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TR U M P STR A TEGI ES FO R R E A L ESTA TE

from you. To satisfy that need you must learn to hold back. Be
stingy with your concessions even though they may be of little
importance to you, the fact that the other side got you to give
in on an item is considered a win for them. Because winning a
hard fought issue, which was the subject of protracted negotia-
tion, creates the feeling of deep self satisfaction in the winner it
is important for you to leave time in the negotiation for this to
happen. Learn to cater to the needs of individuals. Tell them
how they out-negotiated you and drove such a hard bargain.
Tell them they got an unbelievable price and you don’t know
how they did it. Everyone likes to be flattered. Do it, even if
you feel that you might choke on the words.
• People have an innate fear of superiority in others. While it’s im-
portant to display your knowledge of the subject matter in a ne-
gotiation, you don’t want to appear so smart that people are
afraid to deal with you.
In recognition of this you must sometimes adopt the prin-
ciple that “dumb” is “smart.” Sol Goldman who will be dis-
cussed later was a multimillionaire with a humble background
as a grocery vendor. Notwithstanding his lack of formal educa-
tion, he had one of the sharpest minds I ever encountered. He
was a brilliant negotiator who played a major role in my suc-
cessful growth as a negotiator. He could remember anything
and everything about any piece of real estate or anyone in the
real estate arena. In any negotiation the other parties never had
a clue as to the extent of his proficiency. If someone said some-
thing he needed time to consider, he’d say, “You people are
much smarter than I am. Could you please give me a simpler ex-
planation that my small mind can understand?” He knew full
well what was being proposed as well as what his answer might
be. But, often the simplified explanation was more attackable
than the initial one, and if that was true he would respond to

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