Professional Practice Sales review: Ray irving is a crook 13

If Raymond Irving were a crook the first thing that you'd see is a formal complaint registered with the DRE. You would likely also see public records addressing civil litigations naming him as a defendant as well. The absence of these records demonstrates that the claims about Mr. Irving are pure fecal matter and the overwhelming support from others with no dog in this cyber fight carry significant weight. Ray Irving is head and shoulders above the crowd. Some of his competitors have over 50 litigations in their recent history. Know where to look and do your homework...and take the misspelled and unsupported rants of sophmoric anomynous complainers with a grain of salt.

Ray, has been the far most knowledgable and ethical person I have ever met in the practice acquisition process, I came to California few months back and contacted some brokers, but most of them don't take buyers seriously, especially new grads. I met with Ray and explained him my situation where I am in the practice buying process, he listened to my concerns and helped me by giving his expert opinions.
He is a person of high integrity and I am sue you will love working with him in your practice buying or selling process.

Dr. D Dalla

Fascinating post. I applaud Ray Irving for responding directly but doing so with professionalism and class. I, too, have had the pleasure of working with Ray Irving. Our transactions didn't always materialize but the factors involved in the transaction failures had absolutely nothing to do with Ray. Our first attempt was a purchase for a practice who's landlord didn't approve of our tenancy. Ray fought for weeks to try to change the landlord's mind but to no avail (we later found out that the landlord was married to a dentist and he took over the space himself). Our second attempt was the listing of our Brentwood practice for sale. We interviewed several brokers including Ray Irving. While we didn't hire Ray, it was not because we questioned his ethics or his professionalism or his competency. It honestly just came down to the numbers. The other broker offered terms that we couldn't walk away from - given our continued expansion of our company. But Ray Irving, given the classy professional that he is, took the time to email me to confirm the sale listing and remained professional throughout. I recommend Ray Irving without reservations. He absolutely knows what he's doing. He's not cheap (in price or in character). But as they say, "you get what you pay for".
- Charmaine M. Kennedy of Perfect Smiles Family Dentistry

I have recently purchased a practice where Ray was the broker for the seller so I can inject an opinion from the purchasers point of view. Ray works for the seller, not the purchaser, but as a purchaser I will say that he is fair in all that he does. He discloses that he is working only for the seller and advises all perspective purchasers to aquire third party advice on the practice purchase. I found Ray to be honest and although he works for the seller, will inform the buyer to look into certain aspects of the practice that may be negative points depending on how you look at it - which may be initially overlooked by the 'excited' purchaser. Ray is not out there to 'scam' the potential purchaser as this would just backfire and bite him in the ### in the long run - he discloses everything, warts and all. Throughout the negotiations, Ray was firm and to the point to try and move the process along and get the job done in a timely manner for the sake of the seller. This is how it should be. If the purchaser really wants the practice, he/she will abide by the rules set up by a broker to make the deal happen. All brokers set up these rules and deadlines so that the sale of the practice flows and happens in a timely manner and Ray is no different. If they did not do so, the whole process could drag on and on, wasting everyones time.
Even though I know Ray was not working for me, when I think about my experience, I thought Ray did a great job for the seller, and was fair to myself (the purchaser) in the sense that he disclosed everything (good and bad) about the practice I was intending to purchase. There were no major surprises with the purchase and I am totally satisfied after all is said and done. As a buyer, one should always remember that it is 'buyer beware' and do his/her due diligence (as we all do in any major purchase we make, whether it is a dental office or some other major investment). The greatest compliment as a buyer that I can give to Ray is that when I sell my practice, I know who I will get to sell it for me... Ray Irving.

Don't use Ray Irwing to sell a practice as I found him to be a selfish and mean agent only there for his interest to make money and nothing else. I sold a practice thro him and he is the most difficult, rude, unprofessional, self serving agent. I couldn't wait to get the sale thro and give his commission and close the chapter on the agony he put me thro in a normally seemless and non-nonsense sale. Avoid him at all cost, go with other dental sales representatives if you have a choice -- I made a bad choice. Avoid him there are more honorable agents out there who can get the same damn job done in a professional manner

Ray Irving sold my practice nearly 3 years ago. Ray was completely honest and was concerned with, and worked to find, the right dentist to purchase and succeed in the practice. He wants to make it a WIN WIN for both the buyer and seller. He worked extremely hard, returned emails very promptly, and was very thorough. For those of us who have worked with Ray, we know you have lost all credibility when you call him a jerk and a crook as nothing could be further from the truth.

The buyer of my practice recently commented that he was very pleased with the purchase. I realize my perspective is from the seller's experience, but perhaps in a way it is even more relevant when I say that if I was to purchase a practice in California, I would go to Ray Irving.

I am Ray Irving. This complaint was posted by Doctor A. Even though Doctor A has torched me publicly; I see no reason to identify him. Doctor A is correct. We represent dentists who wish to sell their practices. We are not dual agents and we do not represent buyers. During Doctor A’s pursuit of two practices listed with our firm, he was advised in writing to engage advisors to represent his interests. Our “Seller Representation” is clearly stated in the marketing package on each listing. This disclosure pattern continues with the financial package provided, the Offers we draft and the proposed Asset Purchase Agreements we provide which are accompanied by a letter stating that this proposal needs to be reviewed by one’s attorney. And our fees are paid 100% by our clients, the sellers.

In October 2008, a client accepted an Offer to sell his Walnut Creek practice to Doctor A. The Offer outlined specific conditions to be satisfied. The financing condition stated: “Buyer’s obtainment of a satisfactory written proposal regarding the financing required for those proceeds necessary to complete this purchase”. This condition was to be removed within 21-days by Doctor A sending me an email stating that he had an acceptable loan proposal. Doctor A realized two loan proposals within this time frame. The loan he favored did not provide sufficient working capital. Citing this as the reason, Doctor A negotiated a $10, 000 price reduction. Still Doctor A would not remove this condition. He was sent 5-emails outlining that the 21-day financing timeline had expired and that his Offer was in a rescindable state. He was informed that the seller was irritated by his behavior and that there was other interest. Nine days after the financing condition expired and with this condition not removed, our client rescinded the Offer.

In May 2009, Doctor A expressed interest in a practice listed in the Sacramento Foothills. On July 9th, our client accepted an Offer from Doctor A. After performing his due diligence, Doctor A submitted another Offer on August 1st which was $60, 000 less than the earlier Offer. Knowing our client would not accept this Offer, I attempted to find a price point that might work for both parties. In my attempt to find resolution, Doctor A stated in an email: “You pulled the same trick on me last year on the Walnut Creek practice” and rescinded his Offer on August 3rd.

Doctor A’s agenda becomes transparent in his comments regarding “deposits” and our "address”. All deposits are delivered to the title company handling the escrow. The only principals to an escrow are the seller and buyer. When Doctor A was informed by my 5:13 PM email on November 10, 2008 that his Offer on the Walnut Creek practice was rescinded, that same email stated that I would be instructing the title company to refund his deposit. An email was sent to the title company at 5:19 PM (and copied to Doctor A) informing them that the escrow was terminated and instructed them to refund the deposit. Doctor A returned an email acknowledging receipt of the recession notice at 6:58 PM. The deposit refund was mailed to Doctor A on November 12th as the 11th was Veterans Day with the title company closed. Doctor A incurred no costs from the title company in this failed escrow. As it concerns the Sacramento Foothills practice, Doctor A never delivered the required deposit as outlined in the Offer. Concerning our address, my wife and I moved to Bodega Bay in Sonoma County in late 2009. There is no mail delivery in Bodega Bay. PO Boxes are the only way mailed is received. That is why we have a PO Box on our website. Prior to the move, our street address was on the website. Further, we have not had a client visit us in our office since we relocated from San Francisco some 20+ years ago. All meetings are conducted in our clients' offices.

In dealing with Doctor A, it became obvious that the protocols we employ to manage a sale and the manner by which he intended to acquire a practice were not compatible. As such, I was relieved that both purchase discussions came to an end. And both clients were happy to see him go away as they sensed trouble.

As much as I find it distasteful to provide an explanation in a public forum, I cannot allow Doctor A to maliciously defame me and the firm I have worked with for over 36 years. Our files, our two clients and the escrow manager at the title company will support all of these statements. My phone number is [protected] if you would like to personally discuss this. I would like to thank those parties who have posted comments to Doctor A’s baseless complaint.

“I spent two years investigating the purchase of a practice. I investigated private sales and practices listed with numerous firms in Northern California. I found the practices which Ray Irving represented were the most transparent in their presentation and with all of the supporting documents mirroring the offering package. In previous due diligence investigations, I discovered what was represented and what was later documented being different. Further, my Southern California CPA had worked on other client acquisitions made available through Ray and only had positive things to say about his conduct and his work product. As we neared the closing date, Ray learned that Delta Dental was implementing changes to their Premiere Plan which had not yet become pubic information. He immediately phoned me and outlined what he had learned. This allowed me time to investigate this change and to consider the impact it would have upon the practice. It further elevated my trust in Ray. I concluded the purchase and now enjoy a very busy practice. Even though Ray represented the seller, he made sure that I had all of the information I needed to make my decision. There have been no surprises and I am very pleased with my purchase.” DDS

As an attorney to more than 4, 000 dentists nationwide for business related matters, I have had the pleasure of working with Mr. Ray Irving on numerous occasions. I have found him not only to be beyond reproach when it comes to ethics, I have also found him to be extremely thorough, even handed and the cream of the crop of his profession. I deal with scores of dental practice brokers nationally, some of which have earned a bad reputation for how they treat potential buyers, but I can say unequivocally that Mr. Irving has earned, and enjoys, a reputation that far surpasses many of his colleagues when it comes to the positive feedback of his clients, expert advisors in this field and his colleagues.

The post that started this thread makes no sense and appeared to be debased of logic. Mr. Irving only represents the Seller and provides information to potential buyers to independently (with the help from the Buyer's advisors) evaluate the practice in question. Everything that you allude to you in your post (albeit in the worst light possible) is the function of a good broker. A broker is to stop tire kickers from eating away at the Seller's valuable time. It is the broker's job to make sure that any potential buyer follows the clock on the transition and if you begin to stall, it is the broker's job to make sure that you either start performing on your end of things or he needs to move on to another buyer. Brokers don't "eat up your deposit", they hold it to make sure that you comply with what you have signed. If you run out of time on your contingencies and don't provide proper notice, then based upon the offer you signed, the Seller gets to keep that money because you wasted everybody's time. I would encourage the original poster to review his "position" of things and to admit fault when it appears to be clear that the fault rests not on Mr. Irving but upon the poster himself.

Well sam 22, I am very well versed in practice sales transactions however, nothing in my post has anything to do with "who pays commissions" and everything to do with ethics. Because I have personally dealt with 99% of the brokers in CA as publisher of The Dental Trader and because I hear feedback from thousands of dentists, dental attorneys, dental lenders and consultants every year...I know who is credible and who isn't. There are "some brokers" I refuse to do business with because of their reputations...Ray Irving's reputation is among the best in Calif. Has been for the 30 yrs we have done business together. he is a deeply religious man who keeps his word. Many other brokers pale by comparison, spending much time in court. If this complaint were valid, thaqt's where it would have been resolved instead of a webpage where people can post anything free of scrutiny and the burden of proof. I urge doctors reading this to ask others about Ray Irving's reputation...they will soon learn there are few with anything negative to say. Most people highly respect and love the man. I am one of them but hey, we've only been conducting monthly business together for 30 years so what do I know?

My advise to Sam 22 is to start your own practice from scratch..no commission and no broker..good luck..

I have been doing business with Ray Irving for three consecutive decades and have never encountered any problems with him. He is direct, honest and with the exception of the complaintant, is a widely respected and trusted practice broker. But as everyone in business knows...there will always be a tiny segment of society that you cannot satisfy. They don't WANT to be happy and the more you try, the more they scream. Just read the anomynous complaint...not the writings of a mature professional. I deal with 99% of the brokers in CA and Ray's reputation is among the best so I don't buy this complaint at all. Ray is one of the good guys.

ray irving has been selling dental practices for over 30 years and is fantastic at what he does..he is totally an honest person with great knowledge..and yes, his job is for the selling dentist..that is who pays him..the buyer needs to do their own due diligence and decide if this is the practice they want...enough of the cry babies who probably could or should not run their own office...