July 6, 2018
Be Sure To Read The Entire UPDATE. Items Are In No Particular Order.
Tri-County Title & Escrow, Inc.: Need A Quality Bi-Lingual Closing Agent?
Call LRI’s Attorney Susan Lopez (561) 362-9820. Competitive rates and superior service.
4400 North Federal Hwy., Suite 208
Boca Raton, FL 33431
Commission Express: Need A Cash Advance?
Call Roy or Greg Weinberg at Commission Express (800) 601-1649. Commission Express has good rates and can send cash to you within 24 to 48 hours. LRI works in conjunction with them to make the experience as easy and seamless as possible.
M A K I N G M O R E M O N E Y
Refer Agents To LRI And Earn $1,000 Per Referral
This Is How We Get Most Of Our Agents
Click HERE for Detail.
Forms In General
FAR is asking if there are any forms agents would like to modify or create that would make selling real estate better.
In response, I forwarded them our Homeowners Association Buyers Right To Cancel form which we have been using for over a decade.
If you have a suggestion, you can submit it directly to FAR or send it to me and I will forward it to FAR on your behalf.
Due to a lawsuit we lost, attached and linked below is a NEW FORM we are required to use when selling Waterfront Property With Ocean Access.
Purchase & Sale Contracts Gone Wild
There are a flood of Purchase & Sale Contracts hitting the market in every possible language you can think of. Including braille and audiobook styles.
The ONLY Purchase & Sale Contracts we use with LRI are PRINTED and PRINTED in ENGLISH ONLY. This is Florida/USA and the primary language here is ENGLISH. Parties can get a translator if need be. Why? If there is an issue and I am called in (as I often am) then the language needs to be in English so I can read it.
This is not discrimination any more than the state of Florida declaring and allowing the primary language to be English.
FinCEN
A Reminder From Susan Lopez Atty., With Tri-County Title & Escrow, Inc.
FinCEN (Financial Crimes Enforcement Network) is incorporated into all Purchase & Sale Contracts.
FinCen is a Federal Law. To prevent Money Laundering, when properties for $1 million and above are being sold, the Closing Agent will be paying special attention to how this property will be titled to the buyer.
If the buyer will take title in the buyers personal name or in a trust, then all will likely be fine. If the buyer is going to take title as an LLC, Partnership, Corporation or possibly another entity, there will very likely be more paperwork required by the Closing Agent (such as IRS Form 8300) as mandated in this transaction. This will take additional time.
Just be aware of the above.
NEW Form
“Waterfront Property With Ocean Access”
Please use this NEW Form immediately with NEW not existing but with NEW Sellers & Buyers of Waterfront Properties With Ocean Access.
If you are selling a Waterfront Property With Ocean Access, this new form will protect all parties to the transaction. The seller, buyer, you, me, and LRI.
The new form is already on our LRI website. A copy is attached and if the attached copy is stripped out by your ISP or email client, you can click HERE to see a copy or copy and paste this link http://lensonrealtyco.wpengine.com/download/waterfront-property-with-ocean-access-3/.
Again, please start to use it right away for NEW customers and transactions.
Mike Ferry
Here is the lastest “Mike Ferry TV” video regarding listings.
June 25th click HERE or copy/paste this https://www.mikeferry.com/about/resources/mike-ferry-tv/?tm_source=CriticalImpact&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=MFTV.
Team Or Group Advertising
If you advertise yourself as a “Team” or “Group” of LRI there is a new administrative rule (61J2-10.026 Team or Group Advertising) that went into effect as on 6/18/18.
The take away for this new rule we must abide by is:
Let me know you are a “Team” or a “Group”.
Your team’s or group’s name can not be advertised larger than the company name or logo.
You must be clear you are a team or group of the real estate company.
The team or group name has certain requirements. When you follow #1 above, I will review those requirements with you.
If you would like to read the administrative rule in detail, you may click HERE or copy/paste this https://www.floridarealtors.org/LegalCenter/HotTopics/loader.cfm?csModule=security/getfile&pageid=367866.
Lastly, all advertisements must comply by 7/1/19.
Electronic Signatures Software MAY Be Hacked
Attorney Susan Lopez at Tri-County Title & Escrow, Inc. once again STOPPED an attempt of yet another scumbag redirecting the buyers funds via a wire transfer to the scumbag’s own personal account.
THIS TIME it appears one of the electronic signature companies was HACKED!
Briefly, scumbags watch your emails and then act as a participant using what looks like YOUR email account or an email of one of the parties to the transaction, directing the buyer to deposit funds to the Scumbag’s bank/escrow account.
NO BUYER should get wiring instructions from email. NO BUYER.
Make sure your buyer signs the Wire Fraud Prevention Notice that is in the Buyers Packet.
Cavaet Emptor = Buyer Beware has never been more applicable.
Rental Deposits
More than ever, rental deposits (first month’s rent, last month’s rent, security deposit, etc.) are not being held in escrow accounts.
The tenant can pay everything that is due when there is a fully executed lease AND Association Approval, if applicable.
When the tenant signs the lease and when you have the Association Approval (if approval is needed) then the tenant delivers 3 checks.
1 check made out to the cooperating side.
1 check made out to the listing side.
1 check made out to the owner.
If you need details on the above and/or clarity, please give me a call on the Help Line C: (561) 756-7000.
Photos
As you all likely know, I tend not to repeat past news but it appears it is necessary.
You Must Take Your Own Photos or Have A Professional Take Them For You.
Photos Are Proprietary
You Can’t Just Use Anyone’s Photos
If the Association President gives you a “stock” photo of the community, can you use it? NO! Those photos are OFF limits.
Google images are OFF limits.
Shutter Stock images are OFF limits.
Getty Images are OFF limits.
Facebook images are OFF limits.
And a bazillion other places are OFF limits.
If the homeowner gives you a photo, it is OFF limits.
You can only use a photo (image) if 1) YOU took the photo or 2) the person who took the photo has given you WRITTEN permission to use the photo. <— The next question is, did the person who gave you written permission have 100% rights to the photo allowing them to give you permission to use the photo?
We lost a lawsuit due to the above. If you have any questions, call the Help Line (561) 756-7002.
The Mark Lenson Mantras
Calling Associations:
Customers call Associations (Condos, Homeowners, or Cooperatives,) never the real estate agent.
It does not matter where the customer is living, it does not matter if the property is a foreclosure or a short sale. There are no exceptions. Customers and only customers call Associations.
Use Specific Dates:
When the P&S Contract refers to September 15, 2015, it is very clear. When a P&S Contract says something must be done within 20 days from the effective date… then not so clear.
What is the effective date? I have never found an agent who actually knew the definition of an effective date.
What days are included?
What days are excluded?
How are dates calculated? Using business days? Calendar days?
How are holidays handled? Which ones are included? Which ones are excluded? The P&S Contract references national legal holidays. Do you know which ones are the national legal holidays? That would be critically important to know.
If you use specific dates, then all of the unknown, all of the confusion, all of the calls I get that someone is out of contract will go away. You and all parties involved will have less headaches.
No Blanks, No Blanks, No Blanks:
No listing agreement, no purchase and sale contract, and no addenda should have any blanks in them.
When an agent leaves a blank on a document, it is unpleasant when another party fills it in with something not agreed upon by all parties. Now you have an argument between sellers and buyers because the agent left a blank in the document.
No blanks, no blanks, no blanks.
If It Is Not In Writing, It Never Happened:
It does not matter where you are, it does not matter who the witnesses are; in the transfer of real property, if it is not in writing then it never happened. It does not matter if you are talking over the telephone, it does not matter if you are talking nose to nose, it does not matter if you are talking into a plastic cup attached by a string……… if it is not in writing it never, never, never happened.
If something was agreed to verbally, then follow it up with an addendum, a text message or an email confirmation.
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As always, call us on the Help Line (561) 756-7002 anytime.
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If there is anything in particular you would like for me to review
either via the UPDATE or Brief Note, let me know.
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UPDATEs & Brief Notes
Posted On www.LensonRealty.com
Protect Yourself
“If It Is Not In WRITING, It Never Happened.”
Help Line (aka Life Line): (561) 756-7002
Warmest & Best Regards To You,
Mark Lenson
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