The number is not the deal

Two houses can have the same price. One is empty, repaired and ready to move into. The other comes with a tenant, a leaking roof, a delayed handover and three months before the keys change hands. The number on the listing may be identical. The deal is not.

Transactions work the same way.

Price is visible because it is easy to compare. Terms are harder. They sit in timing, financing, warranties, working capital, deferred payments, transition periods and what happens when reality differs from the spreadsheet.

A lower price can be expensive. A higher price can be surprisingly cheap. The number matters.

But the number is only one sentence in a much longer agreement. Sometimes the value of a deal is hidden in everything that surrounds it.