The prospect names a lower amount. In the same conversation they also want to keep the furnishings and gain earlier access to the property. If you respond only to the new price figure, parts of the proposed deal remain unresolved. Our own conversation method for Austria and Germany brings amount and conditions together. It is not a contract template and does not determine which statement is legally binding in the respective country.
Know your own position before the conversation
Write down what you are actually offering at present: scope of the property, intended inventory, timing preferences and any remaining prerequisites. Add which points you yourself would like to change and where you first need advice. A private note does not replace legal review, but it does give you a clear working position.
Keep your personal limit separate from the publicly stated price expectation. For the calculation of available funds you need confirmed or openly stated costs. This article does not state either a market-typical negotiation margin or an appropriate discount.
Record the proposed changes individually
Ask in the conversation for a full description of the proposal. How much is the amount? What should be included for that? What process is expected? Which conditions or checks does the other party mention? A change of the price figure is not automatically understood as the unchanged remainder of the previous offer.
Summarise objectively what you have understood. This is particularly helpful when several wishes are named quickly one after another. Avoid a spontaneous evaluation of each individual point before you have an overview of the overall package.
Tear apart an invented package
Hannes wants to sell his flat with a specific handover period. The prospect names less money, at the same time wants an earlier date and additional furniture. Hannes initially reacts disappointed by the amount. In the ordered conversation it becomes clear, however, that the earlier date would mean the greatest extra effort for him.
He therefore does not only prepare a counter price proposal. He clarifies his actual timing availability and the desired extent of the furniture. Then he can say which combination he is willing to consider at all. a single discount would not have solved the actual bottleneck.
Allow a pause for your own review
If new technical, tax or contractual questions arise, take the complete package into the appropriate advice. A friendly conclusion to the conversation does not have to produce an improvised substantive agreement. The effect of words or messages already given will be assessed on their actual content.
Record for the continuation which question who will clarify and when a new factual position should be available. Do not invent any claim about competing offers to create pressure. You can conduct your negotiation with your actual reasons.
Relate the outcome to the same conditions
After review all parties should know to which scope and process the new price expectation refers. Have the further drafting prepared by the responsible body. Your own conversation notes should not replace an unknown legal agreement.
This turns an emotional dispute about a number into a decision about a comprehensible overall deal. You recognise which wish is expensive for you, temporally unbearable or still unresolved, and can respond concretely to it.