S.E.C. Real Estate Observer

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Editor’s Note: This article first appeared in the February 1972 issue of the Real Estate News Observer.

CHECK YOUR HABITS! It has been said that we are creatures of habit and Real Estate Brokers are certainly “habit” creatures. When we were originally introduced to this business by our employing broker, we were taught policies and procedures that, for the most part, we are still following. Have we ever stopped to examine some of these habits? Let’s take a glance at a few.

Many of us carry four, five, six or over seven credit cards. We travel a lot and use them! If you want to save or conserve time, why not use only one card. When you use several cards, it requires you, or someone, to write a check for each card.

It’s a fact that by the time you open the bill, sort it out, verify the charges, write a check, process your cancelled check, and audit the expense for IRS purposes, someone has invested twenty minutes in that one check. If you charge expenses on more than one card, you have compounded this twenty minutes by each company you use! Someone has to pay for this time. I don’t know who said: “Time is money,” but it really is a shame that some of us have to devote it to processing checks to credit card companies.

In a recent interview with over seventy top professional attorneys and real estate counselors, I noticed most of them have their secretary write and issue checks. All of them had their secretary bonded. This procedure was handled in this manner for the business account only. No bills were mailed without the approval of the counselor. All trust account checks were drawn by the secretary, but only the counselor was allowed to sign these checks as trust fund monies belong to others.

The idea is to delegate the detail work to others and, obviously, supervise the funding of monies. This “delegating procedure” allows the counselor to devote his time and talent to more profitable things, and who likes to do the routine detail work anyway?

Clifford P. Weaver, S.E.C., CCIM (San Jose, California) was a member of the Society of Exchange Counselors. Mr. Weaver personally administered the real estate interests of multiple partnerships, corporations, and joint ventures throughout his career. His articles appeared in the leading national real estate journals. He was named S.E.C. “Counselor of the Year” in 1968, and was the 1975 President of the Society. He authored articles and books on Broker Estate Building and was a founder of the original S.E.C. Real Estate News Observer. He created a real estate education program on Broker Estate Building and taught throughout the nation in the 1970s. Known for his creativity, good nature, and fun-loving spirit, today, the SEC honors his name with the Cliff Weaver Award for Most Creative Transaction of the Year.