Benjamin Sens
Hi everyone this is Ben from BOSS Construction over here with Todd Weston a great personal friend and amazing leader in the real estate industry helping agents close transactions with Coastal Title
Todd Weston
now are you saying he’s Ben or your Ben?
Benjamin Sens
I’m Ben that Santiago Okay.
Todd Weston
Hi Santiago, good to see you.
Benjamin Sens
And and
Todd Weston
Yes
Benjamin Sens
Not only are we personal friends and not only do I know all of your profession.
How long have you known him
I’ve known Santiago since I was ten. I wanna, I wanna I want to talk about, we see each other at a lot of events where the Miami Dade Women’s Council at the Rusty Pelican right now. You’ve been involved in the boards and educating agents and helping them find resolution and close deals.
Todd Weston
Of course, yeah, you gotta be there for the agent. You have to give them what they expect and anticipate. And you have to get back to the community and this, this is what a better opportunity to be at this installation banquet this evening.
Benjamin Sens
We do Make a Wish here. I mean, we get involved with Honor Flights, all these nonprofits, which is amazing. Yes, it’s remarkable.
Todd Weston
Oh, it’s incredible.
Benjamin Sens
And what I want to talk about real quickly, is I want to talk about an attorney owned and operated title company and what that means to someone closing a deal.
Todd Weston
But you know, it’s interesting because I represent several title companies that are, do not have attorney owned. And as a result, I see a lot of errors, mistakes, and issues that come up that they cannot resolve or handle. So they have to go to outsource it. And so that gives an opportunity, obviously, to create work for us. But I think that any any agent that is into the representing their client effectively or giving them the best services, I think they’re doing a disservice when they do not have an attorney based title company, because there’s a lot more expertise. So those we, we not only get together and write the laws, but we evaluate them, we fight for them, we challenge them. We interpret them, we
do everything we can and that’s what’s fun,
Benjamin Sens
and not everything’s like, not everything’s cookie cutter, you as an attorney, you get involved in probate you get involved in estates, right?
Todd Weston
It’s almost
Benjamin Sens
like involved in leases
Todd Weston
Figured this way
Benjamin Sens
commercial leases
Todd Weston
you’re watching a movie, and you see the movie and you say to yourself, how did that actor perform? Did they know their lines? How was the camera angle, everything that you can possibly think of you start looking and saying this
Benjamin Sens
Like we’re doing now.
Todd Weston
Exactly. So you critique it. And I think that they fail to critique the deal. What they do is they say sign, come together, and they don’t realize that’s the most important investment that anybody makes in their lifetime bigger than a car, bigger than then then in leasing an apartment, it’s a purchase. It’s hundreds of thousands of dollars that they’re they’re banking on whoever’s doing the work is going to do it right. And that’s the sad part is is that sometimes they rely upon the wrong people, and they don’t know any better. So we’ve got to educate them and that’s our job is educating them to know why you want an attorney based title company, and why you want someone who really looks at the title work and what’s behind it, and just like you do in your business
Benjamin Sens
in what you remind me of, and I’m not saying this because of your looks you remind me of the show Botched because you get botched deals, you get issues with title, you have to be recorded different. And people again, you see what’s going on around the South Florida community with other title companies.
Todd Weston
Yes. And and you see it time and time again you get a first hand opportunity to be in the trenches after the individual.
Benjamin Sens
Dr. Nasser
Todd Weston
Yes. And you are you really are you’re you’re trying to analyze trying to fix you’re trying to do everything. And it’s it’s, it’s it’s exciting. It’s challenging, and you do the job and it’s rewarding. It’s nothing better than being able to say, here’s your house, and we’ve done our job. And we know that it’s foolproof. It’s done,
Benjamin Sens
what type of what type of information and education will you be giving to agents next year 2020.
Todd Weston
So some of the biggest things are still because we’re in an international climate. Here we have FIRPTA, which is obviously non foreign nationals selling their properties and being able to tell them what to do and how to do their tax situation. A lot of it has to do is is that how they’re going to take title, and also how and who is selling it because you never know who’s selling it, someone sells you a piece of property. Some of the bigger things, though, these days or the trying to coach the agents to understand who you’re representing, you know you are you representing the buyer? Are you representing the seller, of course the transactional agent, but you still have to understand that who are you trying to get and pull through for and what they need to know. So you coach them to understand the pitfalls, the issues and things that are going to happen in the contract, particularly when let’s just say for example, a buyer buys, they’re putting a deposit down if they put $1,000 down, that seller now is putting their property off the market for $1,000. Not much money. So of course the agent who said no thousand dollars is fine. What about the fact when the deal falls apart and the seller looks at you and says I took my property off the market for how many months now for $1,000. What did you do to me? They did a disservice. So you look at it that way. Now of course the buyer is saying I only have to potentially lose a thousand dollars, I walk away without much to lose. So you have to up the ante, sometimes you have to understand Whose side are you on and how and how to keep the deal together. Because if you’re trying to keep a deal together for $1,000, that might even be a disservice to everybody, instead of so there’s a lot of issues like that, that we look at. We look at the permits, because you know very well and failure to disclose the permits maybe unpermitted structures, you just bought a property and it has a garage that’s been converted, and no one thinks about it. They just said, great. I just bought my house until they start doing work on the property afterwards and find out that a permit needed to be pulled on that garage. How are you going to feel as if the agent sold you the deal? And your title company who was not based attorney base didn’t bring it up? So there’s countless things like that. Yeah.
Benjamin Sens
What’s what’s really I mean, you know, for me, and when I was in the real estate community, I mean, you’re mentoring molding agents, directing them, putting them in the right place. I I think that’s and how long have you been doing this for?
Todd Weston
Oh, this I’m coming up on 30 years.
Benjamin Sens
Really?
Todd Weston
Yes. It’s been a while. Wow, I’m still very young and energetic. I’m gonna do it for another 30.
Benjamin Sens
So that’s why I’m gonna call you uncle Todd.
Todd Weston
Exactly.
Benjamin Sens
Yeah. That’s awesome.
Todd Weston
So it’s kind of it’s a fun business. It’s exciting and and being able to teach and give that education back.
Benjamin Sens
And so you go through Miami Dade, Broward Palm Beach
Todd Weston
Well we actually do all the state of Florida Yeah, we concentrate more. We have offices in Kendall, Boca and Fort Lauderdale.
Yeah
And we have an office in Stewart. We’re opening up an office in Ocala. We’re out there making headway and giving what we can to the community, but same time giving the agents that continued education, which you have to I think that you find the same way when you’re out there. And they ask a question, it’s surprising is how many agents have not yet been educated with that and so you have to give it to them.
Benjamin Sens
And you have an amazing team around you, Nancy, Marie, Tara, just giving a great level of service.
Todd Weston
Yeah
Benjamin Sens
I mean, like when I come into your office, I feel like family.
Todd Weston
Well that’s why because you go to the candy dish.
Benjamin Sens
Okay, I go to the candy dish.
Todd Weston
Yeah. Well, that’s all that matters.
Benjamin Sens
Well we’re going to change that in 2022. Benjamin is going to stay away from the candy dish.
Todd Weston
Would you rather do a fruit bowl? I mean if we need to, but I think the candy is still America’s number one chocolate. Yeah. So you have to stay with it’s good. But yeah, but we do what we can we provide. And I think the most important thing is, is that when anyone whether it be an individual or otherwise, customer service, number one, make sure they feel like their family and give them what you would give your family. That’s what you would expect.
Ben Sens
I like that. Well, thank you very much. Todd Weston from Coastal Title.
