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The High Road Is A Tough Path

By Dennis Burgess

Property Manager with AmeriTeam Property Management SL#3200658

July 28, 2011 05:51 AM

The High Road Is A Tough Path

If you're like me, you encounter a ton of folks every day. How do you speak to them? How do you feel about them? How do you act towards them? In every regard, The High Road Is A Tough Path.

I listen to folks with bad credit tell me how "everyone's credit is bad", and fight off the eye-roll urges the best I can.

I hear folks with evictions do their best to explain them way- as they were surely due to a landlord that simply didn't like them. "High road...high road" I tell myself.

For me, though, The High Road Is A Tough Path (and indeed the toughest path whn it comes to homeowners "letting their houses go", "giving their places back" or "just leavin' the thing". "High road...high road".

I'm always as respectful as my countenance allows. I pride myself on being "that guy" folks think highly of and speak highly of, and a good bit of my makeup (and of anyone else's, for that matter) is in how I treat my fellow man. Keeping that rationale in mind, I never openly and personally criticize those who have made decisions I see as pitiful- or in some cases, reprehensible.

I always do what I think is best. Part of looking to be a leader comes from having the courage to make tough decisions you know others might not make or be comfortable with- but another part of that lies in knowing The High Road Is A Tough Path and choosing it anyway.

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Jen Giraud

American Home Shield - Dallas, TX

Great post Dennis! It's always hard taking the high road and being completely honest with clients when you know you have to tell them something they won't want to hear. But it's all for the best.

Jul 28, 2011 06:02 AM

Dennis Burgess

AmeriTeam Property Management - Mid Florida, FL

Orlando Property Manager and Realtor

Hi, Jen: Thank you for your comment and kind words. In the military and elsewhere, tact is a skill one must learn pretty quickly- you have to look folks in the eye and figure out the best way to tell them to do something you know they don't want to do. Along with other techniques, those best at it employ the concept that "If it goes wrong, it's my fault. If it goes right, it's their success".

As an industry, we simply need to do a better job in having folks "on our team" trust us. They must believe that we're a team if we're to do our best for them. Telling that seller that the asking price in his head sounds like something Willy Wonka dreamed of...or telling that buyer prospect that the price they're willing to offer sounds like money the Tooth Fairy leaves under pillows is easier to digest if they trust we're honest with them.

Jul 28, 2011 06:18 AM

Sussie Sutton

David Tracy Real Estate - Houston, TX

David Tracy Real Estate for Buyers & Sellers

I keep a chin up with my clients. If their justification makes them feel better about their embarrasing situation then so be it. They are gong to get what they are allowed by federal and local guidelines.

Jul 28, 2011 06:42 AM

Hi, Sussie: Thank you for your comment. There's no doubt in mind that you're a great, positive person- and one any smart Texas folks should want to do business with. I think a popular sayng is that "everything is bigger in Texas"- and while that surely means a bigger pool of goofballs, it's nice to know some great folks are swimming with them.

Jul 28, 2011 06:59 AM

The High Road Is A Tough Path

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