@Brandon Ingegneri
No Brandon, I was not trying to make a personal statement as to your personal integrity! I must say that your follow up posts have given me much better insight as to your dealings on a more positive note. Thank you for that, as most just run away and that is never my intention.
In my nearly 6 years, I think, on BP I have never said anything like this;
Look to my profile, actually it is brief, it should scream conservative businessman. Retired Army Officer, Bank Examiner, Commissioner of a large PHA, Board of Directors of community non-profits, Real Estate Broker. All of these activities are in service to the public, they all require the highest ethical conduct and professionalism possible.
The Army shaped me into a "tell it like it is" kind of guy, errors or mistakes there can get people killed. An FDIC Bank Examiner is a special agent of a federal agency, not just bean counters but the agency has police powers, so again, this is another "tell it like it is" position requiring the highest degree of integrity. Decisions there could change people's lives.
The other positions mentioned also directly impact people's lives, in all of these areas I have had to apply fairness and equality in reaching solutions. When I am charged with the public's trust I hold that above everything else, including any personal gain or benefit.
These attitudes have served me very, very well in my business career. These are personal ethics and sometimes they get in the way of business decisions and at that point I look to professional ethics, what is acceptable practice, what is fair dealing, and a question I always ask myself before I put my hand to any document, "what would a judge say"? I certainly look to what is legal!
I'm a businessman and an investor, I'm also pretty creative and I'm profit motivated as well. While I'm not some bleeding heart, empathetic push over, I do understand the bigger picture in dealing with the public.
I know money and wealth, the most important thing I can leave with all of you on BP is that you will never really be successful without being ethical. There is a direct relationship in being ethical, fair dealing, honest and in compliance with the law to being successful in life and in obtaining wealth. You don't make money in anything, you earn it and in real estate all the money comes from the public, it's their money until you earn it!
We are not entitled to anything in dealing with the public and the law reflects that. There is no service of any kind in real estate that cannot be valued to comparable services. There are numerous federal laws concerning pricing of goods and services in an open market environment. These basic business laws pertain to all transactions, including real estate.
Real estate falls under the financial services sector and is considered an industry itself. I've written many times that real estate is unique unlike any other business or industry. Real estate is a function of our economic system, the only function of land, labor, capital and entrepreneurship that cannot be replaced, land is always a basic function.
This also means that real estate is not treated like any other business, that is due to the economic, social and legal aspects that must be addressed. A car is not a necessity nor is any other single commodity. Land or a place for people to live is considered a necessity, it is the only tangible item in our economy that is a requirement for our society. Everything you wear, eat or use has come from real estate, it's good old mother earth!
So, investors and operators, you need to command a little more respect for what you walk on than you do as if you were dealing in a car, or a train loan of shoes or furniture or soy bean futures. Dealing in real estate carries social responsibilities, like it or not.
Since the 13th Century, as the "Allodial" system of land ownership was adopted, title to land is our most cherished right, next only to life and liberty. There is nothing more sacred in our economy than land owner's rights.
This is why a seller's position is favored over a buyer in law, the rights of the owner are paramount to those of a buyer. That is not to say a buyer doesn't have any rights but legal protections will first fall toward the owner. This should be clearly understood by investors and operators.
Another business principle is the one who has the most at risk is entitled to the greatest reward. Values of real estate are not arbitrary neither are the values of services provided.
If you make a contract and assign the contract, never adding value to the property, regardless of what your abilities might be, you are facilitating a sale transaction. The value for that is well established in real estate and is reflected by commissions paid to Realtors, functionally, you're doing the same thing. Unless you add value to the "DUST" in real estate (look that up) you are then limited to the usual and customary pricing of your services legally. Predatory dealing includes taking excess amounts of equity from a property owner.
When you become the owner of a property, you are then entitled to the fruits of the land, these pricing limitations fade away and your price is determined by the market.
This is too long already, sorry, I'll contribute to justified values later on, but those justifications have little to do with your personal involvement.
As to the above transactions, it appears the buyer made additional concessions, no rent, low rents, I assume cleaning up the place, these are things above and beyond simply facilitating a transaction and that carries value. I'm not sure it carries that much value but the whole transaction must be viewed as the big picture, and so long as the buyer and seller are fully informed, having full and comparable knowledge, each acting without duress, then we are fine. (But, that usually doesn't seem to be the case listening to how investors, especially new investors, have been dealing in wholesaling.)
Hope that sheds more light on my comments, opinions and attitudes and that you can see where I'm coming from with any critical remark. They are not meant personally, hate the sin not the sinner type thing. Good luck! :)