For the better part of 60 days, I have worked with two of the country’s all stars in real estate, one in the mortgage industry, and the other in the investment brokerage business on a mega investment deal. During those 60 days, a certain development and developer fell into our laps- literally and figuratively. Now, the price was incredible, the location is impeccable, and the builder was right for a conversation about liquidity versus a hardline stance on their profit. Needless to say, we looked at the big picture and decided to take it head on- not every pick is perfect when the equity proposition is beyond your wildest return dreams- it must be molded and shaped into a cash flowing masterpiece. Now for those of you who are thinking you could have closed this sort of deal with the problems we’ve had in a shorter period, let me correct you now- it simply could not have been done because you simply do not know what we now know about this project. Meaning, I’m imagining that had it been a team of anyone else, you probably would have walked away 72 hours into the project based on the sheer magnitude against the odds of success- I’m sparing you the gory details- and those details have nothing to do with the A Class property investors we’ve had the pleasure of serving.
Working with these two legends in the business means several things- it means, you had better bring your A game, or find yourself sitting on the sidelines, it would mean elevate, or sit down and shut up- you simply let the masters work. As time went on, the frustrations grew, but the temperament was cool, there was a solution in experience at every turn- we spoke a language you would not believe possible. It was one of artful application of process, practice, diplomacy, magic, and a knowledge of the law of numbers that would boggle the mind of any buyer or agent. A process all would have abandoned is now going to docs. Sublime is the only way I can describe it.
As we the team move forward to our next several projects, and I can now take an overnight mental break from the trauma of such an ordeal, and tend to my battle wounds, it got me to thinking about disintermediation. I now know what I did not understand about the Giants of Real Estate, and why they fear not the proposition of disintermediation. Why many times in previous conversations they laughed at the mere mention of competitive business models and disintermediation. I now know that there is no way on earth when the going gets rough that you on your own as a consumer would have made it 24 hours in such a complicated transaction. I realized what value beyond that of the normal means to real estate- what the difference between good and great means. On one hand I am sad that my profession seems to have lost something in the eye of the consumer, but when I experience a greatness of this magnitude I feel a much better. One cannot afford what these gentlemen cost for not only their reputation, but the skill, knowledge, understanding of nuance, and the brilliance of grace under pressure. They have mastered their art, and you simply cannot put a price tag on brilliance.
Anyone (especially my clients) that knows me, knows, I’m pretty damn good at what I do, I bring solutions to the table my buyers and sellers never dreamed possible, but Greatness is not yet on my business card. My first step is to realize and acknowledge that Greatness is given in nature, but time seasons and polishes it into the brilliance I’ve witnessed. I’ve learned that I can still grow.
Today, I am in love with my profession, and my goals in this business are now redefined- to learn half of what these gentlemen have forgotten would elevate me as a professional beyond the idea that any business model can define my value.
