Posted by Leonard Steinberg on November 13th, 2012

As the negotiations between Republicans and Democrats to avert the FISCAL CLIFF heat up, one commentator pointed out that in our beloved system, usually both sides have to walk away from the negotiated deal angry for a deal to be done. In New York real estate, I see this quite often too, and I think its the role of the broker to AVOID anger in a negotiation. So many angry brokers (names to follow)who infuse more anger into the negotiation are simply bad brokers in my opinion. Why should it be viewed as a lose-lose situation when in fact both sides are merely negotiating to come to a meeting of minds? Negotiating in the spirit of win-win is always best.

It is probably a sad message about the quality of our negotiators in Washington that their form of negotiation can only conclude with both sides being angry: I think its a clear indicator of arrogance, self-righteousness and irresponsibility. That’s what I think of anger-driven brokers in New York real estate….they make everyone’s life miserable when surely there are more important things to be angry about?