In order to successfully negotiate the right price and to get the most monetary benefit from any real estate deal, it is very important to quickly identify the category of your seller. Both, actual sellers and investors need to be handled on a different level. Here are some tips on how to differentiate between actual sellers and investors.

Check The Time Factor: An actual seller might be residing in the same property for a number of years and might also be repaying his/her loan over a period of years. A quick check of the documents might soon lead you to the truth. On the other hand, an investor might have just purchased the property in the recent past with the intention of flipping it.  

Check The Emotional Factor: An actual seller could be more emotionally attached to the property and would be willing to listen to and understand various offers that you might offer. An investor would be more interested in only the price factor and would be in a hurry to just dispose the property as quickly as possible.

Check The Price Factor: An investor might not be willing to negotiate on the price factor, since he/she might just have added the profit margin on their purchase price and the entire deal would be quite clear in their mind. However, an actual seller could be more flexible, while talking rates since he/she would have only an estimate of the actual rates in the mind. An actual seller in financial difficulty will be even more flexible and motivated to try and sell the property to you, whereas if an investor has just purchased a property on short sale and is confident to make a huge profit margin, then he/she might not budge from the fixed position. 

Check The Paperwork: When you propose to buy any property from an actual seller, you will need to check all the facts of the deed in detail, especially if the property is quite old. On the other hand, if an investor were selling the property, then the papers would most probably have been already scrutinized and should be in proper order. However, ensure that all papers pass through your attorney's hands and eyes.

Check The Physical Condition Of The Property: An investor could look at future dealings with you and therefore tell you about all the pros and cons of the physical condition of the property. However, an actual seller might only want to sell the property to you and make a rapid exit. Thus, even if the seller is singing praises about the property, take along a contractor, who can make a physical assessment of the property and give you an accurate report or you could be stuck with a damaged lemon on your hands.

Check the Body Language: Try to read the physical body language, since it will tell you a lot about the person with whom you are dealing. An actual seller will be more comfortable with various ideas that you could give, whereas an investor would already have formed his/her own ideas, on how and when to sell the property. The attitude of the person will also provide you with lots of important information.

Therefore, by correctly identifying the person with whom you plan to deal, you can quickly ensure that you provide the right motivation for them to part with the property. You can thus get the most out of that deal, while avoiding any of the above traps.