Can anyone be trusted? - Posted by george from raleigh

Posted by george from raleigh on December 22, 2000 at 06:16:58:

Ed, I am humbled by your insightful reply. I guess at this time of year, when our hearts are all somehow made more tender, the desire to believe the best of people is perhaps at its height. All I can say is that I have been tremendously impressed, in the short time that I have been following these discussions by the manifest good will, as well as the high quality of the content expressed. And that a person of your caliber would take such a tremendous amount of time to respond to so many posts has really impressed.

Have a Merry Christmas and prosperous New Year!

george from raleigh

Can anyone be trusted? - Posted by george from raleigh

Posted by george from raleigh on December 21, 2000 at 14:59:29:

Forgive me if I sound cynical, but I am a former New Yorker and it’s in the genes. How does one do any due diligence on people who offer their services on these boards, for example as sources of hard money. I want so bad to be trusting, but life is unfair. Ed, or anyone: how does one know who to trust?

george from raleigh

Re: Can anyone be trusted? - Posted by Tim

Posted by Tim on December 22, 2000 at 19:55:40:

Good fences make good neighbors.

If you’re contracts are strong… trust is a plus but not a requirement.

-T

Re: Can anyone be trusted? - Posted by Ed Garcia

Posted by Ed Garcia on December 22, 2000 at 02:15:42:

George,

I can appreciate the none trust attitude. Like you said, your from New York, and it’s in the genes. LOL

George, if you’ve been on this planet for a while, some one at one time or another has taken advantage of you. I’d be a liar if I were to tell you that it’s never happened to me. I just don’t cry about it. Many times I’ve seen where someone got hurt in a transaction and then over reacted in the next one. I’ve seen where when someone’s been taken advantage of, they cry about it forever.

Enoughs, enough, why dwell on it. Learn from it and move on. The key word for everything is CONTROL. I’m always in control. I choose the people to perform the tasks that I’ve given them. I choose them based on reputation, referral from a qualified source, my ability to verify their creditability, and my personal instincts. From that point on, my trust is given by performance. So there you have it.

When working a deal, it should be like a chess game, you should always have more than one move. The old cliché " don’t put all of your eggs in one basket", at least until you find out if the basket can hold them.

In most cases I find people to be honest. Where the problem lies is in their perception versus your perception. When obtaining financing, if the financing source is proven, then you can utilize it and feel comfortable the lender will perform. If you have never done a deal with the lender in the past, then always have a back up. It’s not a matter of trust, its just good business.

Ed Garcia

Re: Can anyone be trusted? - Posted by Cork Horner

Posted by Cork Horner on December 21, 2000 at 23:53:09:

Well, on this trust issue…my contractor partner only cost me about 250k the last six years. My present philosophy is to only trust those " who earn it"; Is there a formula? I don’t think so. that is the difficult part about trust relationships. Imo, trust builds over time and one learns to cover their butt. The military calls it the cya rule… cover your a…