  Sometimes, I even get comments from my own clients along these lines:

"I can't deal with this guy.  He doesn't seem to want to sell this house.  Maybe we should find something else."

Clearly, you could hear something similar from the sellers, although they typically don't have much leverage to back out of a deal.  At this point, an inexperienced agent might give up and move on to the next home.  I have a couple of quick tips/phrases to help you salvage your transaction (and your commission):

If you're working as the listing agent, you could say, "I recognize that the buyers are being jerks, but they're also the first ones to bring an acceptable contract price for you." 

If you're the buyers' agent, try this one: "When we wrote the offer initially, I know that you thought this was the right place for you.  Don't let the seller's bad attitude change that."

These phrases often help to put things in perspective for your client, and it can "reset" them a little bit.  Clearing the air is a valuable sales tool if used properly.  You know how they're feeling already.  Why not put it into words and empathize with them a little bit?  I promise it will help.

One of the things I have said for many years is the following:

"I understand that you don't like the (buyer/seller) very much, and truthfully, I don't like the way they're acting, either.  Just keep in mind that we only have to deal with this person for about three more weeks, then you won't have to talk to them again or deal with them.  They won't be living in the house with you, I promise."

That phrase alone has saved many sales for me personally, and for our company in general. 

Why is that?

Well, there are two reasons:

• 
  
• It shows that you are paying attention to the dynamics of the sale AND
  
• It uses humor to de-fuse a potentially volatile situation.
  

I sincerely hope this comes in handy for you.  Typically, when I share this with my own agents, I am happy to hear positive results later.  Thanks for reading!

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nobmouse/4052848608/