Posted by
Bill Cherry on Monday, July 07, 2008 9:11:09 PM
I THINK IT STARTED WITH DONALD TRUMP'S "THE ART OF THE DEAL"
I blame it on Donald Trump and his personal how-to books. Actually not him, but the public's interpretation of his how-to books.
And I do because it seemed to have started about six months after The Art of the Deal hit the bookstores and was a run-away success.
While most Gentiles probably intuitively knew it, most didn't know that proper business dealings followed a Jewish mitzvah which paraphrased means, "Make certain there is something on the table for everyone."
The idea is that even if you have the upper hand in a negotiation, it is your moral obligation to make sure that the terms are fair and fair to all concerned. When you don't, to Jews it is similar to having broken one of the Ten Commandments.
I think I must have been about fifty when The Art of the Deal made amateur negotiators into pseudo-Donald Trumps. I remember how appalled I was that one of my clients of many years started unfairly beating up --- making impossible demands --- on a poor fellow who was trying to sell his property to him for a fair price.
I stopped the meeting, and asked my client if I could speak with him in the hall. When we went out of earshot of the others, I all but yelled at him, "What in God's name are you doing?" He told me that he was doing what he had learned Donald Trump did.
Well, I told him, "That's not real, and even if it is, you're too honorable of a man to take those ideas into your bag of tricks." Then I said, "There is a Jewish mitzvah that says 'Make certain there is something on the table for everyone.' We're going to continue doing our business together that way, or you need a new Realtor." He knew I meant it, and we'd had too many successful dealings together for him to let me go on my way.
Then I learned he wasn't an anomaly. Lots of people began thinking they were Donald Trump. Even those guys on TV who push the books that tell you how to buy million dollar mansions with a buck and no risk to your credit.
Saturday, I presented a clean and full-price contract to a listing agent. In the old days, the seller would have signed his name and been thrilled. Not this time. The contract was sent back to me countered with about twelve ridiculous Donald Trump Demands. And, in reality, they didn't mean a darned thing to the seller except he didn't want my client to have them.
So what is my point? It is that real estate agents and attorneys have a professional obligation to all parties. They must do their very best to restrain their clients from being Donald Trump The Art of the Deal interpreters.
BILL CHERRY, REALTORS
DALLAS
1-800 314-7110
OUR 43RD YEAR SELLING TEXAS