I pride myself on making buying and selling real estate an unstressful event for my clients. The majority of the time it works. But sometimes things go wrong... very wrong. There's just nothing you can do to stop it. It's destiny.
It's what happens next that matters. A week ago Thursday was, without a doubt, the worst day of my real estate career. By Tuesday I was a hero again. I was a hero because, over the years, I've built a good reputation and people trust me. They trust me when I say I'm going to figure out a solution. They trust me when I tell them what I'm going to do.
I won't go into all the gorry details here about the specific transaction, but one thing I've learned over the years (actually before I ever got into real estate) is don't avoid dealing with trouble. Immediately call everyone involved and tell them the bad news. Assure them you are working on a solution and do what you say. If you can't do what you say, call them and tell them that. People respect you when you are honest with them, even if they don't like what you say. It is hard to be mad or yell at someone when they are saying they are sorry and they're going to figure out a solution.
I don't enjoy a real estate transactional crisis but I do enjoy being a problem solver. What I have learned is, a major crisis once in a while can be good for business. When you jump in and take responsibility (even for other people's incompetence) and figure out how to make things right... you will have some seriously loyal customers for life!
Next time things go bad... call all parties involved and tell them the bad news. Tell them you're going to figure out a solution. Then do it! This works in real estate and every area of life and business.
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