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NEWSLETTER
| Lois Meisler, President of ADM, recently penned the following message which was published in Servicing Management Magazine in response to an article entitled “Managing REOs By The Numbers”. | ||
When I asked my nephew if he was going to get the latest operating system for his computer. He replied that, although he’d love a fancy new box and programs, he didn’t need it. The old programs and operating system on last year’s computer work just fine for playing the video games he has, surfing the ‘net and doing his homework. He’d rather spend his money on new roller blades. Smart kid. Turns out a lot of industry practitioners have been following my nephew’s advice. Instead of making new investments, corporations have been writing off investments and downsizing corporate budgets. According to the Commerce Department, corporate investment was off by more than 25 percent in 2001. In the current economic climate, do you think you could convince your appropriations committee to justify a large technology expenditure? For those REO decision-makers who have been in the field for some time, you know that technology is no panacea. Yeah, it might make those loss severity reports easier to generate. But it’s not going to help you dissect a BPO for Ardmore, Oklahoma. Successful practitioners know it takes people with an expertise that can move others. It takes people with the perseverance, knowledge and the ability to coordinate. And without coordination, the longer property sits in inventory. And when property sits, the more money it costs. In my previous life I was a political fundraiser. In order to be successful you have to raise money and in order to raise money your events have to come off smoothly. Events require room, food, settings, people positioning, a date and of course a speaker. One early fall day, I had an event where Senator John Kerry was the speaker. Senator Kerry was to arrive in Boston from Washington about an hour before his speech. Unfortunately, the airport was fogged in and no planes were taking off. When I heard Senator Kerry was unable to take off, I found an alternate speaker and got him there. Fortunately, Senator Kerry’s plane made it to Boston on time and we had two great speakers for the event. A good REO manager is just like a good fundraiser. Success requires coordination of a whole bunch of small items that, if you’re not paying attention, can cause major trouble. It takes a good coordinator to trouble shoot problems and resolve them in a timely manner. Have you ever heard of reverse engineering? How about Moore’s Law, where chip capacity doubles every nine months? If you haven’t, then I’ve got news for you. New technology isn’t going to give you the edge and if it does it won’t last for very long. An organization wins business and makes money based on the quality and experience of its people and relationships. Warren Buffet, the billionaire chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, to this day does not have a computer on his desk. The company relies on its tried and true method of investigative investing. Try reverse engineering the decision making process of Berkshire Hathaway. An upstart company can’t simply replicate the Berkshire Hathaway way. The truth is we pay a premium for Berkshire Hathaway stock because we believe in the ability of Warren Buffet to make future decisions that will continue to benefit us as shareholders. Submitted By: Lois Meisler, President Asset Disposition Management Boston, Massachusetts |
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Asset
Disposition Management, Inc. 380 Pleasant St; Malden,
MA 02148
tel 781.321.7449 • fax 781.321.7406
tel 781.321.7449 • fax 781.321.7406
