There’s a lot that can be said for real estate negotiating techniques as far as how much of a powerful skill it can be in the arsenal of the real estate investor. In fact, it may be the very most important skill you’ll employ to build wealth in real estate. Here are some tried and true real estate negotiating techniques I’ve used and observed (and had used on me).

91. “Yes”. Just say “yes”. Don’t elaborate once you answer and concede a point. Go right back into questioning THEM. Regain control.

92. “If you and I can’t do business today, what will you do with the house?” Learn to find the problem and remind them of it.

93. Understand perceived value. Use it. This is a powerful negotiating technique. Just because it’s not important to you doesn’t mean it’s not important to THEM. Find out where their perceived value lies and offer it to them- at a price.

94. There is no such thing as a non-negotiable anything in business (with few exceptions). Always ask. Always push.

95. Know when to use LEVERAGE and how. For just one example, I use leverage in one way by working with a BUYING GROUP that negotiates with developers to buy properties in bulk, at a discount, and with terms no one else gets. Why? Leverage. Well, and negotiations…;) But I repeat myself…

96. My definition of “negotiations”: “the strategic application of leverage in conversations that s value to translate into action by bringing about an agreement in principle among two or more parties, the objective of which is to gain more than you give (while having the other party believe the same)”.

97. Write “FIRM” after a cash offer you make as a buyer. People are less likely to challenge this in real estate negotiations.

98. Always follow-up. Circumstances change. Your rejected offer of three months ago could look great today. Follow-up. Follow-up. Follow-up can be key if you want to build wealth in real estate.

99. Strive to let the other guy believe he got the best of the deal (or at least as good of a deal as you did). No one likes to think they lost.

100. STOP taking what others- brokers, realtors, buyers, tenants, investors, businesspeople etc.- say as if it is a fact. Do your own due diligence and analyze independently.

101. Learn to use the “verbal flinch”…and follow it up with “Is that the best/least/most you can do?” I can attest that asking this one question makes thousands of dollars out of thin air. But, alas, you have to HEAR it to really understand…

102. If you get an answer on price or terms you don’t like, LAUGH and say “Funny…what’s your second choice?” This is a fun real estate negotiating technique.

103. Learn to verbally pace people’s language patterns (fast/slow, high/low, mellow/intense) to build rapport and trust- people like doing business with people who are like them and talk like them. That’s some Jedi-level verbal judo I’ve yet to meet anyone master…but even just becoming consciously aware of it can make you a better negotiator.

104. Remember that knowledge is not power. APPLIED knowledge is power. Apply what you know.

105. Use “If I could do X, would you do Y?” Use it at every opportunity.

There are two steps in the procedure of content curation. The first is to find outstanding content that your readers will love. You can do that through feeds, alerts and other tools. The second step is to present the content. There are numerous and different places where you can share content with your readers.

1. Your Blog

Curating content on your blog can expand the range of your followers, it can also add SEO power, and helps you keep posting fresh content when you’re low on ideas. When you’ve been writing and posting articles to your blog for a while, it’s easy to run out of fresh and new ideas. Curating content for your blog helps you create original posts that your followers are interested in. The one great advantage is that you don’t have to be an expert on any niche related topic to find articles related to that topic and comment on them.

2. Facebook Fan Pages

Facebook Fan Pages offer an even more “social” place to share your curated content. Create Fan Pages that highlight sub-topics within your niche. You can even create separate pages for each specific topic. Find content to share via Facebook and post it directly to your page, or share content from other sources. Articles, blogs, videos, and images all work well.

Make sure that you use your pages as a means of engaging with your audience and not just publishing. Don’t run them on autopilot. When there are comments, questions or other activity on the page, respond and engage with your audience.

3. Infographics

Infographics are really nothing more than curated content presented in a graphic form. You take content from various sources and create a graphic that presents this content to your readers so that they can take it in at a glance. Infographics are especially good for taking complex ideas and breaking them down into a more easily digestible form.

Online tools and templates are available that help you make creating Infographics easier. Once you create the overall design, it’s only a matter of plugging in the content and then tweaking to make it more visually appealing.

Also, a great thing with infographics is that you can give them away to your followers and allow them to re-use them or even add their own name to them.

4. Email Newsletters

Curated content offers a great way to keep your email subscribers informed and entertained. It takes much more than promotional offers to keep them tuned in. When you send your subscribers a steady stream of fresh content that answers a problem they may have, updates them on a new procedure or is just interesting to them, you stay on their radar and by doing this can establish your reputation as a valuable information source or the go to guy for their own problems.

One of the best ways to choose the right topics for your emails is to come right out and ask your list what kind of content they’d like to receive from you. Your subscribers will also give you feedback in the form of analytics. Watch open rates to find out which content is most interesting to them.

5. Social Curating Sites

Sites like List.ly and Pinterest are social media networks designed for curating content. These are wonderful because they allow you to find and publish content in one place, as well as interact with other users. Look for sites that are loaded with features that help you customize your content curation.

No matter where you publish, always remember to add something of your own to the curated content. Just sharing a link on Twitter isn’t content curation; neither is copying and pasting sections of someone else’s article to your blog, even if you give them attribution. Try using your curated content as the basis for explaining your opinions, giving insights on a new topic, or exploring the opinions of others.

To win more negotiations, you should focus your thoughts. That’s to say, you should be very thoughtful of what you’re thinking during the negotiation, why you have such thoughts, and where those thoughts might lead. To do otherwise could mean you’re led haphazardly towards a negotiation outcome that doesn’t serve your goals of the negotiation. Observe the following to increase the focus of your thoughts in a negotiation.

Breaking News: Do you take note of how and when TV News organizations flash that moniker across/on the screen? At that moment they’re attempting to grab your attention from what you were focusing on and directing it to what they want you to focus on. In most cases, the breaking news is nothing that would really demand you lend your attention to, but they’ve captured your focus, which was their intent. If you raise your awareness to what’s being attempted by such ploys in a negotiation, you’ll focus your thoughts on not losing your focus per what’s important to your negotiation effort.

Be mindful of when timeouts are called:

When timeouts are called in a negotiation, note the reason cited for the timeout and assess the reasoning validity. As an example, if you happen to be winning the negotiation or a point in that process, and the opposing negotiator asks to take a break, he could be doing so to slow your momentum, take the time to gather additional insights/thoughts, and/or to refresh himself. All such insights will give you guidance per what may be occurring in his mind, as to the reasoning he called a timeout. Thus, it may or may not behoove you to grant his request, depending on how hard you wish to push at that time and/or what your next move is intended to achieve. The point is, be aware when there’s a shift in the negotiation and what may have occurred to cause it.

Diversions – Sizzlin’ Korean BBQ:

Take note of what the opposing negotiator is asking you to focus on. Question yourself, and possibly her, why she’s asking you to lend your attention to the point she’s highlighting. Note the same when you make a point and attempts are made to divert it. Ask yourself, why was my point given less credence? Why doesn’t she want to address my point and what implications does that have?

In a negotiation, the other negotiator may not tell you how to think, but he may attempt to direct your thoughts by suggesting what you should think about. In so doing, he’s controlling you and the negotiation. To the degree that you think of what you’re thinking about, why you have such thoughts and how those thoughts are aligned with the goals you seek for the negotiation, you’ll combat his efforts while promoting the outcome you seek.

By focusing on what you think about and why you have such thoughts, you’ll be in more control of the negotiation, which will allow you to win more negotiations… and everything will be right with the world.

Remember, you’re always negotiating!