It is extremely important to realize that negotiation begins even before you make first contact with a real or potential seller or agent. Upon starting your home search you begin to formulate your approach and attitude. You decide what you want, what you need, what you absolutely must have. You also consider alternative ways of achieving your goal(s). A negotiation must be fluid--ever changing. Your seller or seller's agent will have gone through the same process, and probably has more information to use against you.
One author (Cohen 1980, 15, 119, 149, 163) describes it this way:
Your real world is a giant negotiating table, and like it or not, you're a participant. You, as an individual, come into conflict with others: family members, sales clerks, competitors, or entities with impressive names like "the Establishment" or "the power structure." How you handle these encounters can determine not only whether you prosper, but whether you can enjoy a full, pleasurable, satisfying life.
Mr. Cohen describes three styles of negotiating
Winning at all costs: Soviet style.
Negotiating for mutual satisfaction.
Win-Win.
Other styles are also recognized.