It's Better to Under-Promise and Over-Perform

I imagine today will start out in a frenzy and slowly fizzle out right after lunch. Many holiday weekends are like this as people prepare to go out of town. Some people are already gone as they turn a 3-day weekend into a 4-day weekend. My assistant is one of those people. I panicked because she was leaving me unsupervised. When there is nobody around to keep me in line, I can get into trouble. As if being a Sacramento short sale agent isn't trouble enough for one person.

My husband is already out of town. He is in Chicago visiting family and doing research on his new book. That means I can get naked and run wild. No, that is actually the slogan of a reunion we are attending in the mountains in Colorado this summer. What it really means is I can do wild things such as stick a Wusthof paring knife in the dishwasher or eat half an apricot and throw the rest away, maybe leave the door open with the AC on.

The entities that keep my behavior in check are the cats. They are excellent communicators. They want something, they tell you, in no uncertain terms. I've got one of them on my desk now, eyes locked on my every movement. Just sitting there, pretty as you please, and staring at me, concentrating. Little kitty brain waves are penetrating my skull. What she is saying is where are my damn chicken treats? You haven't seen any cat love PureBites as much as Pia and crazy chicken.

You know who is not a good communicator? Green Tree, that's who. I discovered yesterday that Green Tree, when in second position, will close a HAFA short sale file if we don't get approval in 90 days. A Green Tree short sale negotiator won't give you any warning or tell you, either. He will just one day close the file. Slam, snap shut. Of course, you have the option of not sending any paperwork to Green Tree until you get approval from the first. The first in this case is Bank of America and, due to the attitude of its lackadaisical third-party vendors, those HAFA short sales are often like Rip Van Winkle. But if we wait for approval from the first, that just means the approval from Bank of America will expire by the time Green Tree gets around to issuing its own approval.

So, it's all in the timing. It's always in the timing. I have another Sacramento short sale that should close this afternoon. It's closing by the hair of its chinny-chin-chin. The problem with the closing is the lender. It's often the lender. You can't trust them. They will tell you to your face they can close on time but when push comes to shove they can't perform. I'd rather a mortgage rep tell me upfront they can't guarantee anything than promise something they can't deliver.

It's better to under-promise and over-perform than to do it the other way around. Happy Memorial Day Weekend!