The $5,000.00 Deposit That Turned
​Into a $44,500.00 Problem.

This story happens more often than you realize. Could this happen to you?

From the Desk of Jeff Shiller, Esq.

​If you're interested in hearing how your next deal could blow up and how I can save the world, read below. If you want to dispense of that drudgery and just want to create your own custom, attorney-crafted investor contracts in minutes, you can request to be a member of our Investor Portal below.
​​​Wholesale Assignments  /   Seller Takeback Funding   /  Subject-To's  /   ​LLC's and Trusts  /   Creative Deal Structures

Feel free to read below or, if you want to be one of our Founding Members,
simply complete the form below:
​Please Note: Founding Member access is currently free while the platform expands -
​but it is by invite only and limited to approximately 25 Founding Members.

Mr. Bill Finds a Property

I have a NEW client - let's call him Bill. Bill is a wholesaler. Bill found the perfect investment property  - an empty, semi-delapidated house. When Bill called the number of the owner from a lead list, the son of the dead guy answered.

The son explained how his dad had lived there, and left the property to him - the son didn't live there and couldn't keep up with an out-of-state property, so he was more than happy to dump it.

"Hmmmmm - an easy kill with a great spread!" he thought.

Unfortunately for Bill, he discovered other investors were sniffing around and he had to act fast, so he put down his almond milk latte and called his attorney to write a contract.

Murphy's Law -- his attorney was in Court, and had client meetings the next day, but said he could write it up on Thursday [this was a Tuesday].

Bill couldn't wait that long, so he fired up the Macbook and Chat GPT'd his way to document heaven - a contract in minutes!!!

With contract in hand, Bill got the property.

He gave son a $5,000.00 deposit.

That night, Bill posted the property to his buyer network while drinking gluten free beer and dreaming of his new BMW X5 [not really, I'm just jazzing it up - that's my car].

Money in the bank - what could go wrong?

The Bulletproof Plan

Bill's plan should sound familiar to you.

Find an end-buyer. Assign the Contract. Collect the $25,000.00 Assignment Fee.

Within days, Bill found a buyer and had his trusted A.I. Robot craft an assignment agreement.

The assignment was for $25,000.00 more than the original contract price. Good for Bill!

The end-buyer was required to submit a $3,000.00 deposit to secure the deal. 

Do you see the problem? Are you starting to see the picture?

Probably not - keep reading.

Does Chat GPT Have a Legal Department?

​Fast forward. Two days prior to settlement. Title company calls Bill:

"Hi Bill, this is Jeff. Did you know this contract is non-assignable?
​The Seller found out you assigned the contract and refuses to go to settlement. You're gonna have to close on this with your own funds."

"What are you talking about, Jeff?" says Bill, "I don't have that kind of money!"

"You better call your attorney," Jeff says [not realizing Chat GPT was his lawyer].

To make matters worse, upon discovery of this situation, the end-buyer bailed.

Schneikies. Time to panic.

Other Than That, How Was The Play Mrs. Lincoln?

"Under what theory can we get your desposit back?" says Bill's lawyer when Bill calls [after being threatened by both the seller and the end-buyer].

Bill's lawyer correctly continues, "the original contract does not permit assignment and, even worse, your assignment agreement doesn't clearly distinguish between the contract deposit and the assignment deposit -
so now you've put the end-buyer's money at risk."

To be clear, the Seller's attorney wanted both deposits, arguing that the assignment deposit being held by the title company was actually part of the contract deposit tied to the purchase agreement.

And, of course, to add insult to injury, Bill's lawyer says, "Why would you enter a non-assignable contract? You should've waited for me."

Lawyers can be d!ck$

Jeff, Just Skip To The Bad Ending Please

I'm a lawyer. I like to write. I could write much more about how the end-buyer got an attorney and threatened suit, how Bill had to retain counsel, and how Bill ultimately had to settle the suit. But I'll skip all that -- let's just jump to the damages:

Lost EMD to Seller: $5,000.00 (no way Billy-boy was getting that back)
Additional damages to Seller: $5,500.00 (end-buyer's deposit, add'l expenses)
Reimbursement to End-Buyer: $3,000.00 (the "amorphous" deposit)
Legal Fees: $6,000.00 (he got off easy - the buyer and seller were willing to settle)
Lost Profit: $25,000.00

Total Losses: $44,500.00

Ouchie ["ie" on anything makes it funny]. Bill may not be shopping at Whole Foods for a bit.

Are You Ready To Protect Yourself?

The above story is just one of many I plucked out of my bucket of bad stories.
​There are many more examples I could give you.

​The bottom line: BAD CONTRACTS LEAD TO BAD RESULTS.

So what should you do to avoid this, or any other number of horror stories?

​Well first here's what NOT to do:

DO NOT use shitty generic templates borrowed from other investors or "gurus".
​
Instead, use precise, attorney-backed, custom contracts that match the business terms of your deal and protect you and your money -- ones you can build by yourself in minutes, not days.

Here's some more stuff you need to do:

Get a seasoned, genius investor attorney to help you structure your deals properly.
Make sure your contracts and documentation are professional and accurate.
Use investor-friendly title companies that understand crazy deals.
​Get a real, local private lender that can actually close.

In Short:

Coordinate all pieces of the investor transaction [structure, contract, funding, closing] so none are in disharmony or disconnected. Otherwise you will lose time, leverage, opportunity - and money.

But how will you do this?

A Platform That Was Built Specifically
​for Real Estate Investors

​Enter the Investor Platform -- built to integrate legal structuring, documentation, settlement services, and access to private and hard money lenders -- all into one coordinated framework.

Contract Generation Tools
​
Generate custom attorney-built contracts, forms and documents, without help, at any time, day or night, in minutes, and tailored to the structure of each deal.

Investor-Friendly Title & Settlement

Coordinate closings with professionals familiar with private lending protocal and complex investor transactions, and who are 100% investor focused.

Access to Private & Hard Money Lending

Connect with multiple funding sources aligned with your real estate investment goals.

Legal Guidance When Needed

Schedule discounted attorney and document consultations online for help with deal structure, strategy, document completion, or any legal needs.

How Can This Platform Save You $$Thousands?

​I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you.

​Just kidding. It can best be explained by example. Below is an actual case we just handled:

One of our Members found a property. The seller needed money at closing, but also needed to stay in the property for a bit - so was willing to defer a large portion of his proceeds. Among other issues, our Member was concerned about seller occupancy, financing, and costs.

First, he scheduled a 30 minute same-day consult with us online, and we helped him build a deal structure that addressed all of his concerns.

Next, using our Portal, he created custom transaction documents himself, each in minutes, with no help from us, to include:

- Investor Purchase Contract
- Maryland Addendum
- Trust Transfer Addendum
- Seller Financing Addendum
- Trust Assignment Package
- Power of Attorney

Upon receipt of the contract, our dedicated investor closing team knew exactly what steps to take to get the seller and the property ready for closing -- this was a complex deal, but easy for our team as we've done this many times before.

At closing, the property was conveyed to a trust and the seller conveyed the beneficial interests of the trust to the buyer, saving thousands on LLC costs and transfer taxes.

We also coordinated and documented his hard money loan, as well as the seller-held mortgage, using a very specific structure to avoid even more transfer taxes.

Savings and benefits to our Member:

No attorney drafting necessary - $thousands saved
No transfer taxes - $thousands saved
No LLC creation or maintenance costs - $thousands saved
Custom hard money structure - $thousands saved
Documents created in minutes - no delay
Legally protected from contract to closing - priceless

Each part of this transaction worked in perfect harmony with the other parts, without any delay, and all for very little cost to the investor-member.

Easy, right?

Built By An Attorney With 30+ Years
​Investor Experience

I am Jeff Shiller, the creator of this Portal. I am a Maryland real estate attorney who has spent decades helping real estate investors and private lenders properly structure, document, fund, and close creative real estate deals - legally.

This Platform does all of the above - with maximum efficiency.
​
A quote from me: "Instead of approaching each transaction independently, we provide a consistent, accessible platform each investor can rely upon to properly scale his or her business."

​Be A Founding Member Of This
​Growing Investor Community

The Investor Portal is quickly growing into a private group of investors with shared access to the tools, resources, and opportunities necessary to be successful.

​For a limited time, early users may join for free as Founding Members.

Founding Members receive:

• Free access to documents and tools as the platform grows
• Participation in the founding investor community
• Educational resources and strategic insights
• Input into what and how new features are introduced

Regular training and education calls will keep our investor community collaborative, productive, and profitable and, when ready, we will add off-market investment opportunities for our members.

​Please note, however, that membership is being purposefully limited at this time in order to maintain quality and to ensure value to all of the membership as the platform grows.

If you are interested, request access immediately before all slots are filled.​

Request Access

If you are investing in real estate, we encourage you to request access to the Investor Portal immediately. However, the Portal is not public - access is by invite only. We are limiting membership to about 25-30 Founding Members, so act fast.

To request access to the Portal, complete the form below and our team ​will follow up with next steps:

Questions?  Contact Our Investor Team at 410-531-0385