Coaching Businesses and Life

OK lenders, hear me out, take care of your business and stop telling me how to run mine!

Ever since the August sinking of the joy ride lending businesses have been on these last few years, a fair amount of them are all the sudden courting us again. Lenders are an interesting bunch. They wine and dance us hoping for referrals, then when all is well, you won’t hear much from them. However, when the market slows down, as it did back in August, they show up in your offices telling us what we need to do to be successful. Huh, come again?

This is a semi-rant really. I know a lot of good, honest and ethical lenders. The relationships are forged over time with a flawless way of conducting business. But as of late, we have a seen many lenders coming to our offices trying to rally our spirits. Well, my spirits are fine. I am hopeful despite the negative news and this market is readjusting to normal levels. My view is purely pragmatic and realistic. Frankly what really irks me is someone outside my profession telling me how to run my business. These professionals give us pep talks, motivational speeches and cheerleading to get us out there and sale, sale, sale. Hum, yes BUT…

If I hear any one telling again this is a great market, there are homes to sale, foreclosures and short sales are not that bad after all (yes, I agree) and all we need to do is get off our bums and change our mentality, I am going to retort one very simple and effective thing. Why don’t YOU go out and sale for a while. Then in 6 months or so, tell me how well you’ve done. Then and only then, we may talk about different marketing tactics and all. Until then, I am not here to feed you an endless stream of potential buyers.

I am in the business of helping buyers find and buy their dream home. I am in the business of helping sellers sell their homes in the best possible way. I am not in the business of being told by salespeople how to run my business, nor go out and find clients for anyone, nor feed into some optimistic frenzy about how great this market really is if I change my mind set. I am a people person and I love people interaction.

Truth of the matter is that my mind set is realistic. I see buyers and sellers on a daily basis. Many sellers are still emotionally attached to returns on investments based on unsustainable price extrapolations calculated with yesterday’s figures. Well, today is today. And I see almost all buyers saying they prefer to wait and see how long it will last and how low the numbers will drop. This is, at the best case a stall mate. If sellers insist on high prices and buyers insist on waiting, well, it takes no rocket scientist to see that nothing happen. In fact, it is always a good time to buy and sell, it depends on what you are doing with it. If you plan on living in your new home for a few years, then it is a good time to buy. If you plan on flipping it, then I suggest investing elsewhere. Until people stop seeing homes as investment in California, we will have problems. A last thing to think about, with current rates so low, remember that cheaper homes prices tomorrow usually come with higher interest rates. At least that is what history has always shown. So buy high now and pay relatively little or buy low but pay more interest? You decide.

The real questions is getting people to place themselves in other’s shows. How would you feel as a buyer? How would you feel as a seller? What can you do to make it better and work?

Until then, lenders, please abstain from telling me how to run my calling. Please abstain from treating me like a money crazed drooling rat trying to get richer than rich. I am not. Please refrain from trying to rally me up when the money is harder to get from you and the real problem is in the psyche of buyers and sellers. I am not a marketing spin doctor. I help sell and buy homes because my passion lies with people finding the place of their lives and if I can help the transaction go smoother, I will give it all of my professional knowledge to avoid contract pitfalls. Period. I am not a cowboy, I don’t gather cattle.

Now may I suggest something for all lenders trying to pep us up? Heal thyself first! Learn when to say stop, when not to bother people, when not to push when people clearly cannot do it. Don’t come to me for business until you refer people to me. And last I checked, I have fiduciary duty to my clients. That means that by law, I have to look out for my client’s best financial interest. You don’t. I will continue to work with the lenders I trust in the meantime. Hope this blows over soon because it is frankly annoying and distracts from the work at hand.