| The Australian way: Auction the house
A buyer registers an offer, the seller may counter it, and they go back and forth until a deal is struck. People who purchase homes this way get a "cooling off period" of several days that allows them to change their minds between the initial agreement of purchase and the exchange of title, Joyce said. This form of consumer protection doesn't exist in western Australia, where state laws are different. There, most homes are sold through one—on-one negotiations. A further difference with Toronto is that 95 per cent of buyers don't use real estate agents. And agents by law must compete on the commissions they make. Commissions run between 1 and 3 per cent of sale price, compared with Toronto's unshakable 5 per cent. "If there's any collusion amongst agents in relation to fee structures they're right on to us," Joyce said, referring to regulatory bodies.
Open Thread
She was a senoir in high school which would have helped with all the bucks that parents must shell out for a free edeucation especially when they are senoirs. "May God have mercy upon my enemies, because I won't." General George S. Patton. .
Zucker: The News from out here
When I retired as general manager of the Yale Daily News in the spring of 2007, I believed that the Yale Daily News was and is the best-equipped college daily newspaper in the country. This is with thanks and gratitude to these wonderful and caring alumni. The News is now totally digital and the Web site has been updated. The University Library is digitizing the archives so that the file can be searched from anywhere. I always feel the News should do more, such as having more contact with and outreach to its alumni and the selling of photos and classified ads through the Web site. From out here in retirement I really enjoy reading the paper and the updates online as well as getting the News at Nine and the Weekly Wrap-Up. It gives me great pleasure to think back on those wonderful years spent in the Briton Hadden Memorial Building and to know the there will always be a Yale Daily News to keep a historical record of what is happening at Yale.
Business Calendar
Share business leads and discuss sales strategies. Call 630-632-9628 or 630-514-7383. DuPage Professional Women's Network: Scott Metcalfe from Empire Consulting speaks on business success, 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., Glendale Lakes Golf Club, 1550 President Drive, Glendale Heights, $25 for members, $35 for nonmembers. Call 630-336-3773. .
Miami blog postings spark $25 million lawsuit
Developer Tibor Hollo has filed a $25 million defamation lawsuit against a Miami real estate agent who blogged that the octogenarian went bankrupt in the 1980s and is headed for a fall with the upheaval in the condo market. Hollo last week sued agent Lucas Lechuga and the Coral Gables brokerage Esslinger-Wooten-Maxwell alleging they have engaged in a smear campaign against him and his Opera Tower condo development on Lechuga's Miami Condo Investments blog. On Monday, the postings cost Lechuga his job. ''We just don't condone making statements, especially negative statements, about anyone, so we have terminated our relationship with our associate,'' said EWM President Ron Shuffield. Its agents are independent contractors, not employees. Lechuga, 29, predicted on the blog that at least half of the buyers in the 635-unit Opera Tower at 1750 Bayshore Dr.
Most Popular
Earlier this month, six troublemakers from antiwar group Code Pink went to Miami to stage a protest against a man they consider a terrorist, but many locals consider a hero. To put it mildly, their little protest did not go well. First there was the claim, broadcast on local Spanish-language TV, that the protesters should watch out, or "someone might crack your head like a coconut." Next came three death threats. Finally, there was the angry mob of mostly Cuban exiles who spat on them. It all started when the FBI announced it would publicize its most-wanted list on billboards in 20 cities, including Miami. The Code Pinkos wanted the FBI to add someone to the list: Miami resident and 80-year-old Cuban wacko Luis Posada Carriles, who has been connected with bombings in Havana in 1997. "I was there when the hotels were bombed, so I always had a beef with Posada Carriles," Code Pink's Medea Benjamin explains.
Judicial Sales
That Portion of Ground BEARING MUNICIPAL NO. 4659 GAWAIN DRIVE, city of New Orleans, in the matter entitled: INDYMAC BANK F.S.B. VS LENA M. SMITH Civil District Court for the Parish of Orleans No. 2007-13339 By virtue of a WRIT OF seizure and sale to me directed by the Honorable The Civil District Court of Orleans, in the above entitled cause, I will proceed to sell by public auction, on the ground floor of the Civil District Court Building, 421 Loyola Avenue, in the First District of the City on January 31, 2008 at 12:00 o'clock noon, the following described property to wit: LOT 8, SQUARE 5, THIRD MUNICIPAL DISTRICT CASTLE MANOR SUBDIVISION MUNICIPAL NO. 4659 GAWAIN DRIVE ACQUIRED MI 777674 Writ Amount: $92,591.69 Seized in the above suit, TERMS CASH.
Djokovic Beats Tsonga for Aussie Title
He's a Grand Slam champion for real.Serving notice that his rapid rise in the rankings last year was no fluke, third-ranked Djokovic ended the Cinderella story of the Australian Open by beating unseeded Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (2) in Sunday night's final."I think every player dreams about winning a Grand Slam," Djokovic said. "It's something special."Top-ranked Roger Federer and No. 2 Rafael Nadal had combined to win the last 11 Grand Slams. Djokovic personally held up Federer's drive for Pete Sampras' record of 14 Grand Slam titles on hold by ousting him in the semifinals. Federer now will go for No. 13 at the French Open.Despite reaching at least the semifinals at the last three Grand Slams, Djokovic has been better known as "Djoker" for his wry sense of humor and impressions of other tennis players that have become hits on YouTube.It was easy to see that requests for the impersonations were wearing on him at Melbourne Park - he tried to beg off when he was asked to mimic Maria Sharapova after a match early in the two-week tournament - so Djokovic let his tennis do the talking.It spoke volumes.The 20-year-old Serbian, who said he listened to music, watched funny videos and told jokes in the locker room to relax before going on court, hadn't dropped a set in six matches until Tsonga stunned him with a pair of great shots to break and take the first set.Djokovic didn't crumble.
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