Do Austin Home Buyers Operate with Ethics and Morals?
A friend and fellow investor relayed a sad experience to me today; he was working directly with another investor to buy an Austin investment property wholesale. ?Wholesale real estate investing is a very common transaction between two investors and a great deal of trust is usually hinged on these types of deals because there is much verbal agreement before the actual signing of paperwork.? Unfortunately, this investor, after making a verbal agreement with my friend, sold the Austin investment property to a different investor.? This is an example of a break-down in character and ethics.
Often, ethics is a topic that many would rather not discuss and, if they do, opinions vary so much that it turns into a useless discussion.? It is this variety of opinion and lack of execution that causes so much distrust among people.
A man?s word should be ?bond?, which means you can bank on it.? With a handshake and an affirming word, the deal should be as good as done.? Unfortunately, this is no longer true, so we are now ?laden with contracts for everything under the sun, especially in the real estate and wholesale real estate investing industries. In fact, there is no agreement in Real Estate that does not have an official contract, form, or addendum!
Although clear communication is key and we should have the expectations of both parties clearly expressed in written form, sometimes I would like to just be able to move forward on our word until the paperwork is completed.
9 times out of 10, money is the reason for the breakdown in a man?s character.? Many are willing to compromise their character for dollars.? Are you willing to go against your word and your conscience to save some money?? If so, I think you will eventually find yourself in more trouble than the few dollars you may have lost by keeping your word.
In the aforementioned story, the investor told my friend that the he was promised his cut of money for the Austin investment property by another investor up front.? Somehow, this made it OK, in his mind, to break the verbal agreement that had been made.? So, ethically, in this investors? mind, it was OK because it would lead to a better financial position.
Ethics deal with our choice to do what is right even if it means losing.? I am finding that many people will step over their own ethical boundaries if they are about to lose money.? Oh, the test of our moral fiber when dollar bills are on the line!? A hand shake is no longer worth anything.? Now, we have to jockey for position until we get a legally binding contract inked in blue!? I believe most people despise having to do business this way, but have been burned and are now relegated to operating in this mode.
We at I Buy Austin Houses have been offered numerous opportunities to widen our profit margin through different business dealings.? As seducing as some deals can be, we try our best to remain sober minded and keep the bar high. In our minds, if we lose these deals they were never ours!
Can I encourage you to never sell your soul for any amount of money?? Greed can make you rationalize away all scruples and morality and fall into its trap. You are worth more than that my friend.
We owe it to our fellow investors to practice ethical operating standards, as well as to Austin home buyers and our clients.? Really, we owe this to all people. Also, a ?we buy houses? investor that does not care about people will most likely be just a flash in the pan.? Residential real estate investing and wholesale real estate investing are a people business and the relationships that you build in this business can last for years. In our ?buy houses fast? business, we have been able to help people by offering them solutions to their real estate problems and allowing them to sell their home fast and move forward with their life.? In fact, many times we offer advice to people that benefits our company in no way.
In conclusion, a man?s character is tested simply by this:
Doing what is right when absolutely no one is watching.
Are you willing to do what is right, even if it is going to cost you?
