Tyler Whitman Tells All On How He Gauges Real Estate Success - Exclusive
You see it all of the time on "Million Dollar Listing New York" and the other reality series that operate at the Bravo hit's elite level of real estate. Despite the preparations of the "MDLNY" agents down to the most minute detail, despite their highlighting of such eye-popping creature comforts as marble slab backsplashes, casement windows, radiant-heated floors and computerized toilets with the ability to think, potential buyers stroll through this showing or that one with frowns and haughty indifference. These people might have all the money in the world, but they're still a tough sell.
Ask Tyler Whitman of "MDLNY" about those hard-to-deal-with clients, and he offers a ready characterization. "That's called job security," Whitman told Nicki Swift in an exclusive interview, radiating the level of confidence prerequisite in his line of work. Whitman's key negotiating tactic for when somebody's looking down their nose at a potential sale? "You have to tell them they're right. That's the first and most simple lesson." Whitman shared more about his tactics for selling, as well as his surefire, if unexpected, motto for understanding the complexion of a real estate deal.
How to win like Whitman
He joined "Million Dollar Listing New York" in its eighth season, and he's back for the ninth alongside veteran cast members and agents Fredrik Eklund and Ryan Serhant. But to hear Tyler Whitman of "MDLNY" tell it, he's always had a knack for bringing people together and lowering the temperature. "It's been a gift of mine since way before I was in real estate," Whitman told Nicki Swift exclusively. "I actually... do think it's my superpower in this business. I can get people calm very quickly, and then once I have that... I can get them to understand the situation." And when the situation is mired in the dicey back-and-forth of negotiating offers and deals for luxurious New York real estate properties, Whitman's ready to play the game.
According to Whitman, most real estate agents skip the crucial step of making a person feel heard and understood. To recognize that, to win over the hearts and minds of the parties involved in a negotiation, Whitman says is the real key to selling. "You always just have to play the psychological game of like, 'Here's what's going on, here's how you feel, here's how the other person feels,'" Whitman explained. "'Here's your financial circumstances, here's their financial circumstances, so let's find something that works.' You know, in my head, I say this all the time for my team: if you did it right, both people will feel like they lost."
"Million Dollar Listing New York" airs Thursdays at 9/8c on Bravo.