Maybe because it’s an election year, or perhaps not! But, I’m really noticing folks dogmatically speaking as if they have much more authority these days. Proclamations of things being this or that, rather than stating they MAY be this or that, are running rampant.
It’s not just with politicians though. It seems more prevalent in the general population as well. In this current housing cycle, more than one troubled homeowner has likely heard the sentence, “I CAN save your home.” Or “I CAN save your credit.”
Most of us know reality is far less exuberant, than using the verb, "CAN" in that context.
Whether you, as a real estate professional gets into trouble or not, will often depend on how well a lesson I received years ago in an 8th grade English class, was also learned by you.
It was during that critical 8th grade year, that Mrs. Kane, the English teacher, taught us the State of Being Verbs. There are 22 of them, and she made us memorize them. They are as follows:
Is - Be - Am - Are - Was - Were - Been - Has - Have - Had - Do - Does - Did - May - Can - Might - Could - Must - Shall - Will - Should – Would
The lesson is about understanding the importance of not stating emphatically that a thing or situation "IS" something, when in fact it "MAY" only be something instead. Or, that something "WILL" be done, when it only "MIGHT" be done.
As real estate professionals, mixing up state of being verbs, and not selecting the appropriate one while communicating in the business world, can find us treading into painful litigation territory - Especially, if the "F" word gets tossed about. The "F" bomb in this situation is the 5-letter word, "FRAUD" - rather than that other 4-letter word.
nd neither you nor any of us needs that!
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