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Negotiation Final Paper

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Negotiations Final Paper Professor Seth M. Kaplowitz January 24, 2014 Last fall, my wife and I put our home up for sale. Our motivation was simple, with the money we would get from the sale of our home we could pay off all our debt and have plenty of money left over to invest, eventually saving enough to buy a bigger home. Emboldened by the allure of liquidity I listed our home for sale and waited for the offers. Indeed the offers did come in, in fact over the next few months we were in and out of escrow three times. Undeterred we listed our home for a fourth and mutually agreed final time. We agreed our Best Alternative to a Negotiated Settlement (BATNA) was staying in the home and not planning to buy a bigger house. Our …show more content…

The buyer’s inspection report noted that these issues were unconfirmed and that additional investigation was required before any conclusions could be drawn. Furthermore, Rong sent several emails to me asking if we had any knowledge of mold or floods. I decided increased transparency was the best way to elevate the buyer’s concerns so I provided a copy of an inspection report conducted by one of the previous potential buyers which gave the house a clean bill of health. Rong even called the realtor who represented that buyer and independently verified the condition of the property did not play a role in the subsequent withdrawal from escrow. This phantom menace became a focal point for the buyers, an issue for which there was no basis in fact yet considerable reliance. I used this setback in our transaction as an opportunity to signal a change in our BATNA. In a conversation with Rong regarding the buyers concerns she asked if I would adjust the property’s sales price. I told her in order for this transaction to move forward she needed to help her buyers move away from assertions back to fact-based statements. I explained to her that unless her buyers could produce evidence of damage to the property I wasn’t prepared to make concessions in excess of a reasonable credit for wear and tear. I expressed my desire to see the sale move forward and but in an effort to signal a change in BATNA told Rong

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