May 5, 2008

Be Careful Out There!

Hello Friends of Neighborly Realty,

It is with sadness that I type this update. It is also with a word of caution for our friends and clients that I type this update. Be careful who you work with in this industry.

90% of the professionals I've worked with in these transactions are just that - professionals. Diligent. Competent. Accountable. Doing the best for their clients at all times. Living up to the Code of Ethics we all subscribe too. In short, they are nearly always people I would like to do business with again.

Of course it had to happen eventually.... We've run into our first transaction with a "professional" who is anything but.

It would be illegal and unethical to manage a “black list” of agents that we wouldn’t want to do business with. Just thinking about such a thing is nearly a violation of free trade legislation!

However, I’ve run into an agent on one of our transactions who is in a bit of legal trouble himself. This person runs both a real estate brokerage and a mortgage company. This person's methods are questionable and motives unclear, with several threats of litigation towards us. I've instructed my team to pass this person along to me as the single point of contact for Neighborly Realty, if we ever get into another potential transaction.

What's really unfortunate is that this person has been in this business for DECADES.

So?

Be careful. Watch who you work with. Ask for referrals from people you know and trust. These "transactions" are anything but - they are life altering, significant, and extraordinarily important processes to a family.

To treat them as anything but... just isn't the Neighborly Way.

- Jim

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