Developing Long-Term Partnerships through real Estate Contract Negotiation Skills

Our environment is one of perpetual change, with clients who are more and more demanding and incredible technology that allows for quick worldwide communication. The secret to success in every aspect of life including commercial real estate is the ability to negotiate or use influence.

I am thrilled about the art of negotiation and closing a deal without necessarily splitting the difference.

How do we create purposeful persistence in the face of real estate adversity and capture the best opportunity, at the right moment, for the right reason?

The challenge I face is to perform these actions constantly in a rapidly changing and unpredictable real estate sector, which is known as the swerve factor.

The concept of inconsistency is vast and complex to describe. Too many elements influence commercial real estate, including unpredictable economic circumstances, inflation, interest rates, the impact of science and technology, financial market fluctuations, projections of economic growth, demand and availability, evolving property management patterns, and so on. In contract conversations, these variables fluctuate with a wide range of competitiveness, personalities, drives, personal gain, and greed. Things can swerve you further in this real estate business and the stakes are enormous.

Repeatedly I have realized it is possible only if we know the ultimate objective. The most important lesson I learned while acquiring and divesting land in North America is that to get to an acceptable deal, I needed to grasp not only the business aspect of the contract, but also adjust my attitude to collaboration, flexibility, awareness and grit.

Establish your goals and priorities

A person’s ability to consistently succeed while negotiating intricate agreements is greatly influenced by their soft skills, which many people mistakenly feel are more about their attitude, character, and awareness. Based on my observations, regardless if the geographical territory is Europe, Canada or United States, the four specialized skills that make up the soft skills include leadership, communication abilities both verbal and nonverbal, relationships with other skills, and integrity/trust skills.

"The most important lesson I learned while acquiring and divesting land in North America is that to get to an acceptable deal, I needed to grasp not only the business aspect of the contract, but also adjust my attitude to collaboration, flexibility, awareness and grit"

When entering any real estate contract negotiation, you should understand what you want to achieve and where you are ready to compromise. You should also grasp the other party’s priorities, and how they align or differ from yours. This will help you find areas of mutual interest and possible causes of conflict.

Before the negotiation begins, an internal threshold for risk management must be created, which should be represented in your document terms and conditions. What are the implications associated with this agreement? What financial, legal, and market risks would you face with a specific counterparty? Are you subject to any legal or regulatory constraints depending on the geographical location where you or your counterparty do business, or on the sort of commercial activity? Once it is set up, the terms will outline the must-haves, nice-to-haves, and non-negotiables, either due to legal or regulatory concerns, or business risk tolerance.

It is crucial to understand the goals and top priorities of the other side. Never relinquish in a negotiation unless you’re getting something in return. You can exploit the other party’s desires or objectives to your advantage if you are aware of them. They might agree to forego a small percentage of the final sales price if you close the transaction within a shorter period and when the value of the property is in the tens of millions of dollars.

The following actions can be used to develop and sustain trust between partners: meet your obligations. Deliver on your promises and carry out your stated plans. If you run into difficulties, be proactive in your communication and work together with your partners to discover solutions. Establish interpersonal connections. Make yourself accessible to those you work with and supply them with your prompt attention to their requests and questions. This indicates your dedication to collaboration and fosters trust in your dependability.

Concentrate on the benefits and advantages

Focusing on the value and advantages that the other party may obtain from the agreement, rather than the price or expenses, is one of the major contract negotiation success criteria for a long-term collaboration. You aim to establish an agreement that benefits everyone in which both sides feel they are receiving an acceptable deal.

Conditions and terms should be precisely negotiated

After determining the deal’s worth and benefits, you must negotiate the clauses and restrictions that will control the contract’s execution and performance. The extent, length, deliverables, milestones, payments, warranties, liabilities, termination, and dispute resolution terms are among them. You must meticulously and carefully negotiate these agreement conditions to ensure that they are clear, precise, and enforceable, and that they reflect the expectations and obligations of both parties. You must also be willing to make concessions and tradeoffs to balance risks and rewards and find mutually acceptable solutions.

What else should you think about?

“You must begin as you mean to go on,” as the saying goes. Most stakeholders’ first interaction with one other occurs during the contract negotiation. If you start out combative or forceful, they may sign the contract just to get the meeting over with, but they will never do business with you.

Lessons learned

There will be plenty of times in which you will have to tackle a difficult assignment or take a risk without knowing the outcome. These periods in your life should be viewed as opportunities to put your best foot out there and truly invest yourself in whatever choice or work at hand, with awareness that while it may appear difficult, it may also be extremely worthwhile eventually.

● Be willing to venture outside of your comfort zone if you want to advance in your career and as a person in general. In addition to embracing fresh challenges, I also actively look for them out.

● It’s never too late to entertain and say “Yes” to new and diverse opportunities regardless of your age or level of your profession.

● New experiences often bring unanticipated and surprising rewards.