Okay, this is something I mention a bit about in a talk I gave once or twice, but ethics and property investors haven’t historically always gone together.In general property professionals have a bad reputation. It doesn’t matter if you are an , property investor, property developer or even a builder, plumber or an electrician. Historically the image of property professionals has been severely tainted by the few (or sometimes many) rogues.The knowledge you gain and the power you have as a property professional is immense. You are dealing with peoples lives. Because of their financial difficulties people have mental breakdowns, commit suicide and even worse! (Worse than suicide? Yes, sometimes they take other people with them).People are sometimes in very vulnerable situations when they come to you. Some of them will accept ridiculously low prices for their property. Is it right to milk a situation because you can, and because you have caught someone who is vulnerable or desperate. I don’t think so.Yet, you sometimes will find yourself with the power to do just that, and some property professionals (or at least that is what they call themselves – I have other words for them, but they are a little to strong to write here), will squeeze the life out of a desperate family, just to make a few thousand extra pounds.I can’t tell you how to run you property business. However from experience I can tell you that you might have some success squeezing the life out of people but to be really successful long term you need to concentrate on creating WIN WIN situations.Create situations where both you and the client win.This is how to be successful at this long term. And this is how to stand out from the crowd and get more of your BMV offers accepted. Really try and look at things from the perspective of the buyer and try to put a proposal to him in a way that he can see how he wins. Do remember you are not running a charity, you are running a business and obviously the more money you can get out of a property the better for your business in the here and now. I won’t even go into Karma. But let’s just say that in the long run from a business perspective it pays to be ethical and that might mean sometimes telling some people that their
more than they think and that they could get more money for it on the open market.A Radical thought?Yes, maybe. But I am just letting you know how I do things in life in general; you can take the advice or leave it. But it works well for me!Treat people as individuals. Personally I wouldn’t tell everyone that they could get more on the open market; I am not a saint trying to give money away. But what about a desperate family with young kids who are about to sell you their family home for 40% below what it is worth, and put themselves through untold hardship because they want money now and think this is the only way to get it.In this situation I personally might focus more on trying to educate this family as to their options.In this situation the option to sell the property to me but to continue to live in it as tenants might be a good option for them. Plus the potential to possibly buy it back off me in the future. I would structure the deal in such a way that I am still making a good profit but also so that they are getting an incredible deal and money now when they need it.Again – create the WIN WIN situation. This is good business sense because they will tell others how you helped them and the word will get around the local community – and beyond. And who do you think their friends and family are going to call first if they ever find themselves in a situation where they need to sell quickly.WELL, IT SURE AIN’T THE GHOST BUSTERS!Yes, you! Good business all round. **Nothing on this website should be confused with financial or legal advice. If you need this, or any other type of advice, please seek the help of a competent professional. In addition, because real estate laws change all the time and differ from state to state, and even city to city in the same state, everything in these pages should be considered general marketing advice and ideas. Please see link to full Disclaimer at the bottom of this page.
