Monday, January 27, 2020

I'm Not Gonna Give it Away!

One of my favorite topics to discuss is sales and negotiation.    The seller who says "I'm not gonna give it away" really means, I'm unwilling to consider an offer that low.

Of course I've never asked anyone to give their house away, however, it's an interesting concept.  A gift?  Is that what the seller thinks?  Would that be a taxable event for either party?  (there is an answer to that question, but I digress).





I'm not gonna give it away....  

Without knowing anything else about the context of the offer or the response, this response tells me a few things.  This response means you're out of rapport with the seller.  This means they consider your offer to be out of line.    So what should you do?  Well, one thing would be to anticipate this objection and explain how you approached the offer.

Ultimately I have to laugh when I hear this response.  If I wanted you to give it away, I wouldn't have offered anything at all - I would have just asked you to give me the house.  I've certainly bought houses for the existing debt, and in that way, I have had houses "given" to me, with certain caveats.

Here's the best way to respond to this or any objection:  call them by name, agree, and ask questions.

Something like this:  Well Mr. Seller I agree, I wouldn't want you to give it away.  I think what I hear you saying is you think my offer is too low, is that right?  How low too low is it?

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