This Week: Economic Roller Coasters, Negotiations, and Learning Modalities

 How did you enjoy the ride this week? With the debt crisis “averted” things were looking up, right? The financial markets proved that it just isn’t that simple.

Opportunity though, often comes from uncertainty. Some say that the Chinese character for “crisis” is the same as that for “opportunity.” For those who feel that now is a good time to make moves in real estate (either putting pieces on the board, or taking them off), it is important to take great care.

In my negotiations this week, I was reminded of a couple things:
-Real estate agents would be wise to consider one of the principle precepts of medical ethics: “First, do no harm” or Primum non nocere in Latin. While it is tempting for our clients to make assumptions that put deals together, a large part of our role is to identify and advise them of risks.
-Often times there is another way. That is, we shouldn’t let convention get in the way. Another significant part of our jobs is to help a willing Buyer and a willing Seller find common ground even though the deal we end up with may not look like deals we’ve done in the past.

For a bit of fun that is also relevant to negotiating (in all aspects of our lives), remember that humans operate in three modalities and have a primary disposition to one of them:

Visual (pictures): 60% primary
Kinesthetic (feelings): 25% primary
Auditory (sounds): 15% primary

So, if we are interacting with people, and we don’t seem to be on the same page, we should ask ourselves: “Am I communicating in a way this person understands?” If we look closely, we can observe clues that will tell us how they operate. Contact me for more on this field if you like; it is fascinating.

Thank you for your valuable time. Thrive, Seattle!