At PMA Practice Transitions we work with buyers and sellers when selling a dental practice, but does that mean we offer dual-representation? Dental transitions experts Matt Scherer and Doug Sellan discuss who we represent and why we stay away from dual-representation.
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Transcript:
Matt Scherer:
Hello everyone. My name is Matt Scherer. My colleague, Doug Sellan is with me. We’re with PMA practice transitions, and we assist dentists in the state of Ohio, in Western PA in transitioning out of dental ownership. Today’s topic, Doug, is who represents who in this deal? I know I’ve been asked many times, especially from sellers. “Hey, who do you represent? Do you represent me? Do you represent the buyer? Do you represent us both?” How does that work?
Doug Sellan:
So at PMA, we take the position of representing our sellers first. It doesn’t mean that we’re not going to offer the buyers some…
Matt Scherer:
Assistance.
Doug Sellan:
Or direction or some advice. They may say, “Well, I need an attorney. I need a banker. I need an accountant.” And we’re certainly going to ask those questions. Who’s your attorney? Who’s your banker? Who’s your advisor? Because we want to make sure that the person we’re working with has the skill set to help them through this purchase as well. But we always represent the seller and have the seller’s best interests at mind the entire process.
Matt Scherer:
Yeah, I agree. There are companies out there that do do what we call dual representation. And certainly our mindset here at PMA is you can’t represent the buyer and the seller equally. Typically, the buyer in a dual rep pays less than the seller. I just don’t know how that can happen. You’re right. Again, we’ll assist the buyer in who’s your attorney and account and things like that because we want the deal and the transition to go smoothly. So we’ll always recommend if they don’t have, especially a dental attorney, we can recommend somebody who does this quite often, just so that the transition goes smoothly.
Doug Sellan:
Yeah. I mean, you’re absolutely right. I mean, it comes from having an art experience of having attorneys that are very good at these type of transactions, accountants that ask the appropriate amount of information, making sure that the buyer is getting what they believe to be, what we’ve presented to them. And also a lender that has the skills, ability, and product to make the transaction happen as well. They’re free to use whoever they want, but again, to help them save on their expense, their frustration, their time, we’re going to suggest others from time to time.
Matt Scherer:
Yeah. And one thing we do throughout the process when we’re working with buyer and seller is we let both parties know who we work for. We work for the seller. So Dr. Buyer, if you don’t want me to tell the seller something, then don’t tell me because I’m obligated to tell the doctor who I represent. So we make that very clear throughout the process.
Doug Sellan:
Yeah. Matt, like you said, we have that obligation plus you and I are both licensed real estate sales agents. So to maintain our licensure, we have to make sure that we’re maintaining those ethics as well.
Matt Scherer:
Yeah. Good point, Doug. So if you like this video, give us a thumbs up and make sure you share it with your colleagues. You can also visit our website for more information or give either myself or Doug a call. We thank you for watching this video today. Thanks.
Published by Matthew Scherer on February 12, 2021