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Why You Should Purchase Cemetery
Property Ahead of Time
By Jon Kobeck
In this short article I will discuss the benefits of
purchasing cemetery property ahead of time before there
is a need. I will touch on some of the benefits here as
well as point out some of the pitfalls to watch out for.
Price is one of the main reasons for pre-planning. Most
cemeteries offer a deep discount for pre-planning and
will charge a premium for an at-need purchase. Also,
most cemeteries will allow you to finance your memorial
and pay it off over time, interest free. But when there
is a death, the space would have to be paid for in full
before it can be used.
In my opinion, the single most important benefit is that
fact that your loved ones will not be burdened by this
decision. Along with the obvious financial burdens come
the psychological burdens as well. As a former top
producing memorial sales counselor who has worked at two
major New York City cemeteries myself, I can tell you
that I have seen this countless times before. It is only
natural for our survivors (children, spouse etc) to want
to give us the very best, even more-so in death where
guilt plays a part. I have seen families go into debt in
order to buy the most expensive, or the most elaborate
for their departed family member. This is all the reason
why it makes sense to purchase cemetery property ahead
of time, when clear heads will prevail. This is the only
way to insure that our children do not over-spend.
While on this topic I would also like to point out some
of the pitfalls of not pre-planning. When you visit the
cemetery to purchase property, whether pre-planning or
for an immediate death or as we say in the industry
at-need, you will have to deal with a Family Counselor
or sometimes called a Memorial Counselor. Let me be very
clear about something, this person is most certainly NOT
a counselor of any kind. Speaking from my own
experiences I can say that these people receive no
special training in social work, grief counseling or
anything of the like. These people are salespeople and
nothing more. In the cemeteries I was involved in we
worked on straight commission. Most of my co-workers and
myself included earned six figure incomes. I am not
implying that cemetery salespeople are unethical. In
fact, most of the people I worked with were always
professional and had the utmost ethics and sensitivity
in dealing with their clients. But there are always
exceptions, especially in a commission driven
environment. My point is this; you are at a significant
advantage in dealing with a Memorial Counselor now when
you don't need the property. You have the upper-hand.
You can walk away. But after a death occurs then there
is no walking away(pardon my pun). True even when there
is a death a person can still "shop" different
cemeteries, but this is something that is highly
unlikely. At a time of death, generally a cemetery plot
will need to be purchased and paid in full today. The
cemetery now has the upper hand when this happens.
If you are pre-purchasing above ground space in a
community mausoleum try to buy before the building is
actually built. Buying this way will insure a deep
discount. also I would suggest paying for your opening
fees, inscription fees and any other fees associated
with burial or entombment at the time you purchase the
property. By doing this you will often times lock in the
price and avoid future increases.
If possible, you should try to make your purchase as
close to the end of the month as possible, even on the
last day of the month. Like most salespeople, a huge
percentage of our income was based on monthly bonuses.
We had a certain number we had to hit each month in
order to receive our bonus. Half of my income was from
bonuses. And not only does the salesperson receive his
or her bonus, but the sales manager may also receive a
bonus as well. Factor in to this the cemetery itself has
to file quarterly reports with its board of directors
and trustees. Pre-planning allows you the luxury to
visit the cemetery at the end of the month. This does
not guarantee that you will get a better price, but in
my opinion if there is any possibility of a discount
this is the time you will have your best chance.
I hope some of these tips will help you in your
decision. I know death is something no one likes to
think about, but it happens to all of use. The decision
to purchase cemetery property is something that we can
either make now for ourselves, or our loved ones will be
forced to make latter for us. |
