{"id":6762,"date":"2019-05-13T18:51:14","date_gmt":"2019-05-13T18:51:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rosesweet.com\/?p=6762"},"modified":"2022-07-16T20:02:55","modified_gmt":"2022-07-16T20:02:55","slug":"jumping-to-conclusions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rosesweet.com\/jumping-to-conclusions\/","title":{"rendered":"Jumping to conclusions"},"content":{"rendered":"
What a dump*,<\/em>\u00a0I thought as we surveyed the old house.<\/p>\n I had just started working for my father in his commercial real estate appraisal business (where we\u2019d work together for the next thirty years!)\u00a0 On this day early in my career I would learn a lesson that would serve me the rest of my life\u2014especially in relationships.<\/p>\n A bank had hired us to appraise this property for an estate; its market value was being contested in court and we would testify as the expert witnesses. As we went through the front door, I jumped and squealed\u2014spiderwebs!<\/p>\n \u201cRemember what I told you, Rosie,\u201d Dad advised. \u201cDon\u2019t make up your mind until you make a thorough inspection of the property. First appearances can be deceiving.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u00a0know<\/em>, Dad,\u201d I said impatiently. I looked around at the dead cockroaches.<\/p>\n He\u2019d trained me to make a list of everything that was genuinely marketable. I had to make another list of obvious or hidden defects. Only until I\u2019d weighed both together could I make my final decision on the property’s “market value.” I had a fiduciary and even moral obligation to my client to present the fullness of truth.<\/p>\n I made notes, thinking,\u00a0well, the house has good bones.<\/em> It was open, light, and airy, and the floor plan was marketable. It had the much-desired three bedrooms and two baths. But on the negative side? The kitchen was small and terribly outdated, as were the bathrooms. The exterior stucco was in shambles. The front and back yards needed to be totally redone. A large tree was pushing up the patio, and when we went outside, we could see the roof needed some tiles.<\/p>\n I didn\u2019t forget\u00a0location-location-location<\/em>! Within walking distance were new shops, restaurants, and art galleries. I added that to the \u201cplus\u201d side of my assessment.<\/p>\n \u201cOkay, Dad,\u201d I said when we completed our inspection. \u201cIt has a great location and lots of potential, but it needs a lot of work. When we adjust the comparable sales, I think it\u2019s going to come out about $100,000 or more lower than other homes in the area.\u201d<\/p>\n I felt pretty darn smart.<\/p>\n Dad smiled and said, \u201cOkay, honey. But wait until we get back to the office and check every last detail. Remember, if you\u2019re on the witness stand, and the other side has discovered something you haven\u2019t, you\u2019re going to look like a fool. Worse, your reputation in the industry will be shot. Trust me.\u201d<\/p>\n Then Dad started with the same old story I\u2019d heard more than a few times: years earlier, on another court case, he\u2019d made a very thorough inspection, even walking far out into the middle of 160 acres of vacant farm land. There he was surprised to discover a deep borrow pit that couldn\u2019t be seen from the perimeter streets. It substantially lowered the land value and, in court, caught the other side\u2019s appraiser by surprise. Dad\u2019s testimony won the multi-million-dollar lawsuit. The other guy? Well, the way my father told it, he rode out of town after sunset.<\/p>\n But we\u00a0had<\/em>\u00a0inspected every physical inch of this property, I was sure. I felt ready to go to court.<\/p>\n Back at the office, Dad pulled out a large City Zoning Map and called me to come look at it.<\/p>\n \u201cHere\u2019s our property, Rosie. What\u2019s it zoned?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cResidential, of course.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cCheck again.\u201d<\/p>\n I looked more closely and saw that the entire street on which the house was located had a \u201cCommercial\u201d overlay. For some time, the City had targeted this older area for the adjacent downtown expansion. The underlying land had full commercial value. With a modest cost to raze the old house, the property owner would have a retail goldmine. As a commercial lot,\u00a0it had five times the Market Value I would have given it!<\/em><\/p>\n Gulp.<\/p>\n I was not as smart as I thought. Dad had known because he had learned to check the zoning first. Then my father did as he often did; he chuckled, patted me affectionately, and suggested we go have a nice lunch somewhere.<\/p>\n We may be partially correct, but we make up our minds with a sad lack of all the facts, or through the lens of our own limited experience. We bring biases into our judgments that are hard to leave at home.<\/p>\n It can be quite humbling.<\/p>\n As an appraiser, I was paid big bucks for my professional opinion. I was hired to make qualified judgments that helped businesses, banks, marriages, families, and all kinds of people. But I had to refrain from knee-jerk reactions, even when I thought I was right, to take the time and make the effort to check all facts first.<\/p>\n And when I read Scripture after that, I saw that all Christians are called to be appraisers:<\/p>\n God wants you to use what my Dad called \u201cthat thing sitting on your shoulders\u201d and employ your intellect, instinct, and intuition to make good judgments. It would be irresponsible and even sinful not to assess between right and wrong, in ourselves and others. But we aren\u2019t qualified to judge the state of a person\u2019s soul because only God has all those records.<\/p>\n Notice the second half of the instruction: you\u00a0are<\/em>\u00a0supposed to assess the truth and help people see it, but first remove your own personal biases, fears, agendas, and ego.<\/p>\n These verses can help you\u00a0\u201cPut Your RELIGION into your RELATIONSHIPS\u201d<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0and consider the right way to make judgments. Be a good appraiser; sometimes life and death may be in the balance.<\/p>\n (Don\u2019t forget to share this with your children\u2014no matter their age.)<\/p>\n * Are you a Bette Davis Fan? For fun watch\u00a0THIS<\/a>\u00a0. . . then\u00a0THIS<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":9569,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[72,71],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nJumping to conclusions is stupid<\/h4>\n
Always make a list of pros and cons<\/h4>\n
Don’t jump to more conclusions<\/h4>\n
Check and double check<\/h4>\n
Face it; \u00a0we are\u00a0all<\/em>\u00a0too quick to judge<\/h4>\n
Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment<\/em><\/strong>.\u00a0Jn 7:24<\/strong><\/h5>\n
You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother\u2019s eye.<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0Matt 7:5<\/strong><\/h5>\n