WHEN IVAN MET back up with Thomas Jones, his real estate and business mentor had lined up six foreclosure properties to take a look at, right outside San Diego State’s campus.

“Now, I would advise you to get in on these things fast, Ivan,” he warned. “Foreclosures are not for slow movers.”

Ivan told him, “I understand.” He planned to waste no time deciding which three properties he would buy in his price range.

Thomas said, “And my part for doing this for you, and educating you on the deals, is a free real estate banner on that website of yours. You said you’re about to start up a real estate page soon, right?”

Ivan was already thinking about a real estate sponsor for the page.

He said, “Actually, if you can get your real estate brokerage to sponsor the page, that would work out great for both of us.”

Thomas argued, “That won’t work out great for me. If they sponsored the page, then I would have to compete with the other agents for all of the new business.”

Ivan said, “Naw, we could still put up your banner, the company would just sponsor the page. So everyone would still see your personal spotlight for business. But I can’t even put up the page without securing a sponsor, because I gotta pay my webmasters to do it.”

Thomas looked at Ivan and started laughing. He said, “I had no idea you would be this damn good this fast, Ivan. But come on, now, you put up this whole damn website without needing sponsors, so don’t tell me you gotta wait for one now to put up a real estate page.”

He added, “However, once you get this page up and running and I let them know how much business you’ve brought in for me, I’ll be able to talk them into doing something with you.”

Ivan smiled back and laughed himself. They were both running a me-first game on each other. He said, “You know I’m gonna do it, man. You’ve helped me out too much for me to act crazy on you. But at the same time, I can’t afford to wait around for you to ask your guys to sponsor the page. So, if you don’t ask them now, then that option may no longer be open.”

Thomas looked at him and said, “Ivan, now, you know I understand business. Money talks, bullshit walks. So I’ll ask them about it, but I wouldn’t count on anything from them too soon.” He said, “To be frank, when it comes to spending dollars outside the normal channels, these guys can be reeeaal slow. You gotta prove everything to ’em first. They even wanna know what color drawers you wear before they spend money with you.”

Ivan joked, “Well, you tell them I wear money-green boxers…Fruit of the Loom.”

And they shared a laugh.