Suze Cumming, founder of The Nature of Real Estate and Canada’s Real Estate Negotiation guru, answers Realtors’ questions on the first Friday of the month about negotiation tactics and working through tricky situations. Have a question for Suze? Send her an email.

Your buyer has found the right property. It’s been on the market for several months with a couple of price drops—the most recent one 30 days ago. You estimate market value within two to three per cent of the new asking price, and your buyer is ready to make a strong opening offer: clean terms, the seller’s preferred closing date, and just one condition—a home inspection.

Then the listing agent throws a curveball.

They tell you there’s another buyer, unrepresented, willing to pay over asking—but they can’t act for five days. They hint that another offer is on the way as well and say, “We’ll probably wait before looking at anything.”

Your buyer hesitates. The trust is shaken. They walk away and decide to buy a different property.

This scenario happens more often than we’d like, and it raises big questions: Should a listing agent delay offers? And as a buyer’s agent, how do you advise your client when the process feels manipulative?

While this situation differs from the strategy of listing low to attract multiple offers and delaying the offer date, many of the same elements of negotiation intelligence apply.   

Let’s explore this through the lens of Negotiation Fundamentals.  In particular, market power, trust, BATNA, competitive tactics and reservation point. 

For listing agents: Should you delay offers?

Holding offers can make sense in hot markets where demand significantly outstrips supply. But in a balanced or slower market, holding out for a hypothetical better offer or multiple offers can backfire. Here’s why:

Market Power Matters

Market power isn’t about confidence; it’s about facts. Look at days on market, price adjustments, comparable inventory, and buyer demand. Overestimating your leverage in a soft or balanced market doesn’t just create tension — it costs your client opportunities. When agents posture as if they’re holding all the cards, savvy buyers sense the disconnect, and trust evaporates fast.

Understand the seller’s BATNA

The seller’s Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement is waiting for a stronger buyer. But how likely is that scenario? If a better offer never materializes, you’ve weakened your position by alienating the one you had.  In this scenario, the promise of an over-asking offer was likely a competitive tactic from the phantom buyer to scare other potential buyers away.  

Transparency builds trust

If you do ask buyers to wait, explain the strategy and timelines openly. Without clarity, buyers feel manipulated — and as we’ve seen, they’ll walk. Every time we hide the ball, we train buyers to distrust the process — and by extension, us. In a market where clients have more access to information than ever before, our professional credibility depends on balancing strategy with transparency.

For buyer’s agents: Guiding clients through uncertainty

Situations like this test your ability to manage both strategy and emotion.

Clarify Your buyer’s BATNA

What’s their next-best option if this deal doesn’t happen? Do they have another property they like? Setting this upfront frames every decision that follows.

Define the reservation point

The reservation point is the price or terms at which your client is indifferent between doing the deal or walking away. Knowing this number:

• Prevents overpaying in competitive scenarios.
• Keeps the buyer from walking from a property they want in retaliation for the game playing. 

Call out process issues calmly

Ask the listing agent directly: “If you plan to wait, could you confirm the process in writing? My buyer is serious and prepared to make a strong offer, but needs clarity.” This signals professionalism and protects your client without escalating tension. Use language that allows the listing agent to save face. 

Maintain trust with your client

Buyers need to know you’re advocating for their best interests—not getting caught up in gamesmanship. Your calm, strategic approach sets you apart and keeps their confidence intact. 

The bigger picture: Negotiation Intelligence

This isn’t just about price—it’s about power, trust, and communication. A strong negotiator reads the market, understands the levers available, and knows when to act decisively versus when to wait.

In this case, the sellers had already signaled reduced leverage with multiple price drops. By overplaying their hand, they created uncertainty and lost a highly qualified buyer. Everybody lost.

The lesson? Negotiation Intelligence isn’t about “winning.” It’s about:

• Knowing the true balance of power.
• Understanding both sides’ BATNAs.
• Establishing clear reservation points.
• Building enough trust to keep everyone at the table.

When we navigate these moments skillfully, we protect our clients, preserve relationships, and raise the bar for the entire industry. Agent reputation matters more than ever.  Buyers and sellers now have unprecedented access to information, and they remember who builds trust and who erodes it. 

Negotiation Intelligence isn’t about manipulation; it’s a nuanced and complex process of understanding human motivations, balancing power dynamics, and creating outcomes where trust is built and value is maximized for everyone involved. 

Have a negotiation scenario you’d like me to tackle in this column? Email me your challenge—I answer every message myself. Let’s elevate your negotiation intelligence, one conversation at a time.

Suze Cumming

Suze Cumming is the founder of The Nature of Real Estate and one of Canada’s leading educators in real estate negotiation. For more than a two decades, she has helped over 7,000 real estate professionals strengthen their negotiation skills through the Accredited Real Estate Negotiator (AREN) and Professional Real Estate Negotiator (PREN) programs, as well as coaching many of Canada’s top agents and teams.

Her work focuses on helping REALTORS® develop Negotiation Intelligence: the practical skills of preparation, communication, critical thinking, trust-building and strategic decision-making that lead to better outcomes for clients. As artificial intelligence reshapes the profession, Suze’s current work explores how AI can enhance professional judgment without replacing the human skills at the heart of successful negotiation. You can learn more about her learning ecosystem here. 

A passionate sailor and international yacht racer, Suze believes that excellence, whether on the water or at the negotiating table, comes from continual learning, thoughtful preparation and the ability to adapt as conditions change.