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

be corrected. It’s like the husband who cheats on his wife, and
he says “Honey, I’ll never do it again.” The wife is crazy if she be-
lieves him!

SOURCES OF NEGOTIATING POWER

Negotiating power is the ability and resources to influence others.
Some subtle forms of negotiating power include:

• Good record keeping. Having good records favors the party who
has them when there is a disagreement about what or when
something was said. He who has better records and better notes
wins the argument about what was said when, and who promised
to do what.
• Preprinted forms. These favor the party supplying them. For ex-
ample, if a contract is titled “Standard Purchase Agreement”
people assume it’s nonnegotiable.
• Company policy. The mere statement: “That’s our company pol-
icy” usually puts an end to many disputes.
• Knowledge. Revealing that you have a lot of knowledge or infor-
mation about a transaction can intimidate the other side so
they will ask for fewer concessions. Often people think: “He’s
too smart for me to try to get this concession.”
• The willingness to take risks. AssumeIhavetossedacoin50times
andeachtimeit cameupheads. So I say to you: “I’ll give you 10
to1 odds that it will come up heads again.” Now there’s a bet
you would be inclined to take since you know the real odds are
50–50. Assume that your entire fortune at that time is $100,000
andIsay:“It’s my million against your $100,000, okay?” Some-
how you start thinking: “With my fortune on the line, it’ll

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