TRUST
noun
reliance on the integrity,
strength, ability, surety,
etc., of a person or thing;
confidence.
I wanted to express myself today, on a topic I believe reaches far beyond the scopes of just Real Estate, and speak to the concept of “sticking your neck out there a little bit”, to the notion really allowing yourself to TRUST the Real Estate professionals that you work with every day in your voyage to purchasing or selling a home.
(Something I believe as a culture we have numbed ourselves to the ability
to offer Trust to just about anyone, and many live their lives with a certainty
that the world is out to somehow screw them.)
So as I stated before, being educated and not NAÏVE, is not what this blog is about. This article is about that moment of uncertainty where you are no longer in the divers seats, when all your “learned reasoning” is no longer aiding you in your purchase process, rather creating walls due to a lack of TRUST. It’s about that moment, that happens oh so many times in Real Estate, where a buyer or seller can push a deal to “fall”, or they can trust in the professionals around them and “JUMP”!!!!!
I love this scene from Aladdin, and as I watched it again today, I realized how simalar this can be to a Real Estate transaction!
In the scene Jasmine (The Client) is far outside her comfort
zone of the "palace" and has placed herself into the world of Aladdin (The Agent).
In the beginning of the scene everything is going great!!!
It’s going perfect; in fact Aladdin almost has a kiss (you almost have the
house). And then the bad guys show up waiving their swords (and then the lender,
or Title Company, or the bank you are buying the house from shows up waiving
addendums or additional documents that need to be signed).
I can honestly say in that moment the Buyer AND the Agent
both feel like the bad guys are “After them”. There is nothing worse.
This is obviously a situation neither had saw coming , but
the thing that the guards and Jasmine lack the most is KNOWLEDGE OF THE FIELD.
Aladdin, although not expecting this surprise, is a PRO in that FIELD!! And
although Aladdin may not be able in “BLACK AND WHITE” to PROVE to Jasmine in that moment that he can save her, he with out a doubt gives Jasmine the
best chance of survival. (Sometimes in
Real Estate all parties have to have a little TRUST in the others involved. So
many times you hear “I need that in writing” when really, a little trust would
go along way. Obviously there are MANY aspects of a purchasing process the NEED
to be in “BLACK AND WHITE” but there are others that if left at the value of
ones words or at the value of one’s hand shake would actually hold more BOND
than a piece of paper.)
And finally in the scene Aladdin has to be BLUNT, and he
just asks the question “DO YOU TRUST ME?”
I would counsel both Aladdin (the agents) and Jasmine (the
Client) to invest in TRUST. As an AGENT
and a PROFESSIONAL in this industry, you need to establish MANY , MANY trust
worthy relationships with other PROFESSIONALS in the industry (from title, to
lenders, etc., etc.), you have to be educated and skilled and have a passion for what you do, so that when you have to ask the client, “DO YOU TRUST
ME?” you know that you actually have the backing to extend forth the request
for one’s trust!
And finally as “the Client”, I would advise one to be educated, choose
to work with some of character and experience, AND THEN allow yourself to TRUST
that individual when the time comes to do so.
I leave you with this:
Do not trust all men, but trust men of worth; the former course is
silly, the latter a mark of prudence. Democritus