Technology is all around us. The second you think you’ve secured the next great breakthrough, there’s a new version, new roman numeral, new 2.0, 3.0 and so on. And, I’m not just talking about the Holy Grail otherwise known as the iPhone or equivalent. Technological advances today run the gamut from computers to coffee makers and it’s almost impossible to keep up with each new advance. And more times than not, the very trail of ‘keeping up’ leads us down a winding path to frustration as you realize the version you just purchased last month has been replaced by a newer, better version and you’re in need of an upgrade already!
But, as fast as the technological breakthroughs keep coming at us, as real estate investors and lenders, we must keep reminding ourselves to get back to the fundamentals of phone calls and house calls. As Ferris Bueller said: “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” And the same could be said for an investor’s or lender’s decision to rely on all the meta data and technological underwriting tools that greet us at every turn as we try to make ourselves ‘more efficient.’ There is nothing ‘more efficient’ about the sound of your borrower’s voice on the other end of the phone as you walk through the necessary underwriting questions before making an investment or loan decision. And, there’s nothing ‘more efficient’ about getting on the ground as an investor to walk the house, neighborhood, and market that you are going to be enveloped by during your investment period immediately post close.
Alexander Graham Bell brought the world into the telephone era in 1876 after devoting his life to helping people — deaf and hearing — communicate (read: share or exchange information, news or ideas). Communication is the bedrock of any good relationship. And since private lending and investing is a relationship business, it would only make sense if the two parties entering a transaction would stop the madness of efficiency at times and get on the phone to communicate with one another. As we like to say in our shop, use every technological breakthrough at your disposal to make your day more efficient, but live by these words before you approve the credit: “No phone. No loan.”
Residential Capital Partners, headquartered in Dallas, TX, is a leading private lender with a national scope and a local presence in each market it serves. Residential Capital Partners helps its clients fund their rehabs and rentals better, faster, and smarter.
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