I am shocked that music legend Prince died in 2016 without a will. This resulted in legal and administrative expenses of over $85 million out of an estate valued at around $156 million and a massive tax bill. Wow! And while I don’t feel badly for his heirs – who still...
“We think our oldest wants the house but not cash. He has no kids and probably doesn’t want our lake cabin. But we’re not sure. Our daughter wants the house and cabin plus our jewelry, largely for her daughters. She probably wants cash for her kids’ college, too. Of...
My two kids occasionally try the divide-and-conquer strategy on my wife and me. First my daughter asks my wife for something (and it’s usually our daughter now as our son is in college). If she gets a lukewarm response or a no, she will then approach me and ask for...
My mom recently closed on the sale of her condo, and I just debriefed on the negotiation with our real estate agent. Here is what we learned. We all can benefit from these. 1. Homework paid off with the right real estate agent. I interviewed four real estate agents,...
I recently interviewed several real estate agents in person to determine the best fit to help sell my mom’s condo. Since negotiation comprises one of real estate agents’ core competencies and our agent would be our front-line negotiator with buyers and their agents, I...
Here’s Part Two of my annual list of lessons learned and links to the columns that more extensively address these strategies. Don’t forget to implement these in 2025! Auctions will almost always maximize sellers’ negotiation leverage when price matters. Similarly,...
He had been in the pool deck and resurfacing industry for about 40 years – and he was a talker. He was also the fourth sales professional I met that day. But I was all ears. Why? Because my wife and I weren’t yet firm on what we wanted for our pool decking and patio....
“Hi – how are you?” my friend said to his teen daughter years ago after coming home from work. She erupted, yelled at him, stormed to her room and slammed the door. He turned to his wife and said “what did I do?” She replied “you talked.” This example, shared by...
My 14-year-old daughter has excellent negotiation skills. And that’s a problem, at least now. Of course, I shouldn’t complain. She’s a great kid and very responsible, etc. But she can also be really frustrating. My friends with older daughters tell me this is a...
