Feel
like
more
of
your
deals
have
been
falling
through
lately?
It’s
not
just
your
imagination.

Data
from
Redfin
shows
home
purchase
cancellations
are
up
31%
from
2017.
In
former
pandemic
boomtowns
like
San
Antonio,
the
problem
is
worse;
a
staggering
21%
of
deals
—
over
one
in
five
—
never
make
it
to
the
closing
table.

Blaming
our
Jekyll-and-Hyde
economy
is
perfectly
rational.
It’s
also
pointless.
Excuses
won’t
keep
your
buyers
from
getting
cold
feet
or
convince
your
sellers
to
accept
a
solid
offer
after
six
months
on
the
market.
Here’s
what
will:
Honing
the
business
and
negotiation
skills
that
lay
the
foundation
for
bulletproof
deals.

David
Kramer
learned
this
lesson
the
hard
way.
In
his
first
six
months
as
a
Realtor
in
the
late
nineties,
he
made
$50,000
—
a
small
fortune
at
the
time.
Year
two?
$18,900.
Year
three?
$18,000.
Then
his
parents
called.
They
were
blunt:

“Get
a
real
job,
David.
Real
estate
is
just
a
hobby.”
He’s
sold
over
$1.7
billion
since.

I
recently
sat
down
with
him
to
find
out
how
he
did
it.
He
walked
me
through
the
exact
business
and
negotiation
strategies
he
used
to
go
from
broke
to
selling
nearly
$2
billion
of
real
estate.

Go
where
the
deals
are,
not
where
you
wish
they
still
were

When
David
Kramer
joined
his
first
brokerage,
a
scrappy
but
thriving
office
near
Beverly
Hills,
he
had
no
rich
friends
or
relatives
to
rely
on
for
easy,
million-dollar
deals.
He
sold
his
first
home
to
a
childhood
friend,
a
police
officer
in
a
working-class
neighborhood
of
Los
Angeles.

The
commission
was
modest,
but
he
was
hooked.
He
closed
deal
after
deal
in
his
first
six
months,
sometimes
writing
offers
on
the
hood
of
his
car.
Then
the
dotcom
bubble
burst.
His
phone
stopped
ringing.
Two
years
later,
the
IRS
froze
his
checking
account.
Like
many
new
agents,
he
had
blown
through
his
earnings
instead
of
setting
money
aside
for
taxes.

It
was
a
far
cry
from
the
Beverly
Hills
mansions
he
dreamed
of
selling,
but
foreclosures
gave
him
something
more
valuable:
a
crash
course
in
the
business
of
real
estate.

How
to
apply
this
strategy:
If
your
lead
generation
or
marketing
strategy
stops
producing
results,
ditch
it
and
never
look
back.

Leave
your
ego
and
pride
at
the
door

Don’t
let
Selling
Sunset
fool
you.
Nearly
all
of
the
hyper-successful
brokers
I’ve
interviewed
over
the
last
decade,
including
Ryan
Serhant,
an
actual
celebrity,
were
shockingly
humble.
They’re
gracious,
deferential
—
even
self-deprecating.
David
Kramer
was
no
exception.

Is
it
just
an
act
to
get
fawning
press
coverage?
Do
they
turn
into
broker-zillas
who
bark
orders
at
their
assistants
and
preen
in
front
of
the
mirror
the
second
they
hang
up
with
me?
Some
might,
sure.
But
the
ones
who
do
are
successful
despite
their
outsize
egos,
not
because
of
them.

Counterintuitive,
I
know,
but
hear
me
out:
Ego
might
help
you
fire
up
REDX
and
dial
twenty
more
numbers
after
getting
hung
up
on
all
morning.
Pride
might
give
you
the
confidence
to
strike
up
a
conversation
with
the
well-dressed
woman
confidently
jangling
the
keys
to
a
Porsche
while
you’re
waiting
in
line
at
Starbucks.

But
when
it
comes
to
fulfilling
your
fiduciary
responsibility
and
actually
serving
your
clients,
ego
and
pride
can
be
costly.
Running
on
ego
will
make
you
far
more
likely
to
take
rejection
personally.
Pride
might
keep
you
from
pivoting
when
the
market
turns,
and
your
lead
generation
strategy
stops
working
as
well
as
it
once
did.

How
much
faith
does
Kramer
put
in
humility?
When
I
asked
him
what
he
would
do
if
he
had
to
start
over
tomorrow
with
no
sphere
and
none
of
the
hard-won
knowledge
or
skills
he
has
today,
he
didn’t
mince
words:

How
to
apply
this
strategy:
If
you’re
a
new
agent,
research
the
top-performing
teams
in
your
niche
and
join
the
one
that
fits
you
best.
If
you’re
an
experienced
agent
who
wants
to
break
into
a
more
lucrative
niche,
swallow
your
pride
and
join
a
team
that’s
already
working
it
successfully.

Learn
the
other
agent’s
negotiation
strategy
—
from
the
inside

While
ego
and
pride
will
keep
you
from
thriving,
they
do
at
least
offer
some
insulation
from
another
deadly,
deal-killing
sin:
fear.
Making
decisions
from
fear
with
your
client’s
net
worth
on
the
line
is
borderline
malpractice.

Of
course,
if
you’re
not
at
least
a
little
bit
intimidated
delivering
your
first
listing
presentation
or
negotiating
a
deal
with
an
agent
who
dominates
your
farm
area,
you’re
not
taking
your
job
seriously
enough.
Even
Kramer,
who
successfully
negotiated
an

$85
million
deal
for
Spelling
Manor,
the
largest
private
residence
in
Los
Angeles
at
the
time,
admitted
he
was
intimidated
by
wealthy
people
during
his
first
year
in
real
estate.
It’s
more
common
than
you
think.
Yes,
even
for
extroverts.

Luckily,
there
is
an
antidote
to
fear:
knowledge.
For
Kramer,
that
meant
studying
the
business
of
real
estate
the
way
medical
students
study
for
the
MCAT.
Real
estate
is
a
serious
business.
Treat
it
that
way.

There’s
just
one
problem.
You
can’t
learn
a
local
top-producing
agent’s
secret
sauce
from
a
webinar
or
real
estate
conference.
Kramer’s
advice?
Learn
it
from
the
inside:

How
to
apply
this
strategy:
If
you’re
a
listing
agent,
consider
applying
Kramer’s
advice
and
co-list
a
home
with
a
more
experienced
agent
to
learn
their
secrets.
Or,
better
yet,
discover
that
they
don’t
have
any.

Leverage
the
power
of
silence

For
many
new
Realtors,
silence
is
like
kryptonite.
When
someone
on
the
other
end
of
the
phone
stops
talking,
they
jump
in
to
fill
the
silence.
I
get
it,
silence
is
awkward.
It
feels
like
you’re
losing
control
over
the
conversation,
and
for
most
new
agents,
“losing
control”
feels
a
lot
like
losing
the
deal.

For
top-producing
agents
like
Kramer,
silence
is
a
powerful
tool
for
negotiation
and
lead
conversion.
Why?
After
you’ve
made
your
ask
or
floated
your
number,
silence
gently
shifts
the
pressure
from
you
to
the
other
side.
Or,
as
philosopher
Will
Durant
put
it,
“Nothing
is
always
a
clever
thing
to
say.”
Here’s
Kramer:

How
to
apply
this
strategy:
The
next
time
you’re
on
a
call,
and
you’ve
just
made
an
ask,
resist
the
urge
to
keep
talking.
Count
to
ten
in
your
head
if
you
have
to.
No,
it
won’t
be
easy,
but
like
most
good
things
in
life,
it
will
get
easier
with
practice.

Control
your
own
client
first

This
might
sound
pat,
but
every
relationship
and
every
interaction
you’ve
had
in
your
life
is
a
negotiation.
Case
in
point:
You’re
in
a
negotiation
with
me
right
now.
You
are
agreeing
to
spend
time
reading
this
article,
and
in
return
for
your
time,
I
am
agreeing
to
give
you
actionable
advice
from
one
of
the
most
successful
Realtors
in
the
country.
A
win-win.

Not
all
negotiations
are
this
straightforward
or
this
fast.
Your
relationship
with
your
client
is
a
complex,
months-long
negotiation.
If
your
seller
thinks
their
home
is
worth
$100,000
more
than
the
comps
say,
getting
them
back
to
reality
is
crucial.

If
you
can’t,
no
amount
of
charm
or
leverage
will
save
the
deal.
Kramer’s
approach
is
to
meet
them
where
they
are,
give
them
the
space
they
need
to
make
the
right
decision
and
apply
gentle
pressure
to
steer
them
in
the
right
direction
when
needed.

How
to
apply
this
strategy:
Before
your
next
negotiation,
get
crystal
clear
on
where
your
client
actually
stands.
Are
they
too
emotionally
attached?
Unrealistic
on
price?
Are
they
dragging
their
feet?
If
so,
why?
Try
to
find
out
early
so
you
can
manage
it
before
the
other
agent
does
it
for
you.

Avoid
zero-sum
thinking

Agents
who
walk
into
a
negotiation
trying
to
“win”
ironically
“lose”
more
than
those
who
don’t.
A
negotiation
is
not
a
poker
game.
There
is
no
pot
that
one
person
wins.
Effective
negotiators
work
hard
so
that
everyone
walks
away
happy.
Your
goal
is
to
move
two
parties
from
disagreement
to
agreement.

There
are
two
reasons
why
zero-sum
thinking
almost
always
backfires
in
a
negotiation:
First,
because
it’s
not
always
in
your
client’s
best
interest.
Second,
the
listing
agent
you
try
to
strong-arm
today
might
be
on
the
other
side
of
a
dozen
other
deals
you
want
access
to
next
year.
Your
reputation
in
your
market
is
your
most
valuable
asset.
Being
unnecessarily
aggressive
with
other
agents
is
a
surefire
way
to
tarnish
it.

The
full
picture

Know
an
agent
who
is
thriving
despite
the
odds
and
has
actionable
insights
to
share?
We’d
love
to
hear
from
you.
Reach
out
to
us
here:

[email protected].