7.5-hour courses

Fifty Ways to Leave Your Lawyer is a collection of 50 practice pointers designed to reduce risks. This is an updated version of a course last offered in 2002. Topics include agency, disclosures, representations, transactions and diligence. Emphasis is on prudent conduct and prevention (i.e., what to do), rather than just legal duties. For example, rather than simply saying, “Brokers owe a duty to exercise reasonable skill and care” (a fairly vague standard), this course says, “Conduct your business a couple steps on the secure side of where you think the line is, so you have a margin of safety.”

Real Estate Purchase and Sale Agreements covers pitfalls frequently encountered by licensees in completing and handling residential purchase and sale agreements. Topics include: purposes of purchase and sale agreements, terms and conditions, statute of frauds, community property, earnest money, handling offers and counteroffers, completion of forms, and common contingencies.

Real Estate Brokerage Relationships, Rights and Responsibilities covers the law of real estate agency and more: creation of brokerage relationships, including sample forms; duties of licensees generally, including disclosure obligations; additional duties of seller’s agents, buyer’s agents and dual agents, including the duties of loyalty and confidentiality; and commission claims.

Disclosure Requirements in Real Estate Transactions is a compilation of the disclosures required by law in various types of real estate transactions. We have come a long way since the days of caveat emptor (“let the buyer beware”). The disclosures required in real estate transactions today come from different sources and were enacted at different times. Until now, there was no single source to consult for required disclosures. This course synthesizes the disclosure requirements in a practical and meaningful format, including a helpful matrix of the disclosures required for different types of properties.

One Size Doesn’t Fit All: Contract Drafting for Residential Real Estate Professionals is an advanced course on contract drafting. There's much more to completing purchase and sales agreements than "filling in the blanks." Real estate licensees are admonished time and again not to engage in the practice of law; consequently, licensees typically are not trained in contract drafting and are left to their own devices — often with disastrous results! Printed forms are great, but they are “one size fits all” and not all transactions are the same size. This practical course covers drafting tips, rules of contract interpretation, avoiding ambiguity and drafting limitations on licensees.

Legal Aspects of New Construction: From the Ground Up covers the legal aspects of selling vacant land, lots and new houses with emphasis on correct completion of purchase and sale agreements and law affecting new residential construction. Students will be able to: recognize pitfalls in deed release and subordination clauses, prepare accurate and tighter contingencies, determine whether and land development act applies, and comply with subdivision enabling act.

3 to 4-hour courses

Legal Aspects of Real Estate Technology & Intellectual Property reviews the impact of technology and intellectual property on real estate brokerage law, including do-not-call rules, advertising faxes, internet advertising, blogging, privacy and confidentiality, personality rights, virtual office websites, electronic signatures, domain names and mobile phones (4.0 clock hours).

Oscar: Outrageously Sloppy Contracts Agent Right takes a light-hearted, but serious, look at real life examples of drafting nightmares. This short-course on contracts covers common drafting errors and how to avoid them (3.5 clock hours).

Recognizing and Handling Red Flags in Real Estate Transactions covers legal duties relating to red flags, common red flags, sources of information, steps in handling red flags, risk shifting tools, and the role of intuitive (3.5 clock hours).

Course Descriptions

“Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught.”

 

Oscar Wilde