My dad and mom taught me to play Bridge when I was a teenager. We had an instant game anytime we wanted with my older sister as the fourth. I play a lot of Bridge in college (probably too much, now that I think about it) and then have resumed playing as an adult with a regular group at my golf club. I have even played in a few duplicate tournaments from time to time.
Like all other card games, there is a certain element of luck involved in a Bridge game. Not so much in Tournament Bridge, but in the informal games that most of us play. That being said, I truly believe that there is also an important element of skill in the play of a Bridge hand. There are certain techniques that the declarer utilizes that demonstrate mastery of the game and almost always put the skillful player ahead of the others. It occurred to me that some of these techniques may be usable in real estate negotiations so I am chronicling them here.
•1. The Endgame. A clever declarer can make his or her contract if he puts the player to his left in a position where whatever he leads, the declarer wins. Picture the declare sitting South holding Ace-Jack of a suit, and his opponent sitting West holding King-Ten. If the declarer at the end of the game, can lose a trick to West when there are but two cards remaining, whatever of the two cards West leads (King or Ten), South will win both tricks. I would compare this situation to dealings with a stubborn seller, or listing agent. If you can get that person to be maneuvered into a situation where he or she is suggesting a solution to a problem, you have an advantage. You are never “bidding against yourself.” You always have a reference point to return to if things get heated. You remind the person what he or she once suggested. A lot of times, I like to embellish upon getting the other side into an “endgame” position by not responding in a telephone conversation after the person is finished. This makes the other side uncomfortable and starting to explain, and even modify, their position. That silence has helped me win many important advantages.
•2. The Finesse. If you have Ace- Queen of a suit in your hand, and you think that the person sitting East sitting has the King, you can play a small card from the Dummy, and if East doesn’t play the King, the declarer plays the Queen from South and, in general, neutralizes the King so that it never wins a trick. This compares to a situation where you know that one of the parties to the transaction (maybe the husband or wife Seller) is very negative about the deal. You need to find a way to neutralize that person, by convincing the person you are dealing with directly (either listing agent or attorney) that this negative person can “kill this deal”. In effect you are using the old “finesse” technique to move the person to the sidelines where he or she cannot continue to be a problem.
•3. The Squeeze. At the end of a bridge hand, a declarer with a bunch of winning cards can succeed by playing all of these winning cards to force the opponents to guess what to discard and what to hang on to. The result of the “squeeze” is to promote small cards into winners, if the opponents have not kept accurate track of the cards played. In real estate, the “squeeze” is available when we sense desperation on the other side. The skill involved here is to spend time to determine what your client or customer really wants, or needs, and then to make a longer list of demands, which eventually funnels into getting the important concessions your client really needs. You start out with a laundry list, and end up with just the few essential items. The other side has been “squeezed” but gathers some comfort in the knowledge that they said “no” to a few requests.
If it sounds like I treat real estate negotiations as a game perhaps that is a correct observation. With the help of other real estate professionals on my team, I want to get the best possible result for my client. To me, that is what the game is all about.