The Deal We Declined

[Drago Stanimirovic]

A while back, we had an interesting deal that looked fine. The numbers weren't crazy. The property made sense. On paper, there wasn't an obvious reason to walk away.

But every conversation seemed to uncover one more unanswered question.

Nothing major. Just enough little things that, when you put them together, made you stop and think.

We asked for clarification. Some answers came back. Others didn't. (When does "unanswered" become "unanswerable"?) Eventually, we passed.

I'll be honest, saying "No" isn't my favorite part of this business. Nobody likes turning away an opportunity. But I've learned that declining the wrong deal is sometimes just as important as funding the right one. Looking back, I've never regretted the deals we didn't do as much as the ones we knew we should have questioned a little harder.

Have you ever walked away from a deal that looked good at first?

[Don Konipol]

Quote from @Drago Stanimirovic:

A while back, we had an interesting deal that looked fine. The numbers weren't crazy. The property made sense. On paper, there wasn't an obvious reason to walk away.

But every conversation seemed to uncover one more unanswered question.

Nothing major. Just enough little things that, when you put them together, made you stop and think.

We asked for clarification. Some answers came back. Others didn't. (When does "unanswered" become "unanswerable"?) Eventually, we passed.

I'll be honest, saying "No" isn't my favorite part of this business. Nobody likes turning away an opportunity. But I've learned that declining the wrong deal is sometimes just as important as funding the right one. Looking back, I've never regretted the deals we didn't do as much as the ones we knew we should have questioned a little harder.

Have you ever walked away from a deal that looked good at first?

Have you ever walked away from a deal that looked good at first?

About 50 times a year.