Application of principles from Never Split the Difference

[Andre Chambers]

Hi BP!

Just wanted to share a recent success story of my girlfriend in negotiating. I recently read Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss on the recommendation of a member. Instantly top 10 book for me as far as principles I can apply on a daily basis with deals and life in general. My gf read it, loved it as well, then finally started looking hard for a first property to house hack. After a lot of analysis and showings, she decided on a recently remodeled 2-family listed for 220K. 

We wanted to apply one of the price negotiating strategies from the book on this deal just to try it out in a real world situation. She gave her realtor a heads up and detailed exactly what she planned to do and why she was doing it. He was EXTREMELY skeptical and gave us sound reasons why she shouldn't follow the strategy. We adjusted the numbers slightly for this particular instance but kept the spirit of the strategy the same. 

Her realtor told us that homes were selling at 97% of list in that area in the last few months and since this was remodeled, he doubted the seller would budge much on price. Having that in mind, getting the property for ~213K would be "normal."

Glad she stuck to her drive! After an initial offer and 3 counter offers, she's under contract for it for 195K. 12.4% down from list in an area where comps said 3% off list was expected. This isn't the biggest deal of the year, but it shows what sticking to a sound logical plan can produce. I'm very proud of her and how she handled this. 

I think Never Split the Difference was recently brought up in a show after we read it, and we were glad it's being shared more.

All the best