S.E.C. Real Estate Observer

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The hue and cry of most real counselors is, “The broker doesn’t have any idea what it takes to make a deal with his client = no counseling!” “How do we get past the broker to interview the signer of the deed?”

If the questionable broker overhears the comment(s), his usual response is, “Make an offer and see if he likes your deal.” Deal doers know that making an offer in the blind, as suggested, is 99% guaranteed to prevent a deal from happening.

The REAL question a counselor has for any client is, “Why do you want to dispose of this property?” Reams have been written about the hidden REAL motivation(s) that the client conceals (maybe even from himself), which gets in the way of the broker being effective in causing a happy solution.

While there are many axioms professed by us (so called) experienced counselor- instructors as to methods of getting to the base motivation of the decision maker(s), the surest and sneakiest and gentlest and naive way to render the truth, or at least discover the concealment is the:

“Solve it while keeping the property” Formula.

If your objective is to:

• Get out of management
• Get more cash flow
• Get off of debt
• Recognize profit
• Get away
• Remove partner
• Remove a family lender
• Acquire something else

Or any of many other objectives, we may be able to accomplish that objective by re-arranging the circumstances surrounding your ownership such that you can have your objective and keep your property too.

Example: You say you want to take the appreciation you think has built your equity here and acquire this other property type you’ve got the hots for.

How’s about you get a lender’s appraisal (validating the value for you and the bank), re-finance the loan(s) and take the excess + maybe some additional portion of your equity (like the land under – leased back for your improvements, or a created second note, or a partnership interest of some sort [LLC, option, safety first = keep Zeckendorfing]) to use as payment to acquire this new vehicle – while keeping the old property?

Now that is too complicated to ask in that fashion, but I did it to keep from 42 examples to make the point that the counselor takes the stated objective of the client and after brainstorming a bit, proposes ways to accomplish the objective by re-arranging the current ownership details to get there.

Now, the resistance to the proposal begins to show up. If you keep trying “Would you take” proposals that involve him keeping his property and using the existing equity in different ways to get to the stated objective, his responses to the proposals will give you (and him) major insight into what is REALLY in his mind and what else there is to solve before a CLIMAX can happen.

If his property is so good, he should keep it (and save the taxes).

“This a people business,” remember, and the property is “just the tail that goes with the hide.”

Properties don’t sign deeds.