Just because it’s short doesn’t mean it’s easy and just because it’s long doesn’t mean it’s hard.
That’s what I kept telling myself this past weekend as we played the Ohio State Scarlet course for perhaps the last time of the season before it shuts down for winter. My home course has two golf courses, the Scarlet and the Gray. Both courses were originally designed by legendary golf course architect Alister McKenzie (who also designed Augusta National and Cypress Point), with the Scarlet being the championship course and the Gray is an easier, member-friendly track.
My usual weekend group tries to play Scarlet on the weekends up until the course shuts down for the winter. You never know when it will officially shut down but with some colder weather projected for the coming week, including our first possible snowflakes of the year, we anticipated that this might have been our last full weekend around the old track.
We normally play the course from the Scarlet & Gray tees, which isn’t the shortest and it’s not the longest. It’s kind of right in the middle. Knowing this might be our last chance, we decided to play a new event we just made up – The Oreo Challenge; White (forward) tees on Saturday and Black (back) tees on Sunday. The difference in length between playing the Scarlet from the white tees versus the black tees is almost 1,400 yards.
As I said earlier, just because it’s short doesn’t mean it’s easy and just cause it’s long doesn’t mean it’s hard. You still have to stay focused and and execute the fundamentals, no matter which tee boxes you’re hitting from.
It’s better to hit ball in the fairway than in the thick rough. You’ve got to avoid hazards, deep bunkers, and stay out of the trees (and the think layers of fallen leaves that fill every inch of ground a mere 10-feet off the fairways.)
Oh yeah, and you’ve gotta make your putts.
Easy vs. Hard
Have you ever had an easy transaction? Maybe it was a cash deal? Or perhaps a buyer who bought the first house they saw? What about the last few years filled with above-asking offers, waivers of appraisals and no inspections?
What about those Sellers who follow your instructions, price the house at or slightly below a fair market value, and your co-op agent actually knows what they are doing and are a joy to communicate with?
There’s also been those transactions where everything didn’t go as planned. Communication was difficult at best. The inspectors, lenders, appraisers, and title companies just didn’t seem to want to make it a smooth deal. It’s not a far stretch to say that sometimes your clients weren’t the nicest of people or best at understanding the phrase “time is of the essence.”
Just like on the golf course this weekend, once you left the tee box, you still had to execute the shots ahead of you. The golf ball didn’t know if you hit from the white tees or the black tees. The goal never changes; Get the golf ball from the tee to the hole in the fewest amount of shots.
The Goal Doesn’t Change
You still have to make sure the deal get from contract to closing, don’t you? Earnest money needs to be collected and deposited no matter how smooth the negotiations go? Are the time lines for all of the contractual obligations being met? Communication between all parties must be on point. Anticipate your clients needs, questions, or concerns.
Sometimes the deals are easier than others. Sometimes they present a little more challenge.
On the golf course, I just try to keep it simple and hit fairways, hit greens, and make putts.
When it comes to real estate, it’s not that hard; Keep building relationships, solving problems, and having fun. That’s a pretty good way to make it easy.
Making your putts always helps too.
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