Tutor profile: Matthew P.

What sorts of things might constitute a deal-breaker?

This is subjective for each client, but here are things that you need to watch for as their Realtor, and be sure to note on the AVID (Agent Visual Inspection Disclosure), and talk to them about these things as you walk through, then again as you discuss any potential offer they may ask you to submit for them. Be sure to note any damaged areas on the exterior of the home, and signs of rot or termite ingress (looks a bit like honeycombing in the wood, exposed wood, missing pieces of wood, or if it is really active, pellets of wood or dust near a wooden feature), damage to paint or other exterior treatments, cracks int he sidewalk and/or driveway, windows, and do your best to see about the roof, without climbing. Once inside the property, be attentive to cracks, chips, scratches, misc damage, and water damage throughout what you can easily see (take pictures to include with your AVID). Point these things out to your clients as you walk the property, then again as you help them to digest their toured homes at the end of your time with them for the day. Never pressure them one way or the other, just be a sounding board… be very careful to not get too excited or negative about any homes you walk through with them. This is far easier said than done, though. State what you saw, but don’t make value statements.

What is the intersection between Islam, Christianity and Judaism?

They all share reverence for sections of what Christians call the Bible, the Jews call Torah, and Muslims call "the Book". All three faiths trace lineage back to Abraham of Chaldea. All are based, however loosely, on the precepts of the 10 Commandments, found in the book of Exodus in the Bible. All three add different things to it, and come to different conclusions as to what the meaning and preferred end of humanity is. One holds no place for Jesus Christ at all, and in fact used the Roman state apparatus to execute him as a pretender to Caesar's throne, as they saw his teaching as a threat to their limited political power in Palestine. Another believes that Jesus Christ is the incarnate Son of God, lived perfectly, taught well, healed many, and was crucified , then raised from death on the third day. The third sees him as one of many prophets, or messengers from God, starting with Adam and Abraham, and culminating in Muhammad.

Was the emergence of Islam in the 7th and 8th centuries largely peaceful?

In a word, No. Anyone who did not ascribe to their beliefs were eliminated, as there is a provision in the Quran that states that all infidels should be destroyed. So as they evangelized among the Beduins, then the tribes in North Africa, they encountered groups who either would not convert, or gave struggle, as well as those who readily accepted the message of Allah through Muhammad. I have to contextualize my perspective on this issue, as I am a WASP (white, roughly Anglo-Saxon, Protestant, male), I try to keep things as neutral as I can, but my bias will probably bleed through. That said, there were groups of both native believers and Arian Christians in North Africa and into the Iberian Peninsula who readily converted to Islam, as there wasn’t enough in their belief systems to hold them to their previous beliefs,vs falling to Islamic weapons. The Arian Christians, and that is named for Arius, a one-time Catholic Bishop who was deemed a heretic for his thoughts on the nature of Jesus Christ, not the Aryan fallacy grasped by the German National Workers’ Party of the 1930s and 40s.