Unmet expectations | dealing with difficult situations–don’t assume or accuse.

Clay Johnson:                    Hey guys, Clay Johnson here at Castle & Cooke Mortgage. I’m here with Cheryl Knowlton again, Dynamite Productions. If you didn’t know that by now, you might be in trouble.

Cheryl Knowlton:             Right?

Clay Johnson:                    Exactly. But we wanted to talk about some of the things of ways not to get in trouble, things to avoid. Cheryl, I know you were just telling me about kind of a unique situation that happened to somebody you’re pretty close to.

Cheryl Knowlton:             Yes, and it happened this morning, so it’s fresh on my mind right now. Somebody I love and care about very much blew me up this morning and in a different time zone, saying that this transaction that was for a family member of hers, absolutely blew up and she was going to accuse the other agent on the other side of being unethical. I had to calm her down, deep breath. Okay, let’s go have a cup of tea. Do some yoga, a little meditation. Let’s calm down a little bit, tell me what happened.

As we got through the story, what happened was not actual unethical behavior as we define it by state law and the code of ethics, it was more rudeness and not getting what they wanted and a very serious lack of communication and unmet expectations. Which ultimately, if we have unmet expectations in our relationships with our significant other, with our kids, with our broker, with our clients, we’re going to have problems. So, she spelled it out to me, I educated her on some ways that she could go about it. I was able to save the transaction, but not without a lot of ugliness.

So the bottom line for that one, and I’m so glad that you’re here, so we can clear this up. The buyer went in to sign documents and at the signing, walked out of the signing entirely, claiming that it was not disclosed to them that there was a monthly HOA fee. I’m sitting here thinking, we talked all last week about tread, about the closing disclosure and all the things that have to be disclosed. That’s not actually even possible.

Clay Johnson:                    How could that be missed?

Cheryl Knowlton:             Right.

Clay Johnson:                    Yeah.

Cheryl Knowlton:             So, I would love it if you’d address that a little bit more.

Clay Johnson:                    I mean, really, that’s one of the things we look at right upfront. You know it’s on the listing when that happens. So both as a real estate agent, you’re aware of that and making sure that the lenders are aware that. We’re looking at that as well and then finding out, and especially whenever you see a townhome condo, that’s just a no-brainer. When it’s a single-family residence and in a neighborhood, but that’s one of those things looking at Title. However, it does need to be on that closing disclosure.

Cheryl Knowlton:             It does.

Clay Johnson:                    How that could have been missed, would be beyond me. Because if everybody’s … there are too many safeguards in place, can make sure that doesn’t happen. But we’re talking about a very emotional transaction for people. Unless they’re self-employed, the largest transaction that they’ve ever had. So something comes up like that, it’s, “Oh.” They can start to panic a little bit.

Cheryl Knowlton:             Absolutely, or a lot. So note to self, kids, when you run into a difficult situation, especially with another agent, please don’t jump to the conclusion that they are being unethical, first of all. Second of all, don’t assume. We all know what happens when we assume things, that’s not good. Do not assume that they have broken the law and don’t accuse them of doing something crazy and stupid. Take a deep breath and maybe go to your broker or even feel free to come to us or other resources that you have, your state legal hotline. You have tons of resources, a plethora of resources around you to help you understand what really happened, how did this happen? Then try to be the calm in the storm, especially for your own client.

Clay Johnson:                    No question. I mean, you have to be that calming influence. We’re the professionals, we’re the ones that have been through this multiple times. This is something they’re going to experience three to six times in their life.

Cheryl Knowlton:             Right.

Clay Johnson:                    So it can be-

Cheryl Knowlton:             If that, right?

Clay Johnson:                    Yes, if that. So they can be a very charged experience for them, so we have to be the voice of reason and calmness in that whole process. So if you have any questions, guys, again, reach out to us. Until next time, bye-bye.

Cheryl Knowlton:             See you later.