Question about Wholesaling in Massachusetts, Lawyer required?

Question

Hi, I would like to run a marketing wholesaling Campagin in Massachusetts. Apparently some states like Florida the title agency's can complete the entire closing, my friend mentioned to me it depends on the state, can someone tell me if the closing is necessary to be a lawyer who does it?

If so, does anyone have any good closing agency's or lawyers, that they can suggest, that closes wholesale deals regularly, responsive, fairly priced etc.

Charlie MacPherson · Answer

@William Howley Massachusetts is an "attorney" state, meaning that we don't use title companies here.  We don't allow notary closings, nor do we allow electronic closings.  We allow electronic signatures for every document up until the actual closing, and that requires wet signatures.

We're also a 2-contract state.  First a written offer.  When it's accepted, we typically open a 10 day window for due diligence.  By the end of that window, the P&S is executed.  Technically, we can close from the written offer, but that's virtually never done.

Unless you double close, you also need to be licensed to wholesale in Mass.  You can't market a property here unless you already own it.

Colleen F. · Answer

@Charlie MacPherson Thanks,  lawyers always had flat fees in states where we used them so no racking up fees. I suppose in the two step system the RE commission is based off the P&S price post-concessions which is a positive in some situations. In my experience, both Agents and Lawyers have both found slippery clauses in our contracts which is a good reason to use experienced professionals in Real Estate.

Charlie MacPherson · Answer

@Colleen F. One advantage of the two contract system is that the Realtors write the offer without racking up legal fees.  Then after the home inspection is determined to be satisfactory,  we bring the attorneys in.  Each side adds their own addenda and that gets negotiated out between them.

I had an instance a couple of months ago where the seller's attorney tried to sneak in a clause that said that the buyer was responsible for all liabilities (that means taxes, insurance, injuries on site, other liabilities, etc) from the time the P&S was signed.  I don't know exactly how high that attorney was, but we squashed that clause.

An unrepresented buyer might not have caught it.  And for any novices reading this, the buyer should assume those liabilities 30-45 days later at the time of closing.

Could you go straight to P&S?  I don't know of any reason that you couldn't, but I've never seen it done.  Different states, different customs I suppose.

Colleen F. · Answer

@William Howley only days in the underground caves of the Massachusetts state code,  since they "improved" the site might be longer. As Charlie said they use attorneys and if you find a good attorney its no issue, but haven't done this recently in MA

@Charlie MacPherson Do you believe there are any advantages of this two step system? any reason you  can't go straight to purchase and sales agreement ?    we have bought privately in MA and I believe it was a single step but I wonder what is the contract difference between an offer and a P&S  if you are a seller.

William Howley · Answer

With no direction, I would spend days meandering the underground caves of the Massachusetts state code. Its a fairly simple boolean answer. Each state is yes or no.

Amy Aziz · Answer

Good Morning, @William Howley! From my understanding, you can close escrow with a title company in Massachusetts but I recommend going to MASS.GOV and getting your self familiar with the state laws.

Question about Wholesaling in Massachusetts, Lawyer required?

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