I'm new to the business, I was wondering how many of you find yourself accessing (or wanting to access) the mls while negotiating an offer? I'm thinking of taking my laptop along with me, but concerned that having too much information might slow down the process.

Taking it along with you where ?

Don't you have Buyers come to the Office to draft an Offer ?

Are you doing it at the Subject Property ?

On the trunk lid of your car ?

At the Buyers' current Home ?

At a local Restaurant ?

I just signed up my first client (seller) and Im thinking ahead when I get and negotiate an offer (typically in the seller's house), if it would make sense for me to bring with me my laptop so I can access the mls.

Like Vermont, I'm unsure as to what you meant. Are you saying that prior to 'negotiating an offer', your clients (whether you represent the buyer or seller) have not been presented with an updated CMA?

Please clarify.

You shouldn't need to have your laptop with you in the negotiations....you should be figuring out the value of the property prior to sitting there negotiating the deal.

I obviously have created a CMA already for the client, but I think there might be some value in having access to the details of all the comparables while negotiating However, I think having too much info might confuse my client, so I'm trying to weigh the pros and cons.

Steely,

Is there a way for you to send a link to the comparables you are using on your CMA? That way he/she can review ahead of time at their leisure and can make an educated decision instead of quickly trying to do it 'while negotiating an offer'.

By the way, when you say 'negotiating an offer', who are you negotiating with? Your client?

It sounds like you are looking ahead to the offer presentation on your listing.

If that's the case, you will want to check the MLS BEFORE you meet with the seller. I do a last minute check for new listings or new closed comps. I also check the offering agents stats, (some systems will not let you check this) #of sales closed, list to closing price ratio, etc. If you have a sale or close contingency you will want to print that listing and bring it with you. If its a sale ctg, run a quick CMA.

The negotiation process can be confusing and emotional, I prefer not to have a lot of Stuff on the table when I am going through the offer. I go in with two files, one with the offer and the other with any support documents I may need. Having your laptop in the car would be a good idea, if you run across something you forgot to check its close enough to grab quick. But the negotiation process is just like staging a home, clutter just gets in the way of focusing on the important stuff.

I agree that you shouldn't overwhelm the client with information...but you certainly should be prepared to show as much information as they want/need.

I always have my iPad handy (it's easier to carry around in my briefcase than a laptop is), in case my client has follow-up questions after I've presented them with the data I've already researched beforehand. It's sometimes helpful to be able to pull up the MLS and show a buyer or seller additional property details or other relevant information. Doesn't happen too incredibly often, but it does happen.

Thanks Andy and Dodger for your input. It seems i need to find the right balance between having enough info so I can provide proper guidance to my clients but at the same time avoiding the possibility of overwhelming them with too much info. Bringing an iPad sounds like a good idea, although here in Canada, the mls is not yet supported on other browsers except for IE.

in your listing presentation you just need two sheets.

One is a list of what is currently in their market that are relative comps to what they want to list.

The other is a list of sold properties.

You just need to say this is what houses sit on the market for, and this is what they have sold for. Which list do you want to be on next month?

Eric

Just about spewed my tea on me screen

Yeah, one cool agent (video) whose got it going.

Just for fun, call 10 agents in your market place and ask them some real estate or business questions. First, you'll be lucky if half pick up the phone or will call you back. Number of them will sound like their dying on the vine. What FEELINGS do you say their clients have??? Wonder why Expireds are upset???

Getting a license is one thing... understanding and knowing how to sell is another issue, like this agent in the video proves. For many sellers, it's NOT just about how much many they will put in their pocket...it's moving on with their lives somewhere else....LOL LOL LOL

If you want I'll gladly email you my listing presentation and pre-listing package you Fed/Ex to them.

If you simply put the suggested listing price in the package along with your other stuff in the pre-listing package you can get right to price, which is the central topic anyhow.

Heres Monica Reynolds doing a priced focused listing presentation. They already got the pre-listing package with suggested price and had a pre-qualification call to verify the appointment. By doing this you can be in and out in 30 minutes for a listing presentation either for the "yes" or "no".


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkTl-ZgmF4Q

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvB5ET1ywwI&feature=related

So you're really talking about negotiating the Seller's a "response" to an Offer (like maybe a Counter-Offer).

Seldom would the details of the Buyer's Offer be negotiated out "in plain sight" at the Seller's House.

I am affraid that I never have had to access the MLS system during negotiations, as I usually did everything prior thereto, also I tried to keep things as simple as possible and concentrate on things that may pose an issue, and for what is worth, consider the following:

Initially, when you listed the property I assumed that you presented the Sellers with a CMA and discussed with them, what their listed (asking) price should be and another price that they would be willing to seriously consider or accept.

Prior to meeting the buyer’s agent, you might consider arriving early at the seller’s residence and prep the sellers on the latest market data, and have print-outs for both the sellers and a spare copy to give to the buyers agent to take back to the buyers, if their offered price is the stumbling block.

You might consider pointing out to the sellers some of the key issues in an offer that they should perhaps focus on.

Irrevocable Date: Do not allow your clients to be pressured into making a hasty decision, When buyers make their offer only open for a few hours for acceptance, specifically request that all offers be a minium of three (3) days irrevocable.

Date of Possession: If the parties cannot agree on the date of vacant possession, all else is futile and immaterial.

Financing: Material consideration
• Have the buyers been formally approved by a bonifier lender ?
• Do they have a certificate/letter of approval from their lender ?
• Are the details of the required financing realistic and spelled out in the offer ?

No "Satifactory Financing Clause" for buyers to weasel out.

Contingency: The specific wording and the type of contingency i.e.
• Condition Precedent;
• Condition Subsequent;
• True Condition Precedent
and the specific details and reasonable time allowable for the fulfilment thereof or that it may be waived.

Price: Now, with everything else being reasonably acceptable, your sellers will look at the price offered to see if it is within the price range originally established and whether they will revise the price that they were willing to accept.

Important Notice: This information is provided as basic educational information by the author and is not a substitute for the advice of an expert and/or the advice of a lawyer. There is NO representation as to legality, accuracy, correctness of the herein information and the reader is strongly urged to consult a lawyer in the relevant jurisdiction to ensure accuracy before acting on this information .

Thanks DA....nice outline on what one should focus on and avoid getting sidetracked by non-critical pieces of info.

Once your negotiating an offer it's very rare that you'll need to access MLS information.

The only times I have ever referenced MLS during the negotiating process is to check out a property that I'm not familar with that the other agent is trying to use as a comparable to justify the offer or asking price.

Bottom line however is that negotiating is a skill that is not found in mounds of MLS data.