Imagine your 6 year old daughter playing with a Rubik’s Cube fresh out of the box on her birthday. She notices the six completed, colored sides in perfect visual harmony, whites across from yellows, reds from oranges, blues from greens. She rotates the cube, studies it, and then, slowly, begins to turn it, first the top counterclockwise, then the left side clockwise, then the right and bottom. She finds it fun to rotate and manipulate with her tiny hands, and it’s cool how she notices the changing patterns of colors on each side. You wonder if she’s recognizing how challenging the puzzle has become, because you notice as she begins to slow down. As she stops and looks at you, you realize that the fun “flashback” gift (given to her by someone in your family) will become your challenge for the next several hours or days, because she wants you to fix it.
FILO! (my new word around the kids, thanks Geno), now what? It’s my fault for not noticing what she was doing in the beginning. I can’t reverse the steps. And, I wasn’t one of those genius kids 20 years ago that could finish it blindfolded, with one arm behind my back, or in a taxi, as portrayed by Will Smith’s character in In the Pursuit of Happiness. You’re probably thinking, most 6 year olds can rationalize to some extent that you can’t fix it, so they get bored and move on. Then, you bury the cube in the toy box and hope they don’t find it again, at least when you’re not around. But, imagine this scenario and that your 6 year old daughter, as mine is, being afflicted with autism.
There is no rationalization, no cute distraction that moves her focus away from the problem at hand, right now. It’s now my problem. And, I can either, throw the damn thing away, endure the hours of endless tantrums and hope that she never sees another Rubik’s cube ever again in her life, or I can solve it. I recall the line from the original Die Hard movie, “I eat million dollar deals for breakfast, babe”, so I can do this, but more importantly, now I have a reason to solve this.
One Side
Just like starting any endeavor, modeling is the key. Knowing this means finding someone who has solved the problem, model them and achieve the same results. Great premise, now I’m off to Google… Voilà! I found my mentor, albeit a kid, but a cube master nonetheless. Here’s the video series, in case you have the urge. One thing you should know, the center squares do not change, no matter how you move the cube. So, the beginning step is to solve one side, as you would any residential or commercial real estate deal. Find one side of the transaction that needs your help, a seller or buyer that you can control, because you don’t get paid without control. To solve the cube, you have to first control one side.
Two Rows
You have control, a listing or buyer’s representation agreement with your name on it, because without it you’re spinning the cube without direction. What now? Now it’s time to get to work. The next step in the cube is to complete two rows along with your first side. You must learn the patterns that help you solve this step, very much like the art of negotiation. There are no short cuts at this point. You must practice these patterns in order to succeed. There are numerous CD’s, videos, online conferences, etc. that focus on this effort. Being able to put the deal together that is win-win for both sides takes time, effort, practice, patience and experience. You must dive in with both feet, swim with the sharks and hope to get out alive (and with a check, no less).
Final Side
I can do this, I have control of my client and we’ve negotiated the deal. It’s time to close. As with the cube, you must manipulate it to a point where everything is in order except for the last side (the opposite side of the one you started with). The trick with any closing is managing expectations to the point where the only thing left are the details, which are handled effectively and efficiently by the title company (make sure you have a good one). Once you have one side, two rows, and the final side aligned correctly, it requires the repetitious maneuverings of the last four corners of the cube in such a way that they fall into place. The corners are complete. The deal is done and my daughter is happy (for now).
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