GABB Fall Conference Oct. 30: Business Broker Training
Earn six education credits towards your Georgia real estate license while learning skills that will make you a more effective and successful business broker.
Registration, which includes breakfast and lunch, is $100 for GABB members and $150 for non-members until Oct. 23, when registration will be $150 for everyone. The Oct. 30 conference will be held at the Atlanta Realtors Center at 5784 Lake Forrest Dr. NW, Atlanta, GA 30328.
Schedule:
8:30 – 9 a.m. Registration
9:00-10 a.m. Legal Topic: How business brokers can keep themselves out of trouble and protect their commissions. Presenter: GABB Affiliate member and attorney Larry Domenico. He practices in the areas of estate planning and probate, commercial and business litigation, and general litigation. Mr. Domenico also has extensive experience as a business lawyer in assisting start-up and existing businesses. In addition, Mr. Domenico has broad experience in alternate forms of dispute resolution including arbitration and mediation.
10-10:30 a.m. Break and networking. Breakfast will be provided by attorney John Herbert of the Herbert Legal Group.
10:30 a.m.-11 a.m. GABB meeting: introduction, announcements, business. No charge to attend this portion of the meeting.
11-12 noon- Advertising Rules for business brokers. Presenter: Monica Gilroy, esq., the Gilroy Firm. A founding principal of The Gilroy Firm, Ms. Gilroy is the firm’s managing partner and has over 25 years of experience practicing law. She is an active partner in the Litigation Department as the focus of her national litigation practice includes all aspects of real estate litigation.
12-12:40 Lunch for conference participants
12:40-1:40 Valuation theory. Presenter: GABB Affiliate Dan Browning. Dan has 20 years of experience as a business appraisal professional and holds the Master Analyst in Financial Forensics (MAFF) and Accredited in Business Appraisal Review (ABAR) designations from the National Association of Certified Valuators and Analysts (NACVA).
1:40-2:40 Add-backs from a lender perspective and what issues that create for loan underwriting, loan terms and deal structure; cash injection requirements; business appraisals. Presenters: GABB Affiliate lenders Brian Harper, Leigh Milton, Carolyn Robinson.
Brian Harper works with SBA and government guaranteed lending solutions for small and mid-size businesses at Atlantic Capital Bank.
Leigh Milton, Senior Vice President, Small Business Administration Lending of Charter Bank, has been in commercial lending in Atlanta for 23 years.
Carolyn Robinson is a Senior Vice President at Acclivity Financial, a subsidiary of Citizens Bank, with a demonstrated history of working in the banking industry and 10 years’ experience as business broker. Twenty years in SBA/USDA/ Commercial Lending and Credit Analysis.
2:40-3 p.m. Afternoon break
3-4 p.m. Due Diligence Topics: A broker panel about things that have come up during due diligence and how the broker can help prevent/resolve due diligence issues. GABB Brokers Jeff Merry, Dean Burnette and Jon Roman. All three have been members of the GABB’s Million Dollar Club and are on the GABB’s board of directors.
4-5 p.m. Excel for business brokers: Pivot tables, IF function, rounding, other tips and tricks. GABB Broker and CPA Greg DeFoor, a GABB past president.
For more information about the conference, contact GABB Director Diane Loupe at 404-374-3990 or georgiabusinessbroker@gmail.com
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Georgia Real Estate Commissioners Discuss Business Broker Licensing
If you’re contemplating buying or selling a business in the Peach State, be sure to check whether the business broker you’re considering using has a valid Georgia real estate license.
Some individuals who are presenting themselves as professional business brokers are not licensed to sell real estate in the state of Georgia, and therefore are probably not operating legally.
On Tuesday, July 31, Georgia Real Estate Commissioner Lynn Dempsey and Deputy Commissioner Craig Coffee spoke at length about real estate licensing to the Georgia Association of Business Brokers. The GABB is the state’s only professional association of professionals who help in the sale and purchase of businesses and franchises.
Watch a video of their presentation here.
The commissioners encouraged attendees to file a complaint against any unlicensed broker who is attempting to buy or sell a business with any real estate interest in the state. Complainants should complete the following form that GABB downloaded from the GREC website, have the form notarized and submit it.
GREC Request For Investigation Form
Georgia law specifies that a business broker must have a real estate license if the sale of the business includes any real estate. GABB believes that there are very few instances in which a business is operating without any leases or real estate. Former GABB member Kathryne Pusch discusses business broker licensing in Georgia elsewhere on the GABB blog. GABB requires all broker members to have a current Georgia Real Estate license to belong to the association.
To determine if a business broker has a valid Georgia Real Estate license, search this link on the Georgia Real Estate Commission website. Note, some brokers may not operate professionally with their given name, so you may need to search with an individual’s license number.
Georgia law limits the Commission’s investigative authority solely to issues related to the real estate license law.
The Commission’s investigations do not determine whether a violation of any other area of the law has occurred. For example, the Commission cannot settle such issues as disputes regarding earnest money, repairs to property, or payments of fees to licensees. The law of contracts controls these issues. If the parties cannot resolve such issues themselves, they should consult an attorney or the small claims court of their county for assistance.
Anyone who files a request for investigation with the Commission and has suffered a financial loss should not wait for the results of a Commission investigation before consulting an attorney. The Commission cannot replace a financial loss. The law allows the Commission only to reprimand, suspend, or revoke a license and/or impose fines, education requirements, and/or require reports from an independent accountant.
The Commission may only investigate licensed real estate brokers, salespersons, community association managers, or unlicensed persons performing the acts of a broker. It cannot take action against an unlicensed individual who may be an owner or builder acting as a principal on his or her own property.
Read MoreGeorgia’s Job Growth Slows, Employment Strong
ATLANTA–Georgia’s employment grew by 85,500 jobs in calendar year 2017 (January to December), a sharp moderation from the gain of 120,600 jobs in calendar year 2016.
“The question going forward is will this moderation continue or will the positive national and international developments arrest this moderation trend?” said Rajeev Dhawan of the Economic Forecasting Center at Georgia State University’s J. Mack Robinson College of Business.
“Compared to the nation, there are more peaks and valleys in monthly job numbers, but a clear downward trend can be seen since the state’s job growth rate peaked in the first quarter of 2015. This trend also is evident in neighboring and competitive states like Tennessee, Florida and North Carolina,” Dhawan wrote in his quarterly “Forecast of Georgia and Atlanta,” released Feb. 28, 2018.
Georgia’s employment growth in the fourth quarter of 2017 was better than the national number.
In 2017, small businesses were buoyed by good consumer spending, while large corporations benefitted from strong stock market gains of almost 20 percent in the Standard & Poor’s 500 index. Going forward, recent tax cuts (reforms) also benefit consumers and businesses alike. Specifically, small business and domestically demand-driven sectors in the state will remained buoyed by better consumer spending.
“Global growth recovery is evident in Georgia’s exports, which rose in 2017,” Dhawan said. “Exports to Canada, Mexico and China, the state’s largest trading partners, improved substantially last year.”
Increased trade at the state’s largest port in Savannah led to increased job growth in Savannah. Augusta and Athens also saw substantial increases in job growth.
In metro Atlanta, the construction sector saw a sharp moderation in job growth, which Dhawan attributed to the combination of a slowdown in multifamily activity and the completion of SunTrust Park and Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
“Residential housing permits trended lower in 2017 due to a 38.4 percent drop in multifamily housing permits, a trend we expect to continue until 2019,” Dhawan said.
Moderation in the catalyst sector of manufacturing, due to the strong dollar and global economic weakness with trading partners in the Middle East, Latin America and China, has had a trickle-down effect on other sectors, such as hospitality and retail trade, hitting Dalton and Columbus particularly hard, he said.
Dhawan predicts manufacturing will improve in 2018 as the dollar is predicted to weaken this year.
The sustained stock market bull run and corporate tax reforms will continue to support growth in the metro region and Georgia’s large corporate and financial activities sector. Dhawan believes that capital spending will improve in these sectors and aid in job creation.
“These positive factors, domestic and international in scope, will help mitigate the moderating rate of growth in job creation we saw in the last 18 months,” said Dhawan. “We predict a weakening of this moderating trend in job growth, which is the best we can hope for this late in the business cycle.”
Highlights from the Economic Forecasting Center’s Report for Georgia and Atlanta
- Georgia employment will add 76,200 jobs (17,600 premium jobs) in 2018, 64,200 jobs (15,100 premium) in 2019 and 58,900 (13,600 premium) in 2020.
- Nominal personal income will grow 4.1 percent in 2018, 5.3 percent in 2019 and 5.6 percent in 2020.
- Atlanta will add 58,100 jobs (13,100 premium jobs) in 2018, 48,900 jobs (11,700 premium) in 2019 and 43,600 jobs (10,100 premium) in 2020.
- Atlanta permitting activity in 2018 will increase 1.2 percent, increase 2.1 percent in 2019 and 4.0 percent in 2020.
GABB Spring Conference May 15: Taxes and Transitions
Learn about taxes and transitions at the Georgia Association of Business Broker’s Spring Conference on May 15.
Presenter Monty Walker will do two three-hour seminars. The morning session will cover a Tax Update for Business Brokers and the afternoon session will be Case Studies of Transactions. The GABB has secured continuing education credits.
The session will be held from 8:45 a.m.-4:15 p.m. with a 45 minute break for lunch, at the Atlanta Realtors Center at 5784 Lake Forrest Dr. NW, Atlanta, GA 30328. Brian Harper of Atlantic Capital Bank will sponsor the breakfast. Lunch will be provided by Leigh Milton of CharterBank and Kim Eells of Brand Bank.
Registration is $125 for all. Contact Diane Loupe at 404-374-3990 or georgiabusinessbrokers@gmail.com for more information.
Monty Walker is a Certified Public Accountant with a diversity of experience in the private business arena. Monty supports clients throughout the country, and focuses in the business transfer industry, providing support to small business owners in the areas of business transactions, business structuring and design, business tax planning, and business exit planning. Due to his background in the area of business transfers and business transitions, he is often referred to by his clients and colleagues as a “Business Transaction CPA”. Monty is a former member of the IBBA Board of Directors.
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SBA Lenders Talk About Change of Ownership
Georgia’s SBA loan professionals will lead a panel discussion at the Feb. 27 GABB meeting about SBA lending rules and change of ownership requirements.
The Georgia Association of Business Brokers, the state’s only association of professionals who work to facilitate the purchase and sale of businesses and franchises, meets at 10:30 a.m. at the Atlanta Realtors Center at 5784 Lake Forrest Dr. NW, Atlanta, GA 30328. The meeting will be preceded by a free breakfast and networking session sponsored by Mark Jones of Franchise Systems Advisors.
The Feb. 27 SBA panel will discuss “SBA’s SOP for Change of Ownership,” led by Carolyn Robinson, Vice President of Acclivity-Citizens Bank and Brian Harper, Senior Vice President of Atlantic Capital. After their presentation, several other GABB affiliate members will join Kim Eells, Vice President and business development officer at the Brand Bank, for a question and answer session. If you have any questions at all about SBA financing for the purchase or sale of a business or franchise, this session is for you.
The GABB is the state’s only association of professionals who work to facilitate the purchase and sale of businesses and franchises. The group includes business brokers as well as lenders, attorneys, business appraisers, insurance agents, environmental specialists and other professionals. GABB’s member business brokers work with businesses of all sizes to help them through all steps of selling their company: valuation, marketing, financing, and closing. Aspiring business owners also work with business brokers to purchase existing businesses at a fair price.
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