Book Excerpts / From Chapter 10
Getting to a Fair Price and a Square Deal
To get straight to the point, this is the most important chapter of this guide. You are now out where the rubber meets the pavement: on the lots dealing face to face with sales reps and sales managers. Many will be really grooved in with polished sales techniques. Their abilities must be respected. To level the playing field, this chapter arms you with information that a great many dealers don’t want you to know. Whether you are paying cash or need dealer financing, what you learn here could save you thousands of dollars. It could also greatly reduce the level of anxiety of one of life’s most stressful experiences—buying a home.
When Americans shop, they are accustomed to seeing price tags on merchandise and paying that price without any thought to bargaining. In a way this is unfortunate, for in many cultures the world over, bargaining, with its gentle banter and give-and-take, is one of the joys of shopping. The ability to do so is something of an acquired skill—and it’s rarely more useful, or more needed, than when purchasing a big ticket item such as a car or a home. So if you feel unsure about your negotiating skills, rest assured that you have plenty of company. The goal of this chapter is to provide you with what you need to know to determine a fair price for your future home (and, if needed, acceptable terms of dealer financing) and to negotiate with confidence a square deal that you will be happy with long after you sign on the dotted line....