JUNE 25, 2021 – Today I take time out from the highfalutin about the state of the world to talk about down-to-earth daily living on our dog-eat-dog planet. Before I get too high-minded about low-slogging, however, I should issue a disclaimer: I’m not always as well-mannered as I was on the subject occasion. Nevertheless, the story underscores how good behavior begets good behavior; that the best deal is a “win-win” deal.
What prompts this post is a recent experience I had with a matter in which I represented the buyer of some commercial property. The usual suspects included the seller, the seller’s attorney, and multiple people at a title company handling the closing. Often other players are involved—namely, a financing source, with its cast of characters—but the case in hand was a cash deal and involved unimproved land without leases, environmental issues, or “title baggage”—other than a highway easement, so the transaction was straight forward.
But long ago I learned the cardinal rules of a real estate law practice: (1) no two deals, however routine in appearance, are exactly alike; and (2) no matter how ostensibly simple the deal, invariably a hiccup of some kind occurs. These rules require alertness and agility—and also make work rewarding, to the extent one finds “working the brain” rewarding. (Of course, getting paid to work the brain is rewarding as well!)
In the deal at hand, I had a client who was as sharp as a tack—but . . . just as, or more important, for purposes of getting the deal done, he was reasonable, accommodating, respectful, and responsive. In short, he was a pleasure to work with, and this motivated me to provide the very best service I could—responding quickly to email, phone calls; turning around quality work product quickly.
Next was the seller’s attorney. I was familiar with his name and practice, but we’d never encountered each other directly. He turned out to be a gentleman and a scholar. He was courteous, competent, and eminently reasonable. We established an easy rapport at the outset, understood the needs and goals of each other’s client, and worked cooperatively to get the job done. I can think of any number of lawyers whose style and approach would have been far less accommodating. His professionalism motivated me to treat him with equal professional courtesy.
Then there were the title company representatives—lawyers, assistants, others. They had been “through the drill” many times too, but in every exchange and interaction, I felt as though the deal at hand was “front and center” for the title company. Its representatives also lived by the two above-stated cardinal rules of real estate transactions.
The “hiccups” in our deal were simple ones, easily and cordially addressed. But in contentious, presumptuous hands, they could have produced unnecessary heartburn.
This was the way all things should work. Get along, and you increase the odds that you’ll get what you want—with a hiccup, maybe, not heartburn.
Meanwhile, in the latest news . . .
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© 2021 by Eric Nilsson
