Tips for buying and selling via email
Article from Realtor Magazine:Tips for Buying and Selling Via E-Mail
Buying property electronically — no matter how complex the deal — is becoming increasingly common.
Legal and communication experts offer some advice to those who rely on e-communication to buy and sell:
- Be careful what you put in writing. “[E-mail is] a different type of written negotiation that people in the industry have never been trained for,” says Diane Levine, a lawyer and manager for Sotheby’s International. “I think [associates] should be careful to have a plan in mind and not just let it be about spitting everything out in the next e-mail.”
- Arguments via e-mail can go wrong. If things get heated, pick up the phone or meet face-to-face.
- The truth isn’t necessarily the truth. Terri R. Kurtzberg, an associate professor of management and global business at Rutgers Business School, conducted a study of online communications. She found that people aren't always as honest when they communicate via e-mail compared to other forms of communications. They don’t ask pointed questions well online and are sometimes reluctant to reveal their own interests, she said.
- Sarcasm doesn’t translate. Flip remarks and off-the-cuff humor can kill a deal. It’s much smarter to write in formal language, advises Kathleen L. McGinn, a professor of business administration at the Harvard Business School, who is an expert is resolving conflict.
Source: The New York Times, Vivian S. Toy (04/24/2009)