Realtor® Attorney Joint Committee

The Deal Killers

By: John Alexander, Attorney, Realtor®, Real Estate Investor, Vice President of Aurora Property Services, LLC & PRIMO Property Management

Awise fellow real estate investor once told me that lawyers are the greatest deal killers. That may or may not be true. What he left out is that some deals richly deserve to die. And, as an attorney, I’ve killed a few deals before someone got hurt and ran to the courthouse.

When the other party (buyer or seller) wants their attorney to “look it over” remember that lawyers are in the business of protecting, preserving, and defending their client – not you or your commission. If you’re the attorney and something smells fishy, you always tell your client that you have doubts. The deal will die instantly.

From the lawyer’s viewpoint it’s safer to tell your client “No” than have to explain why you said “Yes” and got your client into trouble. And, that’s the way it should be.

On the other hand, I once made a proposal to buy a house (I was the investor-buyer), and the seller had her lawyer look it over. Imagine my surprise when the lawyer told her to “take it and run.”

We should remember that lawyers are trained to spot problems, read the fine print, imagine “What if…?”, and torpedo a deal that could hurt their client. And, in so doing, they may very well be preventing a

lawsuit against the agent and the broker either from the frustrated other party who thinks they got cheated OR from your customer who will ask you, “Why didn’t you spot this? How could you let me sign that contract?”

DON’T GET MAD AT LAWYERS FOR DOING THEIR JOB. INSTEAD, FOCUS ON THE REAL DEAL KILLERS:

1 | Wheel spinning. Busy does not equal profitable. Keep doing what doesn’t work and, guess what, it still doesn’t work. Solution: totally analyze how you spend your Realtor® time. Find the problems. Change the plan. If the new plan works keep doing it. If not, repeat the above. 2 | Whining. “I just can’t get any listings.” “My buyer can’t get the loan.” “My buyers just aren’t making offers.” In reality there are tons of deals to be made. Some people step over dollars to pick up dimes.

SOLUTION:

Take a day or two off work and read some good Realtor® books. Talk to experienced Realtors®. Buy them lunch. They’ve had the same problems. Read “Building Wealth One House at a Time” by John Schaub. It’s the best investor book out there.

Why should you, as a Realtor®, read it? Because it will help you understand how you can fashion a deal that makes sense to both sides, pays the commissions at closing, and is not the conventional transaction. Do this and you will be miles ahead and more profitable than all the others. •

UPCOMING CLASS: TOP 10 MISTAKES REALTORS® MAKE

Join us on Tuesday, February 4 from 1:00 - 3:00 p.m. at the Goodwill corporate office in Bradenton, as Attorney Steve Greenberg will direct you through the 10 ten legal errors being made by Realtors® and how you can avoid liability. Cost to RASM members: $10.

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