Do you really care if your deals are win/win?

[Vincent Noe]

I have heard real estate investors talk about win/win deals for years. What do they mean by win/win? Most investors know that if we are working with a seller, unless they are motivated to sell, we are unable to have a win outcome for ourselves. We could create a win for the seller, but doing business that way would doom us to failure. Now, if the seller is motivated, many times we will be able to end with a win for ourselves, but if it isn't also a win for the seller, how many are satisfied with that? If a seller is "over the barrel", should we pay all we feel we can or as little as possible? We can always talk a good game and say that we always want win/win, but a true win-win negotiation is a negotiated outcome in which parties have reached an agreement that cannot be mutually improved upon. So let me ask this question. Do you really care if your deals are win/win?