A Word to the Wise

Apparently I'm not getting all the emails you people are exchanging among yourselves, but from what I gather from your emails to me, you seem to be concerned that this transaction be done as ethically as possible with full disclosure, which is the wise and prudent course to take in such a significant decision -- for everybody, and especially the prospective buyer's satisfaction.  Otherwise, it will be the source of endless future acrimony as well as litigation -- because the objective of any transaction, is the fairness of the deal to all parties, and not ripping off all one's neighbors, friends and relatives -- and then wondering why that society sucks, and nobody can trust anybody else.

One has to be proud of what one does in life -- and not shamed by everything one does, so that one can no longer look another in the eye, and avoid others at every occasion -- as is commonplace in the Islands now.  I knew of one old guy who used to share an apartment with me who had a gain from a real estate transaction with some questionable elements -- the sale of his family home -- for which reason he never fully disclosed and confided to me that made any sense, he was dogged by a relentless paralegal for several years until he lost everything in a court decision, which finally relieved him greatly -- and he remarked that he was never so happy and relieved, that his fortune had been taken from him, because finally he was free of that burden of his fatal mistake, and went on to live happily ever after on just his Social Security, and his first marriage at 65 in modest circumstances.

I know many people in real estate as well as law, think that anything they can get away with is fair game, and that others exist for their exploitation and advantage -- but that creates most of the problems in the world, and all the antagonism and animosity that now makes life in the islands unlivable for everybody.  There's a reason things are that way -- and people think they are entitled to everything they can rip off from everybody else.

So I fully support your efforts to maintain your own sense of integrity in this matter -- as well as others, and stand behind your efforts to do so -- even at a cost of not getting the maximum one can through fraud, deception and misrepresentation.  One has to live in the world with one's own self-respect and dignity -- despite what "everybody else is doing," if in fact everybody else is doing it, or it is just a rationalization for doing what is unconscionable and unacceptable.

Good luck in your efforts to bring honor and justice to everyone you touch.