Skip to main content

Every Story Needs an Editor

Context and perspective!  Those are two concepts that are more and more important by the day as we now live in a time when it’s so incredibly easy to take things out of context and see them solely through someone else’s perspective.  Don’t worry, I’m not going to get all political on you – I’ll leave that up to the unbiased press and media who don’t like competition. 

Recently, I came across a photo on the internet that showed a gentleman sitting at a table in what looked to be a quad or campus common for a high school or college.  Because the photo is taken from a distance, and the poster attached to the front of his table was designed in a particularly confusing way, it looked like all the poster really said was “Free HIV”.  My first thought was (and it’s quite possible yours would be the same), “Are there hordes of people lining up to PAY for HIV?  I would think the ‘free’ part was sort of implied.”  Then I thought, “Free or not, that’s not really the best way to pick up on women.”  After thinking I was possibly the funniest person on the planet, I looked more closely at the photo and was barely able to make out that it was “Free HIV testing” being offered.  (Still not the best way to pick up on women, but I’ll give the guy points for creativity.  Or, if they were trying to get the message out to get tested, they might not be hitting ALL their demographic with the confusing presentation of their message.) 

A few years back, on the BBC’s website, they had a headline that read: “Sewer was blocked by large Pooh”.  (I’m not making this up.  Type that into Google, and you’ll see what I’m talking about.)  Beneath the headline, they placed a photo of some type of large outdoor receptacle which contained a large stuffed animal of Winnie the Pooh, which one can safely assume was the reason for the blockage – or at least hope it was.  Obviously, without that photo, one might think the editor didn’t catch the misspelling and be intrigued to find out just how large it would have to be to cause a blockage of a sewer.  Before this week’s newsletter descends into murkier territory, I’ll move on.  You get my point, though, right?

Context and perspective!  Quite often, in the mortgage business, we hear A LOT of things taken out of context or told from just one person’s perspective that are just plain wrong.  For example, one might hear a real estate agent say, “Whatever you do, don’t go with a VA loan.  They’re a complete nightmare!”  To that agent, sure, she may have had a horrible experience with ONE VA loan 17 years ago that has left her scarred – bummer!  However, we absolutely LOVE to do VA loans, and we’ve found them to be one of the easiest products to present and process.  If someone who is eligible for a VA loan, upon hearing that agent’s rant, dismisses the possibility of going with a VA loan, they could be spending a lot more than they need to spend to get into the home of their dreams.  Along those same lines, when someone says, “My parents bought their first house with an FHA loan, so I’m going to buy my first house with an FHA loan,” they’re allowing someone else’s perspective to determine their destiny and REALLY limit their options. 

In both the cases of the table advertising Free HIV (testing) and the headline discussing a sewer blockage, what both could have used was editing.  In an episode of Everybody Loves Raymond where Robert gets married and Raymond gives the Best Man’s speech, Raymond reflects on their childhood and talks about how he and his brother use editing to remember only the good parts: “We only remember . . . the food.  We don’t remember when mom would yell at dad not to scratch his rear end with a spatula in the bakery.  Editing.”  As mortgage folks, we need to help agents and borrowers do some editing to help make as many stories come out with a happy ending.  That’s no fairy tale either!  With that said, though, after reading this, you’re probably never going to look at Winnie the Pooh or a spatula the same again.  Sorry about that!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Definition of Insanity (in Real Estate)

More than a couple of years ago, I witnessed something that makes me laugh and cringe at the same time.  Having lunch at a local restaurant, I spied a real estate agent and a loan originator having what I would characterize as a “first date”. I couldn’t help but overhear little snippets of their conversation, and as far as I could tell, things were going relatively well . . . at least until the agent asked the LO this question: “So, do you like to sit at open houses with agents?”  I immediately looked to the LO’s face awaiting the response.  I didn’t need to hear another single word coming out of the LO’s mouth because his face said everything:  you would have thought the agent had asked him if he enjoyed bobbing for apples in a pool of acid judging by the look on his face.  While his face was communicating complete revulsion, his lips said, “Yes, of course.”  And that’s when I looked over at the agent’s face to see, ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Time for a New York-Style Housing Fix

Previously, I’ve written about a man who works in our office who lived in New York City back in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s – let me assure you that while that does seem like a very long time ago, it’s not nearly as far bac k as when the wheel was invented and humankind learned to harness the power of fire. If you’ve been to New York City recently and blissfully walked around Harlem to get chicken and waffles at Sylvia’s on Malcolm X Boulevard between 126 th and 127 th Streets or stopped in at Keybar on 13 th Street between First Avenue and Avenue A to wedge yourself into a cozy corner next to their notable fireplace, you wouldn’t get a sense that these areas were once . . . not as welcoming and glitzy as you now see them. Our office mate has told some fairly interesting stories of living in those and other areas of New York City that give a much different sense.   In the late ‘80s/early ‘90s, no matter how many great things you heard about Sylvia’s food, 127 th Str...
Post a Comment
Read more

Change: the Only Sure Thing

Which headline is better for grabbing your attention and prompting you to read the article to which it’s attached: “Credit Reports to Exclude Certain Negative Information, But Read on to See if This Even Applies to You” or “ Credit Reports to Exclude Certain Negative Information, Boosting FICO Scores”?   Obviously, the former is less than tantalizing while the latter makes you say, “Tell me more!”   I was in the “tell me more” camp, and the folks at The Wall Street Journal sucked me into their vortex. The development, set to go into practice on July 1 st , is certainly a departure from how the Big Three (Experian, TransUnion , and Equifax) have done things in the past, but it’s not going to wave a magic wand and make bankruptcies, foreclosures, short sales, etc., go away.   It’s sort of a bittersweet development.   Let me explain: Many tax liens and civil judgments will be removed from people’s credit reports if they don’t include a complete list of a...
Post a Comment
Read more