The rental owner wants our help. That’s good. But he wants our report faster than we can do a professional analysis. What should we do?
I know what we should do. I should say, “Thanks for the invitation. I’m honored, but the challenge is more difficult than is obvious to you. We must fulfill our commitments to others before we can start on your work. I might disappoint both of us if our work was not professional. We could give you a worthy result with three more business days.” Yet, I recognize that most rental owners are unlikely to need our service again for a decade.
My communication is not always that clear. More than once, I have bitten off more than we can chew, and our team has chewed like hell. Our team often closes what most of our competitors could not. Yet, a successful outcome doesn’t make a flawed process good. I’m trying to do better.
Regardless of which firm gets the listing, there can be extra complications in closing the escrow.
Sometimes the outcome is good, but the process is bad.
Last year a client said, “Thanks for that wonderful result. However, we could see that your team was over-committed. Your service was below our expectations.”
In life sometimes the messenger is blamed for reporting on other people’s fumble. Often the principals who are wealthy and sophisticated don’t grasp the granular detail of the process.
I wish that it only happened once, but it’s happened too much. Our aim is to underpromise and over-deliver.
Sometimes the outcome is not good.
When I work with a client for the first time, neither one of us knows how difficult the project will be. Our team checklist helps us recognize potential problems that the seller might not understand or anticipate.
However, there are usually surprises. The principal’s motivation is not always clear. We don’t know who will represent the buyer or handle the loan. Often the property has difficulties or problems that the owner does not know about or understand the significance of. Usually, we’re in escrow before all the issues are obvious.
In most apartment transactions there are about two months for due diligence and financing. The process is complicated. Property management, residents, lender, appraiser, and title people are involved. Most problems can be resolved in that time. However, there are sometimes multiple clients who have intense needs almost at the same time. Surprises can eat margin. No broker can guarantee others’ behavior.
Our team does not expect or promise perfection. We do aim for excellence.
Most times everything works out fine.
Usually, we help the client achieve an outcome they’re happy with. Sure, we scrambled more than normal, but things ended well, and the client was pleased with the outcome and with us.
That’s dangerous because I might become presumptuous and be more likely to over-reach. I don’t want to take unnecessary risks. Writing this blog has helped me identify some ways we can educate our clients about challenges and help them have realistic expectations. We can and will do better.
There’s a country song that sums up my situation. Here are a few of the lyrics.
“I’m not as good as I’m gonna get.
But I’m better than I used to be.”
Now it’s your turn.
Have you ever made stretch commitments and then found the obstacles were beyond your capacity? How did you deal with it?
Maybe you pulled it off by luck or determination. What did you change to minimize the chance of pushing too hard again?
-o0o-
Terry Moore, CCIM, is the author of Building Legacy Wealth: How to Build Wealth and Live a Life Worth Imitating. Read his “Welcome to My Blog.”