I'm a little embarrassed to admit this, but I learned a *fantastic* negotiation strategy last night while watching HGTV.  Insomnia had hit hard, so I tuned in to home buyer shows – you never know what you'll see or learn, right?

On My First Place, a young couple looked at about a thousand houses and finally found one they absolutely fell in love with.  Unfortunately for the seller, it was a short sale.  This was both good and bad for the buyers because it meant the house was priced great, but there were multiple offers.

The agent (I wish I remembered his name because he was awesome) suggested to write their contract a certain way which I thought was nothing short of brilliant.  I'm going to make up numbers here, but you'll see the strategy… the agent asked the buyers what their top price was and wrote,

The little couple go their home and got it for about $10,000 less than their highest offer. I am kicking myself now for not having that little strategy in my back pocket before now.