What I Actually Do When I Negotiate
It's important to know who's working for you and what that means.
Most agents don’t explain their negotiation philosophy before you hire them. I think that’s worth changing.
Here’s mine.
Keys to the Lakes serves buyers and sellers in New Hampshire’s Lakes Region. I am legally permitted, as an agent in this state and by my brokerage (Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Verani Realty) in practice, to represent both a buyer and a seller in the same transaction. I have never done so. And, I don’t have any intention of doing so in the future.
I refer out any lead that would put me in a position where I can’t negotiate fully and without reservation on behalf of my client. If I’m listing a property and an unrepresented buyer appears, that buyer gets referred to another agent. If I’m working with a buyer and they want to offer on a property where I have a conflict, I facilitate and step back from negotiation entirely.
This probably costs me transactions, sure. And, it nets me less money on some. I think it’s the only way to do the job honestly.
The reason is simple: I can only negotiate in the best interests of one client at a time. Full stop.
What negotiation actually is
People often think negotiation is about price. It’s not only about price. It’s about the whole transfer of a property, and there are a lot of levers in that transfer.
Price, yes. But also timing. Inspection terms. What repairs are included and what aren’t. Whether there’s a credit at closing instead of a repair. Whether seller financing makes the deal work when conventional financing doesn’t. Whether a longer closing timeline matters more to a seller than the number at the top of the offer. Whether you just get cold feet and decide you don’t want to buy or sell after all.
My job is to help you see all of those levers clearly, understand what each one means for your specific situation, and make informed choices about how to use them. I bring process knowledge and strategic insight. I stay on my side of the ledger. The decisions are yours.
That last part is non-negotiable for me. I will absolutely tell you what I think will make an offer stronger, where I believe there’s room to push, and what concessions I’d expect to come back. I’ll tell you what I know, what I believe to be true, and what my read is on the psychology of the deal at that particular moment. And then I create space for questions, for debate, for thinking. I never rush.
What this looks like in practice
Keys to the Lakes listed a property last year for a seller who had been in the home only a short time, but had put significant work into it. Upgrades that justified a price well above what the timeline might have suggested. The seller knew what the home was worth. That number wasn’t moving.
What was flexible was time. The seller was downsizing to live with family, and the timeline for that transition had room in it. No pressure to close by a specific date. No financial urgency driving a concession on price.
My job in that negotiation was to hold the line on the one thing that mattered and stay patient on everything else. The home sat for about a month. The first people who walked through it were also the people who eventually bought it. They needed time to shop the market, see what else was available, and come to the conclusion the seller already knew: the price was right. I didn’t chase them. I didn’t blink on price. I kept the conversation open on timing and terms, and I waited.
When they came back, they came back ready.
Earlier this year, Keys to the Lake worked with buyers purchasing a waterfront property entirely remotely. They’d seen it by video walkthrough only. They were smart, thorough people who had done their research. They trusted KTL enough to delegate the due diligence meeting with the town entirely to us. KTL brought their renovation plans, asked the questions they needed answered about what improvements would be permissible on the lot, and relayed back what was learned. Not a decision meeting. An informational meeting.
It still takes a significant amount of trust to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on something you’ve never walked through in person. I don’t take that lightly.
Negotiations on that deal stretched across multiple weeks. That was okay. Everyone involved understood the risks of not settling quickly, and everyone agreed that getting it right mattered more than getting it done fast.
What kept that process from unraveling wasn’t confidence or pressure or any particular tactical move. It was communication. Clear, consistent, active communication. Every point in the negotiation included an honest explanation of where things stood, what the options were, and what the read was on the situation. Every decision point was returned to the clients with enough information to make a real choice, not just to ratify what I thought they should do.
They bought the property. They have significant renovation plans. And they moved up from Florida just in time for the nice weather this week.
Why I’m telling you this
If you’re a buyer or seller doing research on agents in New Hampshire’s Lakes Region, you’re probably comparing a lot of people who sound similar on the surface. Responsive. Experienced. Knowledgeable about the market.
I don’t know how to shortcut the process of figuring out who you can actually trust. But I do think you should be able to ask your agent, directly, what their negotiation philosophy is. What they do when a deal gets complicated. Whether they represent both sides. How they handle a situation where the fastest path to closing isn’t the best path for you.
Those are reasonable questions. I think you deserve clear answers before you sign anything.
If you’re thinking about buying or selling in the Lakes Region and you want to understand how I work before you decide whether I’m the right fit, that’s exactly the kind of conversation I’m committed to. No pressure. Just honest information.
Here’s to getting it right over getting it done fast.
🧭 Jenn
Keys to the Lakes
