When you buy or sell Los Angeles real estate, keep in mind that we all have a psyche. More importantly, you will have to interact with several other psyches in the process. The best way to get the most satisfaction out of this process is if you can have some understanding of what motivates people. Psychological theorists have long tried to identify and explain what motivates us. In these blogs, I hope to give you some of the more popular theories on the human psyche and how having this information may help you in having a good real estate experience.
According to one popular 19th century theorist who is considered to be the founder of what is now termed individual psychology, Alfred Adler said that we are all working out an inferiority complex of some kind. It’s human nature to drive for superiority and Adler believed there are four ways in which we humans strive to get what we want. There is the Ruling Type, the Getting Type, the Avoiding Type, and the Socially Useful Type. The most “healthy” is, of course, the Socially Useful Type and we should all work to satisfy our drive for success with this method of behavior.
For more in depth information about Adler, you can click here.
So by now of course you’re wondering how does this pertain to real estate? If you can understand the way in which people go about getting what they want, it may be helpful in understanding how they will progress through the process of buying or selling a home. Let’s look at each type starting with the least “healthy” way in which people go about striving for their desires.
The Avoiding Type
These people avoid life’s problems and tend not to involve themselves or take on challenges. They tend to be stubborn, lazy and passive-aggressive. You will probably find few of this type actually willing to commit to buying or selling property – and thank goodness for that! According to Adler this is the worst orientation.
The Ruling Type
These are the aggressors, the dominating people who seem to have somewhat of a disregard for or little interest in others. I’m sure we all know a person like this. They are the buyer that makes unreasonable demands for repairs and will walk away from a deal “on principal” even if it’s over a nominal amount of money or effort that is being withheld from them. They feel entitled to their demand being satisfied and can often be the hardest to even get into escrow because their offers can be so low or fraught with demands they are insulting to a seller. A ruling type seller is the seller that may have trouble understanding the value of their home. They will insist that it’s the agent that isn’t marketing the property correctly. They will write counter offers that are full of demands for specific performances other than what is in a standard contract. These people are tough to work with, and if you are a ruling type, you’re probably not even reading this blog! The major desire of this type of person is to acquire power over others. So, if you are dealing with this type of buyer or seller, the best way to handle them is to understand that their problems or issues with a transaction have less to do with the actual negotiating point versus their need to win. A good agent can present options for this type of person in order for them to feel like they’ve won at least something.
The Getting Type
These are the type of people who are dependent and require considerable support from others whilst contributing little in return. They can also be quite manipulative. When a getting type is in a real estate transaction, their way of handling issues that come up are to cry poor, or broken or unable to perform and they will use negative emotions to manipulate the others involved in the transaction trying to get them to see how hard it would be for them to do what they are being asked to do. A good agent knows how to support a getting type’s need for explanation, accommodation and understanding of their issues.
The Socially Useful Type
These are the people that have both high social interest and high activity. They tend to look at situations in proper and realistic ways and believe they have control over their lives. These people are easy to work with and when you find yourself in a real estate transaction with this type of person, compromises will most often be found quickly and satisfactorily. Let’s hope that your next real estate transaction is full of these types of people!
So keep in mind, when you are buying or selling Los Angeles real estate, it is my hope that by imparting a little wisdom about some of the ways in which certain “types” of people deal with life’s situations, you can work to have a more satisfactory experience.
