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Massachusetts Security Deposits and Last Month's Rent--Confusion continues to reign - 04/27/11 06:07 PM
I am sure that many of you are involved in rental property, either as Landlords or Tenants. In my over forty years of practicing real estate law, I continue to be amazed at some of the misconceptions and misunderstandings both Landlords and Tenants have over residential security deposits and last month's rent. These items are present in almost all residential rental situations. How they are treated, however, varies and, in truth, there is no reason for any deviation from statutorily approved rules. So, I am writing this post to inform all of you Landlords and Tenants what you should be doing.
… (3 comments)
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The best kind of Condominium Due Diligence--Knock on a few doors!!! - 04/23/11 05:31 PM
Over the years, I have represented many people who have purchased Condominiums. I have become familiar with many "due diligence" procedures, including examining the Master Deed, By-Laws [Trust Declaration] and even Minutes of Trustees in those rare instances where the Condominium operates within that preferred standard of governance.
Having described above some ways for an attorney to help a putative Condominium purchaser, I must fall back on the most successful measure I have seen to make the Condominium purchaser understand what he or she is buying, the good old-fashioned "knock on the door".
Anyone who purchases an existing Condominium without one (or more) "door knocks" … (7 comments)
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I am becoming a licensed Massachusetts real estate broker--The "method in my madness" - 04/23/11 01:01 PM
In the category of "I never thought this would happen to me", nothing stands out as firmly to me as the New life I have found by becoming an almost daily participant in the blogging experience on ActiveRain. I started out by just wanting to "give back" to the community some of the knowledge and experience I have accumulated while acting as a Massacusetts real estate attorney for more than 40 years. Because I have written a lot, and commented on posts I have found interesting a lot, I have built a network of friends and relationships that I did not … (9 comments)
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Review of Condominium Financial Statements and Operations--Some Guiding Principles - 04/17/11 07:45 AM
As a Massachusetts real estate attorney with more than 40 years of experience, I am often asked to review the "status" of a Condominium which a client is considering purchasing. This includes reviewing the financial statements and operations of the Condominium, as well as the constituent condominium documents such as the Master Deed and the Condominium Declaration of Trust. In a future post, I will delineate what I look for in the Condominium Documents. This post, however, concerns the important information which can be gleaned by doing a careful review of the Condominium Financial Reports, and Minutes of Trustees, and asking some questions … (4 comments)
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Planning so your home (or second home) can stay "in the family"--Consider Qualified Personal Interest Trusts - 04/16/11 04:58 PM
A qualified personal residence trust (QPRT) is an irrevocable trust that holds no assets other than (1) an interest in one personal residence of the trust donor and (2) certain other related assets. The purpose of a QPRT is to save estate taxes for the donor's descendants. When an individual gives his residence to a QPRT, he makes a gift to his descendants but also holds something back. The donor reserves the right to continue to occupy the residence for a certain period of time (the QPRT term).
When the term expires, ownership of the residence will pass to the remainder … (0 comments)
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Creating Home Ownership for your kids--Try Using a limited liability company as the "vehicle of choice" - 04/16/11 11:07 AM
When parents want to help their children buy a home, they are often stymied by the myriad gift and other tax considerations which make providing for their children a difficult task. Recently, with the assistance of a resourceful loan originator, my firm, which specializes in Massachusetts residential real estate transactions, was able to circumvent the obstacles and provide a "clear path" to generous parents for effecting real assistance to their children. The use of a properly crafted plan, which included a Massachusetts limited liability company ("LLC") as a catalyst, allowed a transaction to take place which was heretofore struggling. I have … (1 comments)
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Massachusetts Real Estate Transactions--A world of their Own - 04/07/11 06:31 AM
I am frequently asked by out of state realtors and mortgage professionals about deals "going into escrow" or the work of the "title company." Very few "out of Massachusetts" people are aware of the idiosyncrasies and terminology s real estate practice, which include the following:
1. An Offer and then a Purchase and Sale Agreement. The standard approach for a residential real estate transaction in Massachusetts involves signing a Offer, with respect to which a small deposit ($500 to $1,000) is delivered to the listing broker, a subsequent home inspection in or within seven (7) days of the Offer, a period … (3 comments)
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Let the Other Side "Win" a Few Points--You will may, from time to time, be pleasantly rewarded with a "smoothly sailing" closing if you do - 04/06/11 11:35 AM
I went to a good law school where I was challenged every day to develop new and innovative ideas. In effect, I was told that what I did needed to be special, because I was "so well trained". Over forty years into a career as a Massachusetts real estate attorney have demonstrated to me that the wisdom of this approach is fleeting. I am much better off being thorough and competent, rather than being the "best and brightest", who always gets the better of the deal.
What I am trying to say is that a real estate transaction is like trying … (6 comments)
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The "ARES" System on Active Rain--Why we Play the Games!!! - 04/05/11 11:37 AM
I am sure all of us have considered the reasons why we are involved in ActiveRain, and probably more than once or twice. I started out on the blog-site because the material I was writing, and laboring over, was not being read, really by anyone. I thought I had some things to say, and I was looking for an audience to say them to. The Julia Childs movie spoke to me in terms of there being a dialogue between well-informed people out there somewhere, and perhaps ActiveRain was the venue where I could create same.
So, I started writing and writing … (9 comments)
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Designation of Life Insurance Beneficiaries--Be Careful with this because there are some unintended consequences which can ensue if you are not - 04/05/11 06:37 AM
Many of us have children, and some of these kids are still young. Most of us have life insurance policies which are designed to take care of our families if we should pass away. Nothing too out of the ordinary in any of these statements.
What may lead to consequences that are probably out of the ordinary, and not want you would really want, is what might happen if you and your spouse pass away in a common accident, and your beneficiary designation provides the typical "primary beneficiary--spouse: contingent beneficiary--children, usually "share and share alike".
In Massachusetts, where I practice law, … (3 comments)
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My "5/25 Marketing System"--A Surefire Approach to staying in touch with the people who "Matter" - 04/04/11 02:07 AM
Over the years, it has become more and more apparent to me that sales involves connecting with people who know, and appreciate, what I have to offer, not at my convenience, but, realistically, at theirs. One way I have found to stay in touch with these important contacts is to utilize the "5/25 System" on a consistent basis.
The System is simple. Pick out your 5 most important clients, or customers, and put them on a schedule. Then, analyze the rest of the important people in your business and pare that list down to 25 people. Obviously, the list of 30, … (8 comments)
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The Resource Triangle--"Three" Who Can Make It Happen - 04/03/11 09:02 AM
As I have evolved from a practicing Masscshuetts real estate attorney who sat in my office and waited for the phone to ring into a realist who started to understand that marketing is an essential part of doing business, one thing became clearer and clearer. My best efforts involved finding motivated and talented realtors and mortgage originators with whom I could work on a regular basis.
This "Resource Triangle", as I like to call it, makes perfect sense. All three professionals involved have one goal in mind, the successful closing of a residential real estate closing. All three have something else … (5 comments)
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Closing Techniques--Some of these approaches have worked well for me - 04/03/11 07:44 AM
Well, the good news is the spring selling season may not be a mirage. Attendance at open houses is up; some situations are such that people are actually bidding against each other for properties. For me, that will mean more purchase and sale work, and, sooner rather than later, more closings. In Massachusetts, where I have been practicing real estate law for over 40 years, I have developed some closing "truisms" which I thought I would share with you. From writing on ActiveRain for the past two years, I know my state is unique in that a real estate attorney not only … (9 comments)
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Working with International Buyers--The Rules for Obtaining Funds Can be Complicated - 04/02/11 05:34 AM
While there can be tax issues with regard to non-resident alens selling real property (as a general rule, transactions with a purchase price in excess of $300,000 require witholding of a portion of the proceeds of sale pending the seller's filing a US Income Tax return with respect to same), there are no rules which I, a Massachusetts real estate attoney with over 40 years of conveyancing experience, can find which prohibit the purchase of US Property by foreign purchasers.
In point of fact, at least in the Boston, Massachusetts market where I have concentrated my efforts, foreign investors have kept … (4 comments)
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Getting the Deal Done--Common Goals and Objectives can make people on opposing sides "Comrades in Arms" - 04/01/11 06:28 AM
I was speaking with a fellow Massachusetts attorney yesterday about our practices. He is a partner in a downtown Boston firm; my firm is mid-sized and mostly suburban, with an office on Newbury Street in Boston, but one office in the Western suburb of Waltham and one office in the Southern suburb of Braintree. After we spent the better part of an hour hammering out the terms of a purchase and sale agreement for commercial property in Boston, Massachusetts, we agreed that he would do the changes in the latest draft, send it along to me for final review, and we … (3 comments)
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New Financing Options Based on Financial Realities--Checkout First Republic Bank as an institution that "gets" it - 04/01/11 04:13 AM
None of us need to be reminded of the fact that is much, much more difficult to obtain mortgage financing today that it was even a year ago. The Larger Banks have become little more than operatives for Fannie May and Freddie Mac rules, which are becoming more stringent and less flexible. FHA and VA programs, which were ostensibly designed to make it easier for certain groups to have faster entry in to the housing market are not the "sure things" they once were, all to the chagrin of Realtors, Mortgage originators and real estate attorneys. Couple these circumstances with new compensation … (1 comments)
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Elliott S. Topkins Massachusetts Real Estate and Title Atty
Boston,
MA
More about me…
Topkins & Bevans-etopkins@topbev.com
Address: 10 Newbury Street, 4th Floor, Boston, MA , 02116
Office Phone: (617) 236-0104
Cell Phone: (617) 596-3184
Email Me
Realtor's Resource Blog is dedicated to furnishing current strategy and information to the Massachusetts real estate community of professionals and to out of state realtors and REO and relocation companies who need excellent representation in Massachusetts. My law firm, Topkins & Bevans, can cover the entire state of Massachusetts. I hope to use my 40 years of hands-on real estate experience to assist you and your Massachusetts Buyers and Sellers.
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