Introduction
The book ‘Good Faith’ by Jane Smiley is a master piece that brings out ethics in real estate using fiction in a way that not only entertains, but also very educative. According to Roulac (41), real estate ethics is one of the things that have been ignored by many stakeholders. This scholar says that many of the people who get into real estate transactions either ignore some of the policies put in place by relevant authorities, or try to use shortcuts in order to achieve self gains.
In some cases, people may get into deals that are injurious to others just for the sake of achieving personal benefits. In real estate business, just like in any other businesses, ethics plays a very important role in the quest for success for all the stakeholders. Some may try to use unethical means in order to quick success, but this may not last long.
Such untoward behavior would haunt the individuals, and this may bring their successful career to a halt. This is what Jane Smiles tries to demonstrate in this book. With the divorced 40-year old Joe as the main character, the ball is set rolling in this thrilling fiction.
Review of the book and how real estate ethics is demonstrated
The time setting of the book was in 1980s when the United States president was Ronald Reagan. Smiley presents the main character, Joe, as the narrator of the story. As the book begins, Joe is not very happy with Bobby Baldwin. He attributes this to the fact that Bobby is a generally lazy man who likes spending much of his time in activities which are not economically productive (Smiley 3). At this early stage, real estate ethics is presented in the manner at which Joe conducts his activities.
He gave all his clients his number and they were at liberty to call him at any time of the day or night whenever they wanted to view the houses sold by Joe’s firm. He believed that his customers were his superior who had the authority to make any realistic demands. This is ethically very important attitude that may help a real estate firm experience growth.
Bobby is presented as a complete opposite of what Joe was when dealing with customers. Bobby cannot imagine being woken at night by a customer for any reason. In fact he has set only six hours in a day to address his customers, and this affects the quality of service he can deliver to them. Joe is not pleased with this unethical behavior of Bobby, but because of the close family ties they share, he prefers to avoid any confrontation.
It is important to determine the difference between business environment and personal life issues. Ethically speaking, it is not good to mix business with personal life because this may affect prosperity of the business. Smiley brings out this fact in a clear way using this book. Joe had a romantic relationship with Sally, daughter to Gordon, and a sister to Bobby. When Sally died, there was a bond that developed between Joe and Gordon Baldwin’s family.
The Baldwin believed that Joe was as much affected by the death of Sally as any other immediate family member. Therefore, they viewed him as a brother, a perfect reminder of their lost daughter. This bond developed into a strong family tie, especially after Gordon employed Joe in his family business. When Joe finally established his real estate business, he felt obliged to hire Bobby after his father requested him to do so.
It was evident that Bobby was an irresponsible person who could not be trusted to take care of the customers. However, Joe could not fire him because of the family ties. Ethically, this is very dangerous, especially is a very sensitive industry like the real estate. Most of the customers always demand close interaction with the sellers in order to determine if the transaction is genuine.
This means that presence of the sellers or the sale representatives is very important because there will be need to respond to various questions that may be raised by the customers. The absence of Bobby in office in most of the cases is a clear indication that some customers may avoid any transaction with the firm for fear of engaging in untrustworthy deals. This is very unethical, and it has a potential of brining down a business unit.
It is also interesting to analyze the way in which Smiley tries to bring out the relevance of a person’s private life in his or her business environment. According to Roulac (48) each and every activity that an individual engages in privately may have varying effect on his or her business. It would be important to analyze how unethical behavior in a person’s private life may affect his or her real estate business, or any other business for that matter. Joe has become a close family friend with the Baldwin’s family.
The family considers him one of their own, especially because of the relationship he had with their late daughter. However, there is a strange relationship that develops between Joe and Felicity, Sally’s sister. Felicity is married, but Joe is divorced. The two became very close, but no one suspected anything because Joe was close to all other members of this family.
This closeness between Joe and Felicity develops into a romance, and finally the two starts seeing each other (Smiley 87). This adultery continues, and Joe seems not to have enough courage to stop the affair. The act of bedding a married woman is socially unethical, but it is important to understand how this may affect business environment. One way in which this unethical act may affect an individual is the psychological impact that the act may have on the culprit.
Joe was always preoccupied with the thoughts of Felicity, and this affected his efficiency at work. There was also the psychological torture of what would happen if Felicity’s husband, or any other family member, discovered that the two were having an affair. This thought affected his efficiency at work. It also affected his business relationship with Felicity’s brother and father.
Joe has become a successful real estate developer, and Gordon sees a brighter future in this business. His request to partner with Joe could not be turned down, not just because of the respect and closeness between Joe and his family, but because of the affair that existed between Joe and his daughter. Joe lacked moral authority to dismiss Gordon.
Perhaps the core message of this book that depicts its title and its relationship with ethics in real estate business is presented in the business relationship that involved Marcus, Gordon, and Joe. Marcus, a former taxman with lots of experience in real estate, manages to convince Gordon and Joe that they could step to higher heights in their business rather than embracing a conservative approach in the competitive real estate industry.
In fact, he offers to teach Joe how to make quick money in this industry with every move they take. At first, Joe and Gordon are weary of the get-rich-quick strategy that Marcus was presenting to them. Marcus gets to convince them to invest in modest houses, and this first deal sails through with unprecedented success. This convinces the two that Marcus is the solution to their problems in the real estate industry. Marcus comes with a new massive deal in Nut County.
The three approaches a local bank manager and request for a huge loan to develop this new estate. Based on the previous success that Gordon and Joe had seen Marcus bring to their business, they were convinced that this was another attractive business deal that would yield attractive benefits to them.
The loan is given and all the four participants are tied with the bond of good faith. Gordon, Joe, and the young bank manager were looking for the quick personal gains that the new project would give them. They never realized that Marcus had his own sinister plans till he disappears with everything. Joe and Gordon are left with nothing.
Conclusion
The book ‘Good Faith’ brings out the truth about how the real estate business is characterized by unethical deals that may result into serious loss to the unsuspecting victims. According to this book, there are no quick gains in this industry, and when one is presented with incredible business deal, it would be ethical to determine the genuineness of the deal other that putting one faith in it without any verification.
Works Cited
Roulac, Stephen. Ethics in Real Estate. New York: Springer, 2011. Print.
Smiley, Jane. Good Faith. New York: A.A. Knopf, 2003. Print.