Negotiating with a seller that has an extreme initial price

[Matthew Insley]

Hello fellow investors!

I could use some advice from somebody with experience negotiating directly with sellers. I am a real estate investor that focuses on smaller multifamily properties.  Currently, I have 23 units consisting of 2-5 units each.  Recently, I sent some letters out to the owners of properties that fit my criteria.  Immediately, the owner of my most desired properties called me.  He said that his wife just died and he might be looking to sell.  He went on and told me that he just wanted to let me know that he got my letter.  I told him that I was sorry to hear about his wife and that we could try and find something that worked for both of us.  This initial call was pretty short and I did not want to press too hard right away, especially given his situation.  A couple of weeks went by and I called him to set up a meeting at the property.  Before I could really say much, he hit me with a crazy number for his 3 properties consisting of 10 units total (these properties do have mortgages).  He said $650k if he listed with a realtor, but he would sell them to me for $600k! I tried to keep calm and get sucked into a haggle.  I pivoted and said that I would talk it over with my partner and let him know.  A couple days later, I called him and this time I got a meeting at the properties scheduled (still without talking numbers).  My partner and I spent over an hour talking with him at the property, and he is still at his initial offer even though we pulled some strategies out of "Never Split the Difference" by Chris Voss.  We tried to get him to negotiate with himself, but he didn't take the bait.  We did build a good relationship meeting this seller and ended on a good note without us giving a number yet.  He does want to eventually sell all of his units (about 20 total) which are very desirable to us. A realistic range for us to buy these 3 properties is $375k to $400k. Any advice on bargaining with a seller giving an extreme price anchor.  We are trying to not be coldly logical with him.  Instead we want to be very thoughtful and prepared.  This is a big opportunity that we don't want to be careless with.

Thanks!