About Anyone approaching or involved in a real estate transaction would be well served with good negotiation skills.
This article describes negotiating in the “Middle Eastern bazaar” and directly applies as a recommendation for Israel. This may seem to be completely irrelevant to real estate, but I think the principles presented here are rock solid in any negotiation. The article presents ten rules plus one bonus rule.
Never be the first to suggest anything to the other side. Never show any eagerness “to conclude a deal”. Let the opponent present his suggestions first.
The basic theme I read in the ten rules is that the party that wants the deal the least or has the least invested emotionally wins or gets the best deal.
And #11:
You should never agree to negotiate with more than one side. The Arabs will try to bring as many participants into the negotiating table to put you in an inferior position. Never agree to bring in even so called “friendly participants”. There is no such thing. Every participant brings with him his own agenda that could never be yours. For this reason never take part in “conferences” convened to deal with you, in which you will always be on the losing side.
For us this refers to friends, neighbors, or family members that are not directly involved in the deal. Real estate agents usually want to be able to act as the conduit or filter to the negotiations. They don’t like buyers and sellers talking with each other. The thought here is that it removes some of the emotion and personality clashes from the bargaining process.