A Broker's Worth

I am still amazed when a potential client decides to go on their own and try to represent themselves in real estate deals.

After 25+ years practicing industrial and commercial real estate, I am aware of the many perils that can derail a transaction, from property details to government regulations. I also know that I possess the negotiation skills that can make or save a client's fortune.

For instance, last year I had a deal in escrow and my client decided to meet with the buyer, without me being there. I did not know about the meeting until way after the event took place.

In that meeting my client negotiated a reduction in price from $11.5 million to $10.95 million. The problem, which I explained to my client, is that he did not get a $500,000 non-refundable deposit for a consideration for the reduction, nor did he get a complete waiver of due diligence. Well, you can guess what was coming in a few weeks and did.

Against my advice, my client met again with the Buyer and this time he got the price lowered to $9.5 million. The deal did close and I think that the property today is worth maybe $5 million. The point of this discussion is that we probably could have gotten the deal closed at $11 million as we would have made the first reduction with a released funds deposit as consideration and waiver of the due diligence.

Emotions play a large part of business deals. It is important to have professional representation working for you to save you from yourself.