How do people like this make a living in real estate? - Part 2 of 2

Please click here for Part One of this two-part post:

How do people like this make a living in real estate? Part 1 of 2

Here is Part Two:

Later in the conversation, Frank brought up the fact that the agent had admitted that she would also be pushing to get her client's money back in this situation.  Since she hadn't said a word during the conference call with TIM, Frank asked her about it point blank.

Frank: Didn't you tell me earlier today that you would be doing the same thing that I am doing?

Agent: Yes.  Yes, I did.

Frank:  Thanks for admitting that.

So, Frank and I spoke last night about this situation.  Needless to say, I got pretty upset hearing about this nonsense, especially since it was over such a small amount of money. 

Our client already found another property priced roughly $100,000 less than the one with TIM.  However, the builder of that home is paying us 6% commission on the deal, so we will actually make more money when it is all said and done. 

In Texas, the escrow companies are not allowed to interpret the contract with regard to releasing funds.  Instead, they are impartial third parties, so they must have an agreement from everyone before they act.  Additionally, they are not allowed to accept another contract on a property when they have an unresolved earnest money deposit sitting in their account.  If it sits there for 18 months, it then goes into the state treasury.

With that in mind, I told Frank that the developer would NEVER see a dime of this money.  If we had to, I would prefer to pay our client $1000 of the bonus money on the new deal in order to make things square with them if TIM decided to continue his reign of idiocy.

Frank called the agent today just to make sure that he had TIM's name right.  He told her that he just wanted to make sure he knew who was threatening to sue and "destroy" him, his company, and his lender.  Incidentally, our lender was named "Most Ethical Lender in Austin" this past year, so any fraud case against him would be a joke.

She gave him TIM's name and she said, "I really didn't expect that to happen on the phone.  I didn't initiate that call." 

I was not particularly surprised to hear that the developer released the money today, and they are expediting the process so that our buyer gets his money back faster.  It turns out that the title company was our preferred company, and the closer was a friend of ours.  Hmmm....does TIM know who I am?  I know everyone in this town!  I am the king of Austin real estate!  Actually, I am completely kidding.  I think he just came to his senses.  However, it brings up my original point from the title of this post:

How do people like this make a living in real estate?  This man is utterly unprofessional and his actions were absurd for the situation at hand.  I am ashamed to be his colleague.  This is the kind of guy who gives ALL OF US a bad name. 

I have had people do things so offensive to me in business that I had trouble sleeping.  People that I thought were friends.  People that I respected. 

However, I have never conducted myself like this foolish man.  Am I missing something?  By all accounts, he is doing reasonably well.  He has been licensed almost as long as I have. 

I tried to imagine what could possibly ignite me to act this way, and I couldn't honestly think of any business situation that could cause this.  Even if his agent felt threatened (which is patently ridiculous), don't you think the best course of action would be to somehow address her concerns first, or at least ask a few pointed questions before launching into a tirade?  I was angry, but after reflecting on it, I just felt sad for him, and for the agents working for him.

I try to conduct my business via the Golden Rule, and this has worked well for me.  Austin isn't huge, and I know that every time I deal with someone, there is a chance that we will cross paths again.  I don't want to leave a bad impression with anyone, because I want our future meetings to be positive ones. 

There are some people that I will never understand, and I am okay with that. 

Thanks for reading both parts of this one!

OR
Already have Account?