It's Like a Dog Pissing on a Fire Hydrant
Melinda Peterson, consistently has so many great posts and most importantly is terrific about sharing it to us Rainers and beyond. This article has new & exciting information for all the readers to take advantage from. I, myself will be anxious to learn from it! So many times I write blogs and really don't think that it gets the impact that it should. So I love to see re-blogs of popular posts. Thanks again for sharing.
People can be so territorial. In some ways, being protective is a good thing, like when neighbors put up fences to keep their pets and children safe within their own yard. There's nothing offensive about that.
I live in a small town where people are still kind and civil to one another. It's like the good ole' days when neighbors shared milk and sugar over the fence post. Yep, those were happy days. However, even in small towns, people can act like dogs pissing on a fire hydrant, staking their claim and protecting their territory.
Recently, I procured a sizeable sale in the next County over. As part of my due diligence, I contacted my 'local' Title Company to request a profile of the property, which includes basic tax info, plat map, aerial photo, etc. The Title Co. I typically use (who is always so helpful) explained they didn't have access to the tax information in the next County over, so they encouraged me to call the Title Co. located in that small town, which I did.
The conversation went like this... Hi, my name is Melinda and I'm a Broker with Real Estate Cafe and I'd like to request a Property Profile for .... The gal responded, "We don't provide that information to 'outside' companies." Huh? Then I asked... "May I pay for the profile?" The response again was "No." Then I asked... "If I open escrow with your company, would you provide the information then?" She said yes.
Unbeknownst to me, the Manager of my friendly, neighborly, local Title Co. (the one I typically do business with) also placed a courtesy call to the 'other' Title Co. and requested to speak with the Manager to ask for a property profile on my behalf. The 'other' Manager said... "it's our sandbox, and we don't have to play nice... we're the only game in town... and that's that" (paraphrase). I guess his answer was a big fat "No" with an exclamation point!
Just then, a fleeting thought entered my mind about a movie, Miracle on 34th Street. Remember the part when Kris Kringle (Santa) was so helpful in referring Macy's customers to other stores to find certain products (who doesn't love a helpful Santa)? Unfortunately, Kris Kringle was fired and a backlash ensued from outraged customers who missed the 'helpful' Santa. Macy's ended up hiring him back, turning the egg-on-their-face negative publicity into a positive goodwill marketing campaign... "If we don't have it, we'll find it for you."
It seems to me... the Manager of the 'other' Title Co. should stop pissing on the fire hydrant and take a cue from Santa. Just sayin' ;-)
Melinda Peterson ~ Principal Broker
Curator of Happy Endings
541-659-1620
Serving Central & Southern Oregon
Ashland - Bend - Grants Pass - Medford
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