Tag Archives: post closing marketing

Let the Camera be Your Friend–Use Your Digital Camera to Enhance Your Professional Image

closing, Marketing / Communication, ,

It has not always been this way. When I started practicing law in Massachusetts in 1968, single reflex cameras were heavy and required a host of accessories to insure proper lighting, focus and the like. The modern digital camera has none of this complexity, or bulk, and I have found my camera useful in marketing myself as an “in-tune” professional. The plethora of self-taken photographs on ActiveRain is ample evidence of the fact that most of us know how to “point and shoot” which is really all that is required to produce an acceptable photo that can be useful in the following types of situations:

     1. Photographs at the closing. Generally, everyone is smiling once the papers are signed and the keys delivered. I bring my camera to every purchase transaction. I try to get pictures of the Buyers with the Buyer’s Agent. I later email them to both parties. It is something that a savvy realtor can use to his or her advantage, and I have provided it. Here we are at one of the most important days of our lives, and our realtor helped make it possible.

     2. Photographs during the home inspection. The potential buyer have a lot on their minds. They will NOT be taking pictures. If you are their realtor, you can assist them with pictures. If a situation comes up regarding repairs or substandard conditions, you have a contemporaneous photograph of the problem. It may help you work out a solution with the other realtor or the Seller. And, of course, there is always the problem of “what is included” with the home. A photograph at the time of inspection will be great evidence of what was shown to the Buyer.

     3. Photographs when the Buyer moves in. If you are the type of realtor who participates in this event, why not take some photographs when the Buyers are crossing the front door, or flopping on the living room rug, after a rigorous day of moving? These shots will be cherished somewhere down the road, and you will be person providing the memories.

I have just touched the surface here. I am sure each of you can devlop other scenarios where a photgraph can be helpful. I am alwasy interested in new ideas and thoughts. Share them with me when you comment,

Post-Closing Checklists–The work is not done until it is done

closing, Marketing / Communication,

As a Massachusetts real estate attorney, my role in the closing is different from attorneys in almost every other state. Not only do I conduct the closing, and attempt to explain matters to the parties involved while I am doing same, my firm also researches the title, writes the title commitment, coordinates closing documents from the Lender, and, general, runs the “show”.

There is a lot for Massachusetts conveyancing attorneys to do, but, if I must be honest, I love every minute of it, even the messy closings where things just continue to wobble off the track. When the transaction is completed, and I send the documents off to the local registry of deeds, and give the keys (and garage door openers) to the Buyers, my work is far from done. I wanted to share with you some of the things that need to be done, post-closing, which are integral parts of my firm’s marketing efforts.

     1. Be in immediate touch with the mortgage originator.  In Massachusetts, the mortgage originator decides who gets the closing business. It took me a while to embrace this concept, but I now have it completely under control. So, I need to have a”relationship of trust” with my mortgage originators or they will seek other closing agents. I urge the mortgage originator to attend the closing. I give him or her scores of good reasons why it would be helpful for them to attend. They rarely follow my advice. Since they are so important to the contuance of my closing agent business, i have instituted a “no-exceptions” rule with regard to mortgage originators. After each closing, the attorney in my office MUST contact the mortgage person and tell him or her “how the closing went”

 Loan closings, like many other thngs in life, generally fall into three categories, good, great or bad. There follows my rationale for appropirate information disclosures to the mortgage originator:

         a. A good closing. Well, things went fine. Nothing much to report. All parties seemed reasonably satisfied. You are in “no danger” if you contact the Borrower, the Realtor or other referral cource. The deal got done, and the parties moved on.

           b. A great closing. The chemistry was there. The parties all got along. The Buyer complimented the Lender for efficiency and honesty. If my voice was no so dreaful, I would join everyone in singing “KUMBAYA”. This is good information for the mortgage originator. He or she knows that if a call is made to the Borrower, or the Realtor, that there will be much positive reinforcement. Many accolades will be exchanged. The seeds for the next deal will be sown. All parties are happy.

           c. A bad closing. These happen, and there is sometimes no way to prevent them. The Lender is late in getting closing figures to my firm. My paralegal makes a costly mistake on the HUD-1 Settlement Statement. The walk-through goes badly and infects the entire closing process. You do the best you can, sometimes even write the Borrower a check to ease some of the pain of the event, and move on. The first person you call is the mortgage originator. You tell him or her what happened, you try to explain why. Most importantly, you inform the mortgage person what you, or your firm, has done to make things a little better. At least, when the mortgage person gets the irate call, he or she is forewarned. Many times, just having the information improves his or her position. The originator can say “I understand that Topkins & Bevans wrote you a check for $250 as an attempt to make thngs better. Was that helpful?” Sometimes, this type of approach can turn a disaster into a marketing triumph. Sometimes not. The important thing is that your referral source is not “blind-sided”. He or she knows the facts.

     2. Make sure you follow through on promises made to closing participants at the Closing. if you said you were going to send them an Estate Planning Questionnaire, send it. If you promised to look into a special taxing provisions for owner-occupants in Somerville, look into it and get back. It is amazing how grateful people will be when they realize that you are a follow through person, who keeps his or her word.

As I said above, I am extremely fortunate that I live in a state where the attorney still runs the closing. I relish each and every chance to complete a closing. After all, it is a very important event in the lives of each participant, and I have done my part to make it happen.