All Forum Posts by: Charlie MacPherson

Thanks, Tom.

Do you think that can be done retroactively?  Years after the first spouse signed?

Quote from @Jay Hinrichs:

well thats only the buyers attorney he/she is baised.. I would talk to a title officer unless of course your an attorney state then talk to another attorney who can look up case law.

That's exactly what I recommended to the family.  Have them actually run the title.  

The question I have is whether both spouses need to sign that easement.  I'm ASSUMING (a bad idea, I know) that they were a married couple and had joint ownership.  Is it still valid if only one spouse signed?

I'm trying to help a family member sell her house in Boothbay, Maine.  There was an offer that blew up because of a defect in a "view easement".  The buyer's attorney claimed that only one of the two spouses signed the easement.

There is a significant water view from their property, near the top of a hill.  If a builder were to construct a house in front of theirs, the view could be much less attractive.

Any ideas on how to proceed?

They seem like the textbook definition of time wasters and as an agent, time is your most precious resource.

Unless they want to pay you a strong hourly rate for submitting - and let's call them what they are - garbage offers, tell them to lose your number.

I run the Augusta, Maine office of Inbar Group, Inc - Business Brokers and M&A Services.  Our HQ is in NYC with other offices in Upstate NY, NJ, PA (2), MA and CT.  We're expanding into Ohio soon.

I'm looking to semi-retire as I'm closing in on 69 years old, so I'm looking for a new person or two to come on board to service some (negotiable) parts of New England. 

Normally, a new broker should expect about 9 months to the first commission check, but my plan is to hand this new person about 10 or so of my active listings to give them a jump start in the business.  You get a nice boost, I get to throttle back and relax a bit.

The successful candidate will have meaningful business experience.  You should be able to read a tax return, P&L and Balance Sheet.  You should be mid-level proficient with MSOffice.

Business owners, managers and entrepreneurs are all good candidates.  Realtors *might* be, but while business brokering looks like real estate brokering from 1,000 feet away, it's a very different practice. 

As a former Realtor, I spent a lot of time un-learning real estate as terms, processes, duties and procedures are all quite different. 

I don't expect any candidate to have business brokering experience, so we will train you from the ground up.

The position is 100% commission, so you'll need a plan to get you through start up.  However, the company pays all marketing expenses.  That includes thousands of postcards mailed to prospects each month, an outbound telemarketer whose job it is to fill your calendar with appointments and an admin person that is shared by our office. 

BTW, the telemarketer is incentivized with a bonus whenever we close a sale, so he's motivated to send you on good, qualified appointments.

If you're relatively close to Augusta, you can use our office there (12 Shuman Ave, #10).  We also have an available office in Portsmouth, NH.  Otherwise you can work from home - and we'll provide a company cell phone too.

The only expense you have to cover is your vehicle and related expenses.  One key to success is to go out to meet the seller face-to-face, so plan on driving quite a bit.  But if your trip results in a $500,000 listing and a $25,000 commission, is that worth driving for a few hours?

We charge sellers 10% of the sale price at closing and you'll make about 50% of that.  A big advantage of dealing with us is that we charge sellers nothing up front and no other fees aside of the 10% commission.  I have heard of one competitor charging a $7,000 listing fee and another that sells the seller on a flashy analysis and PDF book - for $30,000 up front.  We have no fee unless we're successful.

We sell almost any kind of business.  Examples include local convenience stores, restaurants, trash haulers, motels, precast concrete companies, medical facilities, etc.  We especially like distribution and manufacturing.  We avoid adult-related businesses. 

We've sold some really unique businesses too.  For example, a company that makes elevator counter-weights.  One that is a reptile wholesaler.  A machine shop that makes caps for perfume bottles and one that makes furniture-leveling devices.  I've even sold the company (FBO) that operates the Maine State Airport in Augusta! 

Take a look at our website and you'll see what we have on the market right now. www.InbarGroup.com.

This is a very good time to get into the business as there is a glut of retiring baby boomers.  They've spent decades building their businesses and many have never really thought about an exit plan.  When we show them the way to retire with a pile of money, many are all too happy to sign a 12-month exclusive listing agreement with us.

This can be a very, very lucrative opportunity with real life earnings in the mid to high 6-figures.  

Interested?  Give me a call on my business cell at 207-352-1000 or email [email protected] and let's chat.

I'm in a different market (selling businesses, not houses).  We send out about 5,000 postcards each month.  The overwhelming majority get tossed in the trash, but some get put in the desk drawer.  And they sit there, reminding the prospect about us every time they open it.

I completed a $5M sale of a company about 3 months ago.  On my first in person meeting with the seller, he came in carrying a postcard that he received 3 years ago!

The commission on that one sale covered a LOT of future postcards.

I think the keys to success with postcards is that you need to get the prospect's attention so quickly that he gets the drift as he's picking the postcard up to trash it.  Then, repetitive mailings.  I hit a list of targets once per quarter.

That's a lot of mail, but in my situation, it works well.

Most businesses under $5M are funded via Small Business Administration (SBA) loans.  There are two loan types that are normally used:

7a - can be used for all parts of the transaction. Terms are Prime + 2%, 10 year term.
504 - For bricks & mortar only.  Prime -2%, 25 year term.
Both require a 10% down payment. 

Some lenders will offer a blend of the two with something like a 14 year term.

If a lender asks for more, they're imposing additional restrictions over and above what SBA requires.  That's usually because they're not selling their loan on the secondary market.  The same goes if they're requiring the seller to hold a note.  In either case, I'd look for another lender.

If you're going to buy a restaurant, SBA will require a resume with meaningful restaurant experience.  Lenders are most picky about restaurants because they are really easy to kill.

The lender doesn't require the restaurant to be owner-operated, but they'll need proof that your management staff has a robust resume in the field as well.

I'm not sure what you mean by an "arm's length" transaction.

I hope that helps.

In our business, were mail out thousands of post cards every week.  Some are mass mailed with printed endicia and addresses. 

Others are mailed in a #6 envelope with a hand written address and a real forever stamp.  Those have a sticky note that says "No upfront cost, No fees until we sell!"  

One of these resulted in a $5M sale that I closed 2 weeks ago.  How do I know?  The seller brought the postcard in to our first meeting - and he had been holding it for 4 years!

For us the key is in the mailing list.  For B2B, Data Axle is invaluable.  It's available for free through some libraries.  We can filter by executive title, business size by sales, location, SIC code, etc.  As a result, we have a pretty finely tuned list.

There are B2C lists.  I don't use those so I can't comment on them, but the principle is the same.  Put in the extra work to refine your list and it will pay off in the response rate.

I'm terrible at hiring.  My problem is that I believe people when they tell me things.

My solution is to use an employment agency.  They recruit, interview, check references, skills test, criminal background check and drug test.  It's not cheap, but after making a couple of bad hires, I think it's well worth it.

Prorated taxes and recording fees make sense.  Don't forget liability insurance too.

The $395.00 "broker compliance fee" *might* be something he just tacked on - or it might be included in an agreement that you've already signed.  If you have such an agreement, read it carefully to see if you're liable for it.  Ask him whether there's another explanation for it - and "company policy" doesn't cut it.

If there's no reasonable cause for that fee, tell him you're not paying it.