Mike Browning

Tag: Negotiation Strategy

  • Compromising Positions

    Compromising Positions

    Splitting the difference sounds good but it usually isn’t the answer.

    People are taught from childhood that compromise is the fair solution.

    If two people want different things, you split the difference. Everyone gives a little. Everyone walks away happy.

    That sounds reasonable. But sometimes the “fair” compromise is actually ridiculous.

    Some of them I can’t repeat here.

    There’s an old story in the First Book of Kings about two women claiming the same baby. They brought the dispute to King Solomon.

    Solomon proposed a solution, cut the baby in half and give each woman a piece.

    Of course he didn’t really intend for that to happen. The point was to expose the flaw in the idea that every dispute has a reasonable middle. Some problems cannot be solved by compromise.

    One woman immediately begged him to give the child to the other. Which revealed who the real mother was.

    The point was clarity.

    Some things don’t have a middle that works. Negotiation runs into this problem all the time.

    People assume that splitting the difference automatically produces a fair agreement. But compromise often just glues two incompatible ideas together.

    Think about a simple example.

    A landowner wants $1.5 million for a tract.
    A buyer wants to pay $1.3 million.

    Someone suggests the obvious solution.

    Split the difference at $1.4 million.

    On paper that looks fair. Each side moved the same amount.

    But fairness on paper doesn’t mean the deal actually works.

    Maybe the buyer’s financing only supports $1.3 million.
    Maybe the seller needs $1.45 million to justify selling.
    Maybe the timing or tax consequences change the math.

    In those situations, splitting the difference doesn’t solve the problem. It just produces a number that satisfies neither side.

    This is why experienced negotiators spend less time looking for the middle and more time understanding what each side actually values.

    Sometimes the right solution isn’t halfway between two positions.

    Sometimes the right solution is something different entirely.

    And sometimes the right solution is realizing there isn’t a deal at all.

    P.S. To know whether there’s a deal or not, you need the most current market information.

    You’re probably not even considering selling today. But things can change quickly. The best time to start gathering information is well before you actually need it.

    That’s what the MBR Land Reality Check is for. Clear-eyed analysis using actual sales and decades of experience in land brokerage.

    It’s free (for now). No obligation. And never any pressure to list.

    Would it be a bad idea to just see where things stand?

    Request Yours Here

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  • Why Speed Is Overrated (And Control Isn’t)

    Why Speed Is Overrated (And Control Isn’t)

    Fast deals feel good. Controlled deals close better.

    Everyone says they want things to move quickly.

    Fast offers.
    Fast closings.
    Fast decisions.
    “No drama.”

    Speed feels like progress. It feels decisive. It feels professional.

    And sometimes it is.

    But speed, by itself, is not a virtue. Control is.

    I see sellers rush sometimes, not because it benefits them, but because they are uncomfortable sitting in uncertainty. Silence feels like failure. Waiting feels risky. So they push.

    “Let’s just get this done.”
    “I don’t want this dragging on.”
    “I don’t want to lose the buyer.”

    That mindset almost always gives away leverage.

    Markets do not reward urgency. They punish it.

    The buyer who senses haste slows down.
    The buyer who sees flexibility presses harder.
    The buyer who believes you need resolution waits for concessions.

    Ironically, the fastest closings I see usually come from sellers who are in control, not in a hurry.

    They are clear on price.
    They are calm about timing.
    They are willing to let silence do its job.

    That confidence compresses timelines naturally. Buyers move faster when they believe the seller does not need them.

    Speed without control is reaction.
    Control creates speed when it matters.

    This is especially true with land and non-residential property, where deals are rarely emotional and almost always strategic. Rushing those transactions rarely improves outcomes. It just transfers value.

    The goal is not to be slow.
    The goal is to be unpressured.

    When you are not rushing, you make better decisions.
    When you are not rushing, you negotiate from strength.
    When you are not rushing, you avoid mistakes that cost real money.

    Good agents do not confuse momentum with haste.
    They manage tempo, not panic.

    There is a difference between moving efficiently and moving nervously. Buyers can tell which one you are doing.

    And so can the market.

    PS – If you own land or acreage and want a clear, no-obligation opinion of value, I offer a free analysis based on real comps and actual market experience.

    No algorithms. No guesswork. No pressure.

    You will know where you stand today and what realistic options actually look like, without being rushed into anything.

    You can get started here

    PPS – If this helped reframe how you think about timing and leverage, feel free to forward it to someone who might need it.

  • Why Would a Client Ever Authorize That?

    Why Would a Client Ever Authorize That?

    It sounds reckless. It isn’t.

    Yesterday I mentioned that agents sometimes disclose things they should not.

    Pricing flexibility. Motivation. Pressure.

    And I said something important.
    Unless the client explicitly authorizes it, that information should not leave the room.

    That raises a fair question.

    Why would a client ever authorize that?

    Because sometimes, done deliberately, it is a tool.

    Not every transaction.
    Not casually.
    And never without understanding the tradeoffs.

    Here are a couple situations where it can make sense.

    One is misdirection.

    Occasionally a client may authorize me to let the other side believe I am being loose, careless, or even conflicted. Not because I am, but because it may cause the other side to relax and talk more than they should.

    Good negotiators do not fall for that.
    Average ones sometimes do.

    If it works, information flows back the other way. If it does not, no harm is done because nothing critical was actually given away.

    Another situation is closing fatigue.

    Some buyers and sellers simply have to feel like they won. You know the type. They cannot accept a clean proposal. There must be one more concession. One more ask. One last turn of the screw.

    In those cases, I may suggest we float a position slightly beyond where they are actually willing to land, paired with a clear signal.

    If they counter here, we are done.

    They get their win.
    The deal gets signed.
    No real leverage is lost.

    That is not loose talk. That is strategy.

    The common thread in all of this is intent.

    Information is never shared accidentally.
    Nothing is revealed without a reason.
    And the client understands exactly why it is happening.

    That is very different from an agent who talks too much, wants to be liked, or is trying to speed things along because they need a check.

    From the outside, those situations can look the same.
    From the inside, they are not even close.

    This is why agency matters.
    This is why discretion matters.

    And this is why most sellers never realize how much damage can be done by someone who thinks they are being helpful.

    The right agent does not just protect your leverage.
    He knows when, and if, to spend it.

    PS – If you own land or acreage and want a clear, no-obligation opinion of value, I offer a free analysis based on real comps and actual market experience.

    No algorithms. No guesswork. No pressure.

    You will know where you stand and what your realistic options look like.

    You probably are not even thinking about selling right now. Is it a bad idea to have that clarity before you need it?

    You can get started here

    PPS – If this helped clarify how deals actually work, feel free to forward it to someone who might need it.

  • Don’t Argue About the Wrong Money

    Don’t Argue About the Wrong Money

    You lose if you make them feel like they lost

    People tend to be loss averse. Losing money hurts about twice as much as gaining the same amount feels good.

    If you lose $1,000 in the stock market, you’d need to make $2,000 back just to “feel even.”

    It sounds irrational, but it’s probably by design. If we treated gains and losses the same, we’d take way more risks — and a lot fewer of us would live long enough to regret them.

    Rational or not, it pays to understand loss aversion when buying or selling real estate.

    The more we think about this stuff beforehand, the better our chances of making smart decisions instead of letting our lizard brains run the show.

    One thing to remember: the idea of who pays what in transaction costs is mostly semantic.

    If you order a survey or an HOA certificate during escrow, someone’s on the hook for it even if the deal doesn’t close, so we want to be clear about that upfront. But if the deal does close, it doesn’t matter nearly as much.

    The buyer brings money to the table, costs get paid, and the seller walks away with what’s left. From a legal perspective, it matters whether the money comes off the top before it reaches the seller or after.

    From a bottom-line perspective? Same result.

    You can frame it however you want mentally.

    You can say the buyer pays everything because it’s their funds, or you can say the seller pays and picture it carved out of their pile before they walk out the door.

    Picture it so the other guy is paying if it makes you feel better.

    But remember this, the other side probably isn’t thinking this way. While you’re focused on the bottom line, they’re keeping score — and not in a rational way. Every transaction cost you try to push on them, they’ll subconsciously need to “get back” double somewhere else to feel okay about the deal. And if you try to stick them with a $2,000 expense, it typically bothers them more than if you just negotiated the price $2,000 higher.

    This is why those “land acquisition” outfits always brag about paying all closing costs in their letters. It removes one more source of resistance and makes their lowball offers easier to swallow.

    So what do we do?

    First, focus on your bottom line. Don’t get distracted by line items above it.

    Second, use this psychology to your advantage. Adjusting price usually carries the least resistance. If you’re selling, buyers expect you to counter higher anyway. If the bottom line’s too low, bump the price and let them “win” on some expenses instead.

    They’ll feel like they’re getting something, even if the math says otherwise.

    From a rational perspective, it’s all the same. But people aren’t rational.

    I know I’m giving away part of the playbook here — and that’s intentional. Most agents don’t understand these psychological levers, and if yours doesn’t, you’re the one leaving money on the table.

    And no, I didn’t tell you everything. To see the rest, you’ve got to see it in action — no extra charge for the negotiating knowledge.

    Just don’t skip the most important part: knowing your numbers ahead of time. That’s what puts you in control and tells you when to move.

    Is it a bad time to start finding out?

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