Facebook and Twitter

As you are aware the popularity of facebook and twitter has changed our life for good. In a process of one or two years these website have become a social tool that enable us to receive on a daily and hourly basis an updates about our friends, family and individual that we find them to be of interest. On facebook i can communicate with my friends and people that i am acquainted with. This website also provide me with information about social events that are occurring in my neighbourhood and view photos that have been posted by my friends. Needles to say that facebook has changed it all it is quite understandable why globally it is such a popular site with huge followers. Lately though i started to use twitter as well. This website popularity is increasing and now i understand why. Twitter allows me to follow on a well known individuals and read their messages. By doing that I feel like I'm getting a personal and direct messages from them. There is no third party like the news media or spoke person that can convey their messages and distort it. Some of the people that i follow are Al Gore, Anderson Copper 360, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Lance Armstrong, Shaquile O'Neil and others. I am still new to this site and wonder how the popularity of this site will increase and challenge facebook. I like both of these website and look forward to see how these sites will progress and become a better social tool for us to communicate and entertain us in the future to come.

Self Help Books

Early last year I decided to expend my knowledge and start reading self help books. I guess one reason for doing so, was as I commute to work by bus and the subway and there is no better way of doing so other than by reading a book making your journey to work educational and enjoyable. Another reason for doing so, is that I find it difficult sometime and I guess in speaking for many other people, is to keep motivated and have a positive attitude on a daily basis after experiencing the daily life obstacles that one has to face. One of the first book that I read was “The Power of Positive Thinking” by Norman Vincent Peale considered to be a classic and read by millions of people all over the world. I actually got to know about this book by reading first Donald Trump Book “How To Get Rich” wherein one of the chapters he indicated that one way of keeping a positive attitudes is by reading self help books and he recommended to his readers to read “The Power of Positive Thinking”. I took Mr. Trump advise and read the book and liked it. This book gave me some great ideas on how to keep positive attitude and look at life differently. Norman Vincent Pearl strongly believes that by praying daily you will have a better attitude in life and a better way of keeping a positive attitude. After reading the "Power of Positive Thinking", I carried on and read over 10 books by different authors such as Dale Carneige, Napolen Hill, Eckhart Toole, Richard St. John, Stepehen M Pollan and others. I can say now, with confidence, that reading these books helped me to assess some difficult scenarios that I faced last year both in my private life and work and helped me to resolve these issues with great success. I also learned a lot of key words from these books that I try to think of them often and adopted them. For example, For success you need to go the extra mile, attitude is more important than facts, you can if you think you can, its all in your head, keep on believing in yourself and the power of now. Once you read a self help book, it is hard to remember every single point made, but if you keep and try to remember the basics and keep on reading more of these books eventually these ideas can become a second nature to you and a practical way in solving problems and keeping a positive attitude. I therefore, strongly recommend for you to pick up any self help book that you can get either from the local library or book store and read it. Because I can assure you that it will make the difference for you in living a better life for yourself and to the people that surrounds you.

Understanding the Role of Your Real Estate Lawyer

Anyone purchasing real estate property should be acquainted with the responsibilities of their real estate lawyer. One particular responsibility for every real estate transaction in Ontario is the obligation of the lawyer acting on behalf of the purchaser to conduct title search. Title search is necessary for a variety of reasons. To list a few, the lawyer discovers the name(s) of the property registered owner(s), the name of property current mortgage provider, the principal amount owing on the mortgage, and the date the mortgage will expire. The title search is a critical step in the real estate transaction, and quite possibly the most important step taken toward ensuring the transaction runs smoothly. In the process of conducting the search, the lawyer can determine if legislation concerning the Planning Act has been contravened; non-compliance with this legislation is fatal to any intended transaction. The lawyer can also determine if there are any registered liens on the property. If registered liens are discovered, it is the responsibility of the lawyers to deal with this issue forthwith and prior to closing. Time is the essence of title searching. By conducting a search in a timely fashion, the diligent lawyer is able to provide the lawyer acting on behalf of the seller with a letter of requisitions regarding any outstanding issues associated with the property. This letter can be explained as a series of inquiries and requests, with which the seller must comply, excepting exemptions in accordance with the conditions of the sale, arising as a result of a proposed purchase. When the seller(s) solicitor receives the letter of requisitions, the seller becomes obligated to resolve any issues that are detailed therein. In other words, this letter serves as a point from which communication begins between the legal representatives of the purchaser and the seller to solve legal issues related to the property in question. Once the title search is complete, the lawyer is in a much better position to provide an opinion of the property to the relevant parties, such as prospective lenders, who would rather secure their loan with a lawyer’s opinion of the property’s title before furnishing financing to the buyer, or title insurance providers, for example, who require that the buyer’s lawyer is able to advise them of the state of the title to ensure the well-being of a title insurance policy before it is provided to the new owner after closing.

Title Insurance

In recent years, title insurance for real estate transactions has become an increasingly popular tool and used often in real estate transactions in purchasing residential homes, condominium units and commercial properties. Title insurance policy moves the risk associated with title from the buyer, the lending institution, or the lawyer to the title insurer. It is designed to cover the unpredictable or undetectable issues that can affect the right of ownership to the property and often allows the purchaser to spend less on legal fees since certain redundant searches prior to closing may be waived by the title insurance company. The insured is protected in the event that loss arises from one or more covered title risks, for example defects in the title to a property, tax arrears, zoning matters, another party claiming an interest in the property and title fraud. In these cases and in many other cases, the title insurer may rectify the problem or compensate the title insurance policyholder provided the type of problem that surfaces is covered by the title insurance policy. It is important to note that title fraud is a serious issue these days and unfortunately on the rise. Fraud can occur when someone commits a criminal act by selling a property without the true owner knowledge, re-mortgage a property and obtain funds by providing fake identification and forging faulse signature. It is therefore vital that every homeowner should get title insurance as the damage can be quite substantial. Prior to closing the real estate transaction, the lawyer acting on behalf of the purchasers should advise the purchasers that they have the option to title insure their newly purchased property. There are a number of title insurance companies offering title insurance today. When purchasing a property, be sure to speak to me for clarification on your title insurance policy and what kind of coverage you will get. Title insurance is also available for existing home owners with certain qualifications.

Teraview

Occasionally when I speak to my clients about their real estate transactions I end up explaining to them about the legal procedure and the usage of Teraview software. Teraview the online program for real estate transactions brought major changes in Ontario. From the old system where real estate transactions done at the registry office to transactions done online using the lawyer's computer right at his office. Teraview enables lawyers and other licensed qualifiers to perform various tasks such as title searches, view title documents, create and submit title documents for registration purposes and many more. In order to complete a basic residential real estate transaction the lawyers acting for the vendor and the purchaser needs to enter into a standard document registration agreement that outlines their rights and obligations towards each other considering the fact that the transaction will be done electronically, exchange closings documents and sign and register electronically the transfer/title deed and in most cases the charge/mortgage. Once registration takes place ownership of the property immediately passes to the new owner. Despite the above, the registry offices in Ontario are still open to the public and operate. There are still transactions that can only be done at the registry offices and not online. For example, recently I had to visit the registry office for a residential transaction on a property that was not converted electronically. This was as a result that the property had a title problem in the past and could not be converted electronically when Teraview was introduced. However these kinds of transactions occur very seldom and to a few properties. It goes without saying that the way Teraview reformed the legal procedure in real estate transactions in Ontario, it made this province a leading edge in real estate transactions. An example for many others to follow.

Skype

A few years ago while I was articling in a boutique law firm in downtown Toronto, one day I heard loud voices coming from my principal office. I assumed that my principal was having clients as his doors to the office were closed and I could not tell who was there. Later on and to my surprise, I discovered that my principal was using a software called Skype on his computer and there was no one at his office. He was speaking on a conference call to his relatives overseas using a good set of speakers and a microphone. What amazed me was how clear I could hear their voices which led me to believe that someone was there at that time. That is how I got introduced to Skype. I immediately liked it and decided to start using it. Skype is my number one tool to communicate with family, friends and clients online. In my website, under contact page I have a direct link to call me on Skype and often I receive calls from people using this link. I can recall doing a real estate transaction for one of my clients that lives overseas and wanted to sell his property here in Toronto. Most of my conversations with him were on Skype and my communications with him were much simpler which led to an easy real estate closing. I could also tell that he was quite happy using this software and find it to be an interesting way to communicate with me. Funny but even today when people pass my office while I am on Skype they think that someone is in my office but to discover that they were wrong. You are probably asking yourself, hey is this guy trying to promote Skype, so my answer to you not necessarily but to show how technology these days can change the way a law practice can run. Gone are the days when faxes, emails and telephone calls were the only way to communicate with Clients. With a bit of creativity and some knowledge you can find a good software that can help your business to progress. It also makes practising law much more fun. So go ahead visit my website and call me on Skype.

Introduction

Finally after lots of thought and encouragement from family, friends and clients, I've decided to start a blog. I've put numerous hours of thought into what I wanted the content of this blog to be. Should it be just about various topics of law? Or perhaps any other topic or topics that will be of interest to my visitors to read. I've decided that my blog should be about myself and my life experience with the field of law. I want this blog to let my visitors increase their legal knowledge and hopefully some source of information. In a way I also consider this blog to be a learning experience for me. Every few weeks I will add a new topic for my visitors to read. Feel free to get in touch with me, will be nice to hear from you.

My email address is eran@eranlaw.com and Website www.eranlaw.com

Thank you for visiting my blog page and my web site. Eran Gevantschniter