One of the most important is knowing when to stand firm and not let a buyer dictate the terms of your deal—especially when you know you have a good one on your hands.

Supply and demand will dictate.

I will agree with Juul  but not the other examples the banks did not create the mortgage mess as you state is was the secondary market that dictated what paper they would buy.. banks and mortgage brokers just worked with the play book they were given. 

Since I started in real estate investing, I've researched all the exit strategies and understand that the property often dictates which strategy to use.

Depending on the strategy you end up going with will probably dictate what property manager makes the most sense as they all have their different niches they excel at.

I take it your lease does not dictate who handles this? 

The reason I say could is because your current income, tax situation, and real estate investments can dictate if buying real estate might benefit you.

I, personally, wouldn't continue to work with a buyer who tries to dictate how I negotiate, especially one who wants me to "repeat back ... how they'll present." 

Permittable bedroom count is going to dictate your max occupancy load per the myriad of local regulations.

Supply/demand dictates housing will continue to be expensive in these markets for quite a few years.