The Ruzhiner Rebbe zt’l once told his disciples the following story: A Jew, who sold furs for a living, was mired in debt and hadn’t made a sale on any merchandise in months. His wife, their bookkeeper, estimated that the business wouldn’t survive if a sale weren’t made within the next week. The man had invested an enormous sum in expensive Vicuña furs earlier in the year, but they weren’t selling.
On the sixth day, there was a knock at their door early in the morning before it was even light out. The visitor explained, “I have been directed to your home because I am in desperate need of Vicuna fur and was told that you have the only supply in town.” The customer was ready to purchase the entire inventory. This was a dream opportunity for the storekeeper. There was only one problem; the wholesaler never conducted business before he concluded his morning prayers. In all of his years, he had never compromised on this principle.
“Come back in an hour,” the owner said, “and I’ll sell them to you for a good price.” “No. I need them immediately,” was the reply, “If you don’t sell them to me now, it will be of no use to me.” His mind was racing as he knew this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to dig them out of debt, but he stood firm.
Not wanting to explain to the non-Jew the extreme religious practice of not conducting business before praying, he quoted the buyer an exorbitant price for the furs. He assumed that the outrageous price would be insulting and chase the buyer away. To his shock, the customer immediately agreed to the price! Upon hearing the consent, the fur owner increased his price once more – which finally made the buyer leave in a raging fury. The end.
Yes, that is the end of the story. There was no fairytale conclusion; the price of Vicuna fur didn’t quadruple overnight – and no one knows the fate of the merchant and his wife. All we know is that he stuck to his principles and did what he felt was proper.
I recently had two closings that reminded me of this tale. For the first, the loan took an enormous amount of time to get to the closing table. There is no doubt that most other lenders would be forced to charge the actual “current market rate,” which was higher than what was quoted so long ago. To me, there was no question that I would not do that. It’s just not how I conduct business. Their patience and trust in me pushed me to make it right. The clients received an overall better offering than I had promised initially.
The second loan was a situation where the home was unique, and the appraiser was having a hard time finding comps to justify the value. I tried everything – above and beyond what any mortgage professional would do – to no avail. I would have been justified in giving up after truly exhausting all of our options. The client was extremely appreciative of my efforts and kept telling me that he trusts me. That motivation kept me going until we finally prevailed.
To me, the “ending” to the above story is that it’s not always about the money. When there is faith, value, and trust – deals gets done!
Shout out and happy birthday to Laizer Albert, Shmully Ash, Dov Brandstatter, Ilan Bruhim, Joey Bodner, Rabbi Ira Ebbin, Miriam Halstuch, Jen Hoffer, Shy Krug, Karen Orgen, Nechama Polak, Mandy Richman, Eitan Rosenfeld, Aliza Schwartz, George Silfen, and Chevee Szokovski
Shmuel Shayowitz (NMLS#19871) is President and Chief Lending Officer at Approved Funding, a privately held local mortgage banker and direct lender. Approved funding is a mortgage company offering competitive interest rates as well as specialty niche programs on all types of Residential and Commercial properties. Shmuel has over 20 years of industry experience, including licenses and certifications as a certified mortgage underwriter, residential review appraiser, licensed real estate agent, and direct FHA specialized underwriter. He can be reached via email at [email protected].
