Hi All,
My Mel and I took some time out today to go see the latest Harry Potter film "Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix". I had looked forward to seeing this picture for weeks as I am a big Harry Potter fan.
I was actually planning on being in line at the bookstore on June 20/21 2003 when the book this movie was based upon was being released but June 21, 2003 was my wedding day and cooler heads prevailed keeping me from wiling away my final single girl hours in a bookstore surrounded by 12 year olds.
Anyway, I went to see this movie and I was struck by something... This film reminded me of how some folks practice Real Estate. No I don't think there is a Voldemort of Realtors, however I do sometimes see a vague resemblance to the Ministry of Magic where the Board is concerned... but I digress...
For those who have read the HP books they know that JK Rowling goes into great detail crafting each and every scene, character, plot device and moment that you spend in her world. There really is no such thing as a throw-away character as all of them seem to be so fully fleshed out. Each book builds upon the previous one and also incorporates all of the new information with the old.
The movie however, is like the Cliff's notes version of the book, except it was clearly not written by Cliff. In order to understand the film you really need to have read the book. But if you have read the book you probably won't be thrilled by the film.
As Real Estate professionals I think we sometimes have a tendency to approach our audience like the filmmaker approached his. We sometimes spend to much time talking about things they don't care about and not nearly enough time explaining things that may become critical knowledge in the days or weeks to come.
We need to remember that not everyone has read the book, and even if they did, they may not have taken what we assume they took away from the experience.
When we introduce a character like Title, Escrow, The Lender or The Appraiser, we need to remember that even though we know who they are, what powers they possess and where they fit in the script that is a sale our reader or client does not. We need to give them more than a passing nod, especially if they will become critical in days to come so that clues to how things are going are not missed while we all stand about gazing lovingly at something meaningless but shiny.
And most importantly, we need to be willing to take the time necessary to fully explain the story as a whole and not just hit the high points in the interest of brevity. Otherwise the transactions we do will run the risk of being for our clients what the viewing of this film was for me... A greatly anticipated event that wound up leaving me feeling unfulfilled and bearing only a vague resemblance to its source.
Take care all, help lots of people and have a wonderful day!
Tisza
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