All posts by Robert Bevans

Vendor Inclusive Marketing (“VIM”)–Using your tested referral sources to explode your business

closing, Marketing / Communication, ,

Vendor Inclusive Marketing (“VIM”) is probably not new to most of you. You are probably using many elements of VIM in your everyday practice. Because you are a cutting age professional, you understand the worth of knowing the very best electrician in your market. The guy who will show ip promptly at a customer’s home, do an effective diagnosis of the problem,  provide a reasonable estimate for the work to be done and then deliver his services, on time, at the price which was quoted.

Knowing who this person is elevates you in your customer’s eyes, and, realistically, provides a ready source of referrals for you the next listing, next legal engagement or next mortgage application which comes before that artisan. It is just common sense that the person to whom you have given solid, quality referrals will think of you the next time work in your line of business is available. Who knows, your VIM person may go out of his way to promote your services without even being asked.

Given the effectiveness of VIM as a marketing concept, I am making a view suggestions here which cannot help but increase your VIM score and drive business to your door:

     1. Assemble a VIM List of reliable vendors. Your professional experience may have you pretty far along the way on this list already. What you need now is to organize your referrals and get them in a document, or on your Web Page, so you can easily reference them.

    2. Deliver the “VIM List” at what you consider the appropriate time. Because my time to perform is at residential real estate closings, I deliver my VIM List in conjunction with the Notebook given to every Buyer at a closing I conduct (See my post “The Closing Table–An opportunity for marketing”). I put a plastic page for business cards in the last section of my Notebook. I tell my Buyers that the people who are in my book are tested sources. I, and my clients, have used them and they are solid.

    3. See if you can get your VIM List people to give discount certificates you can give to the Buyer. In these days of required penny-pinching, f you can give solid referrasl, at discounted prices, to your Buyer, you are doing something. Not only will your VIM List people do everything possible to give you referrals, the Buyesr will, as well.

In prior posts, you have commented on my ideas and given me new ideas to build my marketing efforts upon. For instance,one of you suggested that I place a 2010 Calendar, with my firm’s name on it, in the ever-present Notebook. I got my printer to prepare same for free,and he puts his information on the reverse of te calendard, which I place in the insert infron of the Notebook. Win-win for both of us, and a tool to keep our firm’s name in front of the client.  “Drop” marketing,if you will. Please share any of these enhancements with me. We are all working together to develop a better mousetrap. TOGETHER WE CAN!!!!!! (Sound familiar).

The Gospel According to Emmett D–“Corny” Statements to Live By

Uncategorized, ,

My dad, Emmett D. Topkins,passed away on November 26, 1964, when I was 21 years of age. For the relatively short time which I was able to interact with my dad, we had a wonderful relationship. We played a lot of golf together, worked on crossword puzzles and camped out with other friends and their fathers. The only real objection I ever had to my dad was his constant use of “catch-phrases” to describe almost any situation. He was, after all, a small town country lawyer, and I thought some of these “saws” if you will, were corny and lacking meaning.

It is now almost fifty years after his death, and the irony of my life is I use these expressions all the time, and what is worse, so do my three sons and my daugter. I have three grandchlldren to date, and I have this sinking feeling that like iot or not, they will carry on the “emmettisms” for themselves and their children.

So, since I use these statements all the time, I thought I would share a few to see if I can get my readers “hooked” as badly as I and my family are. Perhaps, you have others, and you can share them with me in your comments.

     1. I Never got in trouble for something I didn’t say.

This one is self-evident but it is amazing how much truth there is here. Real estate professionals all have a tendency to “over-sell”.  The price of comparable homes is sometimes exaggerated; statements are made that there was “never” any water in the basement when there is no certainty of that fact; other bidders are described when we are trying to motivate our Buyer to increase his offer. It is part of our culture. How many times these kinds of statements come back to haunt us is difficult to compute. In almost all cases, we truly wish we had said nothing.

     2. If you tell the truth, you don’t have to have a good memory.

As I get older, my memory is not what it used to be. I have learned to rely on the truth as my sole salvation. I do not need to worry what I may have said to this person or that person. I tell them all the same thing–the truth. This simple necessary commitment has lowered my stress level and greatly enhanced my reputation. I just do not lie under any circumstances.

     3. You can’t make a dog walk down two streets at the same time.

This one is a great “catch-all” when you are dealing with a client who cannot make up his or her mind. No need to explain what you are saying. You just say it and move on. If you are lucky, the other person will grasp your meaning, and that will move the person to make a decision.

     4. A Pint’s a Pound the World Round.

This one may go over a few people’s heads, but the gist of the statement is that there are some ultimate truths out there which you cannot escape. Sometimes, I use this phrase just to confuse people and get them away from the subject they are discussing which is taking the negotiations nowhere.

     5. Don’t make an enemy for free.

I like this one and I use it often. It really means that if you have nothing really to gain either financially or otherwise, hold off on berating or belittling the other person. It is really an offshoot of “I never got in trouble for something I didn’t say”. Find other ways to assuage your ego. Don’t castigate or embarrass others for the sake of showing how superior you are. The real estate community in Boston, and I am sure other places as well, is very small. That person you showed up today is somebody you may need to deal with tomorrow, and you are better off letting that person survive without some long-lasting antipathy towards you.

There are other phrases which fit into the category. You probably use them on a regular basis without even realizing it I guess my continuing my dad’s wisdom, such as it is, is a way to pay tribute to a person I loved, and lost too soon. The fact that is appears that these phrases will continue with my dad’s grandchildren and great grandchildren is perhaps the way he, and all of us, are immortal.

The Closing Table–A Venue for Marketing!!!

closing, Marketing / Communication, ,

As a Massachusetts title attorney with over 40 years of closing experience, I am often shocked at the number of missed opportunities for marketing that the closing table presents. For my own part, I view the closing table as a chance to market my law firm and to provide the Buyer with an array of services my firm offers. This not only includes helping their friends and relatives with their next real estate transaction; it also includes explaining why home ownership presents a need to bring their estate plans up to speed and to make sure their insurance coverage is adequate. After all, they have just signed up for a large liability in their mortgage, and they want to make sure that if something happens to them, their home (and children) will be protected.

There are several other things I do at each closing:

     1. I always give the Buyers a small gift. Sometimes a special bottle of wine, other times an umbrella with my law firm’s name emblazoned on it.

     2. I have now taken to preparing a large loose leaf binder with the name of the Buyer and the property address. I tell the Buyer to place a copy of the HUD-1 Settlement Statement and a copy of their Owner’s Policy of Title Insurance as the initial entry into the binder. Thereafter, I advise them to place a copy of each and every invoice relating to their home into the binder. If they are diligent in doing this, they have created a wonderful marketing book for you, the real estate professional, to sell their home when that time comes. recently, I have inserted a plastic sheet for business cards. i place mine in the sheet and urge the selling broker or buyer’s agent to place theirs in the sheet, as well. I am a member of a BNI Group. I also place the cards of those BNI Members in whom I have confidence into the binder.

These are the marketing opportunities I have observed for other real estate professionals:

     !. Realtors. A realtor in attendance can often firm up future business by being at the closing and being helpful. I have seen realtors bring small gifts, as well. Many seasoned realtors also backstop suggestions I make to the Buyer, and in general serve as liaisons in the process. It is akin to bringing home the girl you brought to the dance, and the sense of closure is important.

     2. Mortgage Professionals. I am surprised at how few appearances these people make at closings. To me, this is a perfect opportunity to market only to the selling broker or Buyer’s agent who almost certainly in attendance. On many occasions, the listing agent appears, as well. Closings take an hour or so, and there is a lot of dead time for the realtors. What a great chance for a mortgage originator to make a captive sales call. He or she can answer questions, speak about new programs to people who have no choice but to listen. Maybe a new deal sprouts from this initiative!!!

Perhaps, many of you have found closings to be boring chores foisted on you by your superiors. As this post indicates, I view them quite differently, and I urge you to give some thought to some, or all, of the marketing ideas I have shared herein

Adjustments at Closing-Information for you to help your customers

closing,

As a Massachusetts title attorney with more than 40 years experience, I have handled more than 20,000 real estate closings. While there have been many changes in the industry over the course of my career, there are still some basic concepts that have remained constant. There follows a primer on the most standard adjustments which are involved in each and every real estate closing:

     1. Real Estate Taxes: In Massachusetts, most taxing authorities render bills on a quarterly basis. This means that taxes are due on the first of February, May, August and November of each year. The February bill covers the period which commences on January 1 and ends on March 31. The May bill covers April 1 through June 30 and so on. The trick here is to explain to the Buyer and Seller that when you close within a taxing period, there are roughly 90 days of taxes to deal with. That means that if a closing takes place on January 20, the Seller is responsible for 20 days in the quarter and the Buyer for the remainder. A January 20 closing will almost always produce a credit for the Buyer and a debit for the Seller since the February 1 taxes will not have been paid. The Buyer will be required to pay the taxes due on February 1 if the closing take splace on January 20. What makes thing more complicated is the fact that Massachusetts uses a June 30 fiscal year. This means that any taxes collected after July 1 of each year and before December 31 of each year are only “estimates” and there may be post closing adjustments based on whether the actual taxes are higher or lower than the estimate.

     2. Condominium Common Area Fees. These are generally monthly fees. The Seller brings a Certificate from the Consominium Trustees which indicates that the monthly fees have been paid through the end of the month. The partiesd then adjust what is owed based on the actual time during the month that the Seller occupied the Unit. Sometimes, the Seller is behind in his Common Area Fees. The Trustees issue a “wet” ceritifcate that can only be delivered if the total amount of arrearages is collected by the closing agent. This is workable, but tricky.

     3. Balance of Seller’s Mortgages. Most Sellers underestimate the amount of their mortgage payoff. They forget that their mortgage has interest accruing in arreas, so that if they close on the 25th of the month, they owe the principal balance of the mortage plus accried interest. The writer has had “heated discussions” with Sellers over the amount due. This is compounded by the usual custom of taking a few extra “per diem” interest charges to take into acocunt delay in getting themortgage payoff to the Seller’s mortgage lender.

There are other adjustment that come up from time to time, but the ones set forth in this post are the most common. Take some time to understand adjustments in your  state. Knowledge is power, and the more effectively you can explain these comments to your client, the easier and smoother your real estate closing will be. It  aldohelps if you have an erxperienced conveyancer steering you through the process!!

Virtual Homes—Take a look at the future world of Buyer transactions

Marketing / Communication, ,

I need to start this post by saying that I do a lot of legal work for the realtors at Virtual Homes, and I am extremely friendly with some of the principals of the Company. One principal, Lynda Longmire, and I have been friends and business colleagues for more than thirty years. All of that being said, I am literally knocked off my feet by the website, www.virtualhomes.com. It is my belief that the approach developed in this website is a template for virtually all Buyer transactions in the future.

The Virtual Homes website is powerful because it furnishes would-be Buyers with a plethora of information about a community in which they might have interest. This not only includes statistics about the town in question, but also recent newspaper articles concerning real estate. The maps of current listings really give a potential Buyer a great sense of what is available and where.

The reason this website works is that it uses the age old networking concept that “givers gain”. Virtual Homes provides so much information, assists so much in the pre-selection process that a person who uses the site is more than willing to work with Virtual Homes agents to finish the transaction. The “trust” which we are all seeking in our professional endeavors is established early in the game.

I urge all of my Active Rainmakers to look at this site and tell me you have seen a better initial presentation of real estate anywhere in the United States. I certainly have not!!!!

Elliott Topkins

www.topkinsandbevans.com

Own to rent to Own–A frustrating Journey with a happy ending

Uncategorized

As a Massachusetts title attorney with more than 40 years of experience, I frequently run into situations in the real estate area which I find worthy of reporting.

There follows one such situation, which, fortunately, would appear to be coming to a positive conclusion for my client. My client lived with her Aunt and parents in a home in suburban Boston. The home was owned by her Aunt. About two years ago, her Aunt lost her job and was unable to pay her mortgage or her property taxes. She informed the Lender about her problem, and asked for a Loan Modification to lower her monthly payment, which my client and her parents would help pay. Despite frequest requests, no Loan Modification was agreed upon, and the Lender foreclosed on the property.

This is where the story gets interesting. My client, her parents and her Aunt remained living in the home. About six months after the foreclosure, the Lender instituted eviction proceedings to remove the occupants from the home. This is when my client retained my firm to assist her.

We ascertained from my client that she and her parents had been able to save up a substantial amount of money by living in the home rent free for the past two years. We made the decision to contact the Lender’s lawyers to determine if they would consider our purchasing the home for its now fair market value and stop the eviction proceeding. After some negotiation, we have now entered into a purchase and sale agreement to purchase the home for its current fair market value, using as a downpayment the money my client saved during the pendency of the foreclosure and the eviction.

While this represents a positive result for my client,it also highlights the absolute lack or direction which most Lenders have when a Borower gets behind in his or her payments. The Lender accomplished absolutely nothing by not working with my client’s Aunt. When will calmer heads prevail in situations like this? I would be interested in hearing similar stories from any of you. This one “takes the cake” as far as I am concerned.

Difficult Condominium Trustees and Officers–The Enemy Down the Hall

Condominium, , , ,

Recently. I have experienced difficulty in dealing with Condominium “management”, so-called, with respect to matters which involve my clients. I am a Massachusetts title and real estate attorney, and in the course of my representing both Buyers, Sellers and current  Unit Owners of condominiums in Massachusetts, I have experienced an array of frustrations, including the following:
     1. Answering Lender Questionnaires.

Getting the condominium officials to respond to the Lender’s Questionnaire, so that a mortgage loan can be processed in connection with a sale. Recent underwriting restrictions have made the answers to the Questionnaire more important than ever. Most condominiums are not involved in litigation, or disputes with Unit Owners. The Lender needs to know these things, and the Questionnaire is the vehicle. Many times I have experienced situations where the Trustees just can’t get around to providing answers. There is no urgency for them, and they take theri sweet time.

     2.Disputes between the Trustees and a Unit Owner

These can range from permitting a Unit Owner to fix his or her Unit after a natural or other disaster to approving a request to do structural work to personal “vendettas” between neighbors. Most older documents do not have Arbitration provisions. In that situation, the affected Unit Owner often must initial litigation to rectify a perceived wrong. The irony of this type of situation is that once a litigation is begun, the affected Unit Owner  must pay not only his or her own legal fee, but a percentage share of the legal fee incurred by the Condominium Trustees to defend. As a practical matter, this unfairly inhibits the ability of a Unit Owner to protect his or her rights.

     3. Arbitrary or Capricious Trustees or Officers

There is not much that can be done with a person who wants to say “no” to every suggestion, even down to the need for the Trustees to have frequent meetings and keep minutes of meeting. If the difficult Trustee doesn’t like you. or doesn’t like anyone, you have a major problem, and the expense and stress of going to Court to have a Trustee removed is huge.
     4. Charges for Items that should be Free.

 Why is it really fair for a condominium to charge $150 for a Certificate that there are no Common Area liens on a Unit which is being sold? Why should a selling Owner be charged $200 for a “move-out” fee? Where is the justice in any of this, but, as most of you know, it happens, and it can chill transactions.

There are solutions to these problems, but they are not easy to effect, especially with the requirement that Mortgagees need to be involved in Master Deed amendments. These are some solutions which I would recommend, however, and they should improve the situation materially:

     1. Pay Trustees a decent stipend for serving. I would suggest forgiving two or three monthly common area fees for Trustees. That would encourage more people to become Trustees and eliminate the “Trustee for Life” people who have nothing better to do than frustrate the realistic requests of Sellers, Buyers and Unit Owners.

     2. Amend the Declaration of Trust to permit arbitration of disputes, with the losing party required to pay not only its fees and costs, but the fees and costs of the winning party. This approach would force more attention on reasonable compromises.

     3. Set term limits for management companies and Condominium officials. Change management companies every three years. Only permit Trustees to serve for two (2) terms. This will make it possible for new ideas and new approaches. it will, in effect, end “tyranny”  by the current regime.

Please let me know your ideas on this!!! I am quite willing to spearhead an offensive to change things in Condominium operations. Such changes are way, way overdue.

Short Sale Rules for Lenders–Our Real Estate Community Needs to Unite and Speak Out

Short Sales & Foreclosures, ,

Recently, in connection my my representation of an individual who was far behind in his mortgage, I encountered the following scenario. The borrower (my client) has not made a mortgage payment for more than two (2) years. The house has been on the market for 18 months. Because of my experience as a Massachusetts title attorney with more than 40 years of real estate experience, I located a suitable listing agent, and we received a cash offer for the property to close in no longer than 45 days.

This is where the problems began. We made a submission to the Lender (I would like to share the name but the sad truth is it could be any of a number of Lenders) which included the following:

     1. A signed Purchase and Sale Agreement

     2. A verified statement from both Buyer and Seller that they had no affiliation with each other and were not related by blood or marriage.

     3. Two(2) separate Broker’s Opinion of Value for the property, which included no fewer than 3 recent sales of comparable property.

     4. A proposed HUD-1 Settlement Statement, which set forth the real estate broker fees, the legal fees, the stamp taxes and recording fees for the transaction. There were back taxes due and owing and they were included on the HUD-1, as well.

This statement was submitted more than a month ago, and we cannot even get a “denial” from the Lender. An extremely low-level employee, who has refused to inform me as to the name of her supervisor, has informed me that this is her project, and since she is so “overwhelmed” with requests for short sale consents, she doesn’t know when she can get to ours. The fact that we have a 45 day “window” and a Buyer who will probably walk shortly thereafter has not moved her to act in any way.

In today’s (July 7, 2009) edition of the Boston GLOBE, there is an article indicating that with respect to modifications or mortgages, the Lenders are dragging their heels because they do not want to take the financial “hit” associated with modifying the mortgage. I am suggesting that the same type of “hidden agenda” exists for short sales. Congressman Barney Frank was adverted to in the story, and his comment that the government would have been better served giving TARP money to beleaguered borrowers to catch up on their mortgages than to Lenders, who are really not using the money to get things moving in the real estate industry.

My suggestion to all of you is to contact Congressman Frank to demand that he institute the following procedures with regard to short sales from all Lenders, but at least to Lenders who have received TARP Funds:

     1. There should be a formal protocol as to what documents are required for a Lender to consider a short sale request.

     2. All short sake requests which include the requisite documents set forth in the protocol shall receive responses from the Lender within fifteen (15) business days of the date received.

     3. if the request for short sale is denied, the Lender shall be required to furnish specific reasons for the denial, and a value for the property which would make the short sale acceptable. There must be supporting documentation which would substantiate the higher value.

All of us are working hard to effect real estate transactions to get the market moving again. Shirt sales, although painful for the Lender initially, represent a way to set reasonable valuation benchmarks for moving forward toward recovery. Many Lenders have been compensated for the losses they may sustain with short sales (or modifications) through receipt of TARP money.

The Words “Actually” and “Absolutely”–Overused and Lacking Meaning

Uncategorized,

I don’t know about the rest of you, but I have become increasingly irritated by a person answering the phone and responding “Actually, he is away from his desk” or “She, is actually, on another phone call”. First of all, the term “actually” adds nothing to the response. If anything, it almost sounds like the person giving the response if making up a story on the fly. Our world would be better if people would do all they can to delete the word “actually” from their vocabulary.

Ditto the use of the word “Absolutely”. “Yes” will convey the same meaning with less bravado. If the response you receive is always “Absolutely” where a simple “yes” will do, what has been added? “Absolutely” is another word which could be comfortably deleted from most people’s vocabulary without any real loss of power to communicate.

As a 66 year old Massachusetts title attorney, I have lived through the lives of four adolescent children (now grown-ups) and their addictive use of the word “like”. Just when I thought it was safe to communicate with others using real English, I have been recently hit with a barrage of “Actuallys” and “Absolutelys”. Let’s all work hard to eliminate these terms from our everyday business communications. Their loss will be our gain!!!!!

Elliott Topkins   www.topkinsandbevans.com

KIDS AT COLLEGE–Some College “Prep” of Your Own

Health Care Proxy/HIPPA, , , ,

Among the learning experiences for parents with children away at college is the fact that having reached the age of 18, your child is no longer your ward, and you are no longer your child’s legal guardian. That doesn’t mean that cannot pick up the tab for tuition, room and board, but you are not, as of right, entitled to see your child’s grades, and you are not, as of right, entitled to be informed of health issues confronting your child or to make medical decisions for your child.

The grade issue can be circumvented by interaction with your child. The health considerations are a little bit more complicated and require some forethought. The two documents that will assist you in being in position to help your child in medical emergencies, or even routine medical decisions, are a Health Care Proxy (which gives you the right to make “informed consent” decisions for your child) and the FICCA form (which gives you access to your child’s medical records) and Durable Powers of Attorney. These documents are part of our standard Estate Planning package when we assist our clients with Estate Plans. We are now suggesting that the appropriate execution of these forms become part of your checklist for sending your child away to college in August.

Wherever you are located, we, at Topkins & Bevans, can either prepare these forms for you, and supervise their proper execution or locate someone in your state to do same, all for a minimal fee. With the reticence that many medical and educational institutions have developed to release information and records, the Health Care Proxy, HIPPA Form and Durable Powers of Attorney have become “don’t leave home without it” items. Don’t wait until you have a frantic child on the phone whom you really cannot help at all without the expense and frustration of climbing into a plane or your car to be there, in person!!!