I remember saying as a young child the simple prayer, "God is great.  God is good.  Let us thank Him for this food.  In Jesus' name, amen." 

Today, I sat at the dining table with my wife, my mother, my grandmother, and a cousin, and asked the Thanksgiving dinner blessing.  I found myself rambling on, thanking God for every specific blessing I could think of, for our country, for our freedom....  Before I finished, my grandmother piped up to add in a couple of items I didn't mention, then my mother, who thanked God for my father, who passed away eight years ago this month.      

Then we ate, talked, laughed, and at some more.  When we were finished, we sat around the table for about twenty minutes to "digest." After cleaning up the kitchen, we retired to the den for a bit, before making individual treks to the desert table.  Yes, there was a table covered with deserts, for five of us.  It seems ridiculous, but it was Thanksgiving. 

God is great.  God is good.  Let us thank Him for this food.  In Jesus' name, amen.

Recently, one of my real estate agent clients found out that the property on which she had written a contract on a TREC condo resale contract, at the direction of the listing agent, was actually a townhouse, not a condominium.  There are a few differences in these contracts.  One, the condo contract does not provide a paragraph about a survey, as condo's don't typically require one.  This townhouse, as it turns out, has a metes and bounds legal description, so the lender is requiring a survey.  My client and the listing agent decided to split the cost of the survey between them, as they felt that it was their fault that the contract didn't speak to the issue. 

Another difference between the condo form contract and the 1 to 4 family contract, is that the condo form provides for the seller to give the buyer the condominium resale certificate and other condo documents.  Of course, if the property is not a condo, the seller is unable to comply with this requirement.

There are other differences too.  Still, the condo contract can suffice in a pinch, if the parties get together on how to handle the items that are missing.  Of course, the best thing to do when you realize that the executed contract you have is on the wrong form is to prepare a new contract and a termination and release, then have both parties sign the release and the new contract.  Its a hassle, but it is cleaner this way.  

The new Texas Real Estate Commission promulgated form entitled "Addendum Containing Required Notices under Section 5.016, Section 420.001, and Section 420.002, Texas Property Code" provides a simple way for sellers of new homes to give the notices requied under these statutes.  But there's a devil lurking under the surface here.  A seller should be aware that when he does not provide the notice prior to entering into a contract with the buyer, the buyer may terminate the contract for seven days after such notice is finally provided. 

Of course if you represent the buyer, this could work in your favor.  Thus, lets say your buyer is able to negotiate a 10 day option period and seller does not provide the notice.  Then, lets say you wait until toward the end of the option period to push the seller to give the notice, which the seller then gives on the last day of the option period.  The option period expires, but you still have seven days to terminate, because the seller did not give notice prior to entering the contract.   

This termination right is not mentioned in the TREC addendum itself, but only in the statute, specifically in Section 5.016 TX PROP CODE. 

I guess I'm in efficiency mode right now.  Every now and then, I get this way, and I go through an efficiency making period.  Things get better and easier afterword. 

This weekend, I went through every Texas Real Estate Commission promulgated form contract, addendu, amendment, and notice, and every Texas Association of Realtors form.  I downloaded and printed the latest editions of each of them.  There were forty-one which are applicable to my business.  Then I aphabatized them by title, created a table of contents and placed them behind numbered indext tab pages in a nice new three-ring binder.  In the future, you see, I will no longer be forced to stop what I'm doing to look up the contract or addendum on the internet when I need to look at the language of a contract.  

I also took my grandmother to lunch on Saturday, went shopping on Market Street in The Woodlands with my wife, watched the Texas Tech v. OU game, went out for Mexican food, watched the Houston Texans game and two movies, went to the office for three hours and put together seventy sets of marketing materials for my presentation on Tuesday. 

Somehow, I still feel like I relaxed this weekend.  Now that's efficiency!

I realized yesterday that I waste precious minutes every time I go to the TREC or TAR websites to download contracts or addenda.  So, I sat with my laptop on the arm of my chair on a Friday night and began to download every single promulgated form from the TREC website so I'd have it ready and waiting for me right when I need it.

Of course, being the nerdy lawyer I am, I took the time to read some of the ones that I hadn't paid much attention to in a while.  One of them was the Environmental Assessment, Threatened or Endangered Species, and Wetlands Addendum which permits the buyers to get inspections from "an environmental specialist" or a "natural resources professional."  What is the world are those?  Is anyone who knows about the environment an environmental specialist?  Heck, I know about the environment.  Its hot in Texas, and humid in the Houston area.  The air around Pasadena smells kind of funny.  I guess maybe I'm an environmental specialist.  I worked as an attorney in the oil and gas industry for six years.  Does that make me a "natural resources professional?" 

This week I rolled out my new suite of services for realtors at a meeting of the Agent Leadership Counsel at the Keller Williams Conroe office.  The heart of the new package is RECCCCS, Real Estate Contract Compliance & Closing Coordination Services.  While there are many virtual assistants in the market providing closing coordination, I have not found another attorney or law firm offerring virtual closing coordination as a legal service based on an attorney's review of the contract to determine, calendar, coordinate, track and confirm that all steps are taken to take the deal from contract to close.

I got very positive feedback from the ALC.  The service is both needed and wanted.  A suggestion was even made that the brokerage require all new agents to utilize my services for their first several transactions.  I personally think that is a great idea.  Of course I'm a little biased, but the truth is that a new agent can really benefit by RECCCCS.  More contracts will close.  And new agents can learn by watching and keeping up with the process, without risking costly mistakes.  Its that simple.

I was particularly happy that one of the top producing agents in the market said "That's a bargain," when I told them about the flat fee pricing.  It felt good to know I had hit the price point correctly. 

After the meeting, the Keller Williams Team Leader made several phone calls to her contacts at other KW offices all around the greater Houston area to tell them they need to have me out to tell them about RECCCCS.  That was the best compliment I could have received. 

I'm really excited about the opportunity to roll out this new service package.  I know its going to be well accepted in the market.  Eventually, I think Realtors all over Texas will take advantage of RECCCCS by David Stevens & Associates, PLLC.