Don Berube has worked as a title attorney for 20 years in Massachusetts, Florida and Pennsylvania. His travels in the industry have brought him to quite a few interesting places, and he has met a few interesting people. After closing former NFL fullback and Patriots running backs coach Maurice Carthon’s condo purchase in 1994, Carthon recommended Berube to Drew Bledsoe.
“He said he’d tell the guys in the locker room I was a good guy,” Berube said. “I wish I had nickel for every time somebody said that, and it never comes to fruition.”
This time, the recommendation did bear fruit: Berube represented Bledsoe for the purchase and development of his 10,000-square-foot home in Medfield (where Curt Schilling currently resides).
Berube eventually went back to being a title attorney, and saw an opportunity both in the title insurance industry, and in his hometown of Fall River: On Aug. 1 he opened his own company, Main Street National Title.
Don Berube
Title: President and Founder of Main Street National Title
Age: 47
Experience: 20 Years
You saw opportunity not only in the market, but here in Fall River?
I did see opportunity here in Fall River. I’m at a stage in my live where I need to decide where I wanted to go, what I wanted to do for the next phase. I feel like I have an opportunity to make a path for myself to do what I want.
I see opportunities to grow a business here in the city largely because I believe we have such a great dedicated workforce seeking opportunities to expand their own personal professional growth. I think this is a great place to start a business because you can encourage a workforce through education and training, and because of that you’re able to provide service to your customers that are second to none, and it’s cost effective.
What made you say, ‘This is the right time to open Main Street?’
Several reasons, the first of which is we’ve seen where the industry has contracted over the last 24 months. A number of, what I would describe as, bit players in the industry are out. That has created a bit of a void, and that has allowed people who have been around awhile to weather the storm and be able to acquire customers through market growth, and fill that void created by those other folks being out. I see opportunity here.
Even more specific in Massachusetts, I believe, is the decision by the federal court in the REBA (Real Estate Bar Association) vs. NREIS (National Real Estate Information Services) decision, [will] expand the opportunities over time for the growth of title companies in Massachusetts. (Ed. note: the courts ruled real estate closings needed to be conducted solely by attorneys, as is the case currently in the commonwealth).
Are you a member of REBA?
No, I am not. But I had been when I was first starting out.
So you think the courts have that one correct?
Absolutely. If you look at others who have concurred with the federal court decision … the Federal Trade Commission, for example, weighed in, and they strongly suggested that consumers are hurt by the way Mass. has forced real estate transactions to be conducted.
How will Main Street National Title be successful?
Where I believe we’ll be most successful is by integrating technology, and making us far more efficient, and making us exceedingly customer friendly. I believe that this is an exceedingly customer-driven industry now. The old days of borrowers trudging through inclement weather to get to an attorney’s office at a time most convenient to the attorney are long gone, or certainly should be.
We will go to every borrower’s home for a refinance transaction if that’s the venue of choice for the borrower. We’ll conduct purchase transactions at a venue that’s most desirable to the Realtors and the parties involved, and through our software, they’re going to be able to look at where exactly they are in the transaction. I believe that buyers and sellers … are far more savvy than what they’ve ever been. And quite frankly I believe they’re far more savvy than what many attorneys give them credit for.
I don’t want to come off as attorney bashing – I’m very proud to be a lawyer. But there are parts of this transaction which frankly are better facilitated by someone with a business background than a legal agreement. Clearly, the negotiation of a purchase-and-sale agreement is best done by an attorney; that’s a contract. But the acquisition of the numbers of the transaction truly does not require a law school degree. The reality is some 45 or 46 states in the United States do not deem this the practice of law.
Don Berube’s Five Favorite Restaurants In Fall River
1.) Sagresh – Portuguese cuisine on Columbia Street.
2.) Marzilli’s Bakery – Bedford Street.
3.) Europa – a European-style bistro on Columbia Street.
4.) Sam’s – Lebanese cuisine on Flint Street.
5.) Sky Lounge – great martinis on Third Street.
