When I first started practicing law, it was accepted practice to bill matters by the hour. After all, the only thing I was selling was my time, and if I spent more time on a matter than I expected, why shouldn’t the client compensate me for that effort? While these axioms remain true, the marketplace has changed, and consumers are now aware that “shopping” for an attorney is no different than shopping for any other service or commodity. Because of these trends, and because I want everyone I represent to believe they have been well served and fairly charged for services, my firm now uses a “fixed fee” approach to almost all real estate transactions. My practice is to enter into an initial discussion with the client to determine the level of complexity of the transaction, and then to agree upon a fee, which will not change even if the transaction goes viral, and I spend more time on the matter than anticipated.<\/p>\n
Accordingly, if you work with Topkins & Bevans for the purchase or sale of your home, you will know, up front, what the matter will cost you, and you can factor that expense into your budgeting process.<\/p>\n
There are several inherent advantages to this approach:<\/p>\n
If you believe that you are working with honorable professionals, you will feel comfortable telling your friends and family about us, and that helps Topkins & Bevans to expand our client base. You may also feel comfortable using our firm for other legal matters which may arise, including helping you develop an Estate Plan for your family.<\/p>\n
Many people worry about calling when the meter is “on”. They have concerns, but they do not want to expand the amount of their legal fee. Fixed fee billing eliminates that factor from the equation. When the pressure is off, people communicate better. On the other hand, the situations are few and far between where a client takes unfair advantage of the fixed fee approach.<\/p>\n
Our firm has real estate experience at almost every level. We have completed condominium conversions. We have prepared subdivisions. We are familiar with current lending practices. None of this expertise will help you unless we know all the facts of your situation. When you are not worried about the added cost, you can open up and give us good information. That usually translates to our being able to give you effective representation.<\/p>\n
If you are considering buying or selling a home, we would love to hear from you. We will work with you on a fixed fee basis and even defer payment of some, or all, of your fee until the closing. There is nothing better in our line of work than a satisfied client, and that is what we aim for, each and every time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
When I first started practicing law, it was accepted practice to bill matters by the hour. After all, the only thing I was selling was my time, and if I spent more time on a matter than I expected, why shouldn’t the client compensate me for that effort?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[144,450,29,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-931","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-condominium","category-home-ownership","category-mortgages","category-real-estate-law"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":387,"url":"https:\/\/blog.topbev.com\/?p=387","url_meta":{"origin":931,"position":0},"title":"Fixed fee Billing for Purchase Transactions and Sale Transactions–I have found this the only way to provide effective representation to my Massachusetts clients","date":"July 12, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"I am a Massachusetts real estate attorney with over 40years of experience in the field of titles and conveyancing. If I don't know how to do a residential real estate transaction by now, it it pretty obvious that I will never know. I am not saying I know every nuance\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Customer Service"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":308,"url":"https:\/\/blog.topbev.com\/?p=308","url_meta":{"origin":931,"position":1},"title":"Selecting a Real Estate Attorney—Some Advice from the Other Side","date":"July 7, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"In my over forty years of practicing real estate law in Massachusetts, I have had clients in all sizes and shapes. Many of my clients have been satisfied with my services, others not so much. When I have dissected what went wrong with the clients who were less than enchanted,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"fees of real estate attorneys\"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":171,"url":"https:\/\/blog.topbev.com\/?p=171","url_meta":{"origin":931,"position":2},"title":"Braintree, Massachusetts–A Great Place to Practice Real Estate Law","date":"June 24, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"While my principal office location is on Newbury Street in Boston, Massachusetts, I spend a considerable amount of time in my Braintree, Massachusetts office (150 Grossman Drive, Suite 405, Braintree, Massachusetts: 781-849-5906; Facsimile 781-848-3656). Real estate attorneys are finding out every day that their physical location is critical to garnering\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"braintree\"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":319,"url":"https:\/\/blog.topbev.com\/?p=319","url_meta":{"origin":931,"position":3},"title":"Law Office Confidentiality–Make Sure Your Attorney takes this Seriously","date":"July 7, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"In Massachusetts, where I practice real estate law, the lawyer is still very much involved in the entire residential real estate process. We draft, and review, real estate offers and purchase and sale agreements, examine the title, prepare the title insurance policy and conduct the real estate closing, many times\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"client confidentiality\"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":419,"url":"https:\/\/blog.topbev.com\/?p=419","url_meta":{"origin":931,"position":4},"title":"Thinking Ahead–I will not permit any kind of utility “shut-offs” on my watch as BUYER’s Attorney, if I can Possibly Avoid Them","date":"July 13, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Recently, I wrote a post about the problems I encountered when a client of mine had serious closing problems because, by mistake, the dwelling in question had its electricity shut down, pipes froze and there was ensuing damage. Fortunately, for all concerned I had a financially viable SELLER who was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"condition of the premises\"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":321,"url":"https:\/\/blog.topbev.com\/?p=321","url_meta":{"origin":931,"position":5},"title":"Desperate Times Call for Desperate Measures–Some “Amplifications” in Your Purchase Agreements which can Save Your Deals","date":"July 7, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Massachusetts, where I practice real estate law,\u00a0is not experiencing the suffering\u00a0as hard as other areas of the country. Perhaps, that can be put a little differently. Massachusetts was one of the first states to get hit by the real estate slowdown. Because of that fact, we may be ahead of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"purchase and sale agreement provisions\"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.topbev.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/931","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.topbev.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.topbev.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.topbev.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.topbev.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=931"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blog.topbev.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/931\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":934,"href":"https:\/\/blog.topbev.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/931\/revisions\/934"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.topbev.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=931"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.topbev.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=931"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.topbev.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=931"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}