A good deal, and a very basic negotiating mistake
To the investors of QuietVC,
We have just closed a real estate transaction at more than 25% profit in under six months.
That is a good result.
But the interesting part of this deal is not the profit. It is a very basic negotiating mistake I made in the final minutes.
I want to write it down as an investment diary entry, because lessons like this tend to be worth more than any profit figure.
The setup
In late 2025 I bought the transfer rights to an apartment in a development going up in the city's new centre.
The foundation was finished, the construction permit was in hand, and the project was waiting on its official sales licence.
The previous holder had paid the developer a 5% deposit. I bought that position for one million dollars.
Over the following months the market held up well. A few people were willing to pay around 1.3 million, but nobody closed. The reason was the familiar one: the apartment still had no formal sale and purchase agreement.
A buyer appears
In early 2026 a serious buyer turned up.
After a few rounds we agreed on 1.2 million. The deal was all but done.
Right before the deposit, the buyer came back and said they could only do 1.15 million.
This is a familiar tactic: agree on a price, then squeeze at the last minute.
My mistake
The mistake happened right there.
Instead of refusing and being willing to walk, I agreed to keep negotiating.
The moment you do that, you have sent a very clear message:
There is still room to push.
Three days later the deal closed at 1.15 million.
It was still a profitable transaction. But the important lesson is not in that number.
The lesson is this:
In a negotiation, whoever is willing to leave the table first usually holds the advantage.
I did not leave.
Partly because of psychological pressure. Partly because I wanted to get it done and collect the money.
That was an emotional decision more than a strategic one.
One more thing worth saying
This apartment was actually bought exactly according to QuietVC's investment philosophy:
- buy a good asset
- with a large enough margin of safety
- while the market has not yet priced in the risk and the opportunity.
The deal still returned over 25% in under six months. That tells me the philosophy is sound.
The mistake was only in how I handled the final stretch of the negotiation.
And in long-term investing, what matters is not never making mistakes.
It is remembering them long enough not to repeat them.