HELPING BROKERS TO STRUCTURE DEALS 
AND GET THEM CLOSED

I am a real estate broker and a real estate attorney. I can wear either hat – or both.

I have experience with residential and commercial transactions, with land deals, with business opportunity transactions, and especially deed of trust and lease-option transactions. I ran Deal Mortgage for five years, and I continue to be a licensed mortgage broker. For twenty years I ran an escrow department as part of my law office. My primary real estate focus has always been on seller-financed deals.

I do take some listings, and when I do, I especially like to work with sellers who are willing to carry a contract.

I also work for buyers who have a substantial down payment and good income, but who do not qualify for financing. I work to find them a seller who will carry a contract.

However, most of my broker work is to partner with other brokers on seller-financed and other complex transactions. Instead of competing with other brokers, I prefer to co-broker with them.

When seller financing is involved, an attorney is required. Brokers are authorized to complete standard, lawyer prepared forms. Doing so is the authorized practice of law by a non-attorney. But brokers are not licensed to draft complex seller financing paperwork. They are only authorized to write standard fill-in-the-blanks forms. A broker’s errors and omissions insurance will not cover him when he is acting outside his authorized guidelines.

So my role is to figure out how to structure the transaction, explain it to all parties, get the deal properly written up, get it into escrow, and see that it gets closed. I do not handle the escrow. I select the escrow agent and coordinate with the escrow agent. I take care of giving full disclosure and preparing all the paperwork. I get paid at closing on a commission basis.

I prefer to work on a commission basis. It pays better, and I don’t have to keep track of my hours and bill for them. Most buyers and sellers like it too. They only have to pay for success. Buyers and sellers do not have to give an attorney a blank check to work by the hour for an unknown number of hours. If unexpected issues arise, attorney fees can be substantial.

I have an open telephone line to brokers, buyers, and sellers to discuss their transactions. If I come into the deal as a co-broker, this does not mean that the listing broker or selling broker has to cut his or her commission. The seller might increase the total commission enough to cover my percentage. Or the buyer might agree to pay me a buyer broker commission at closing. It depends on whether I represent the buyer or seller.

Feel free to call me if you think I might be able to help. I do not charge for initial inquiries.

James Robert Deal, Attorney
Broker with Madison Partners
WSBA # 8103, DOL # 39666
425-771-1110, 888-999-2022
James at James Deal dot com