CNN Rates Where to Buy vs. Where to Rent and Miami is a BUY

Posted by Gabriel on Oct 26th, 2010 | no comments

Average list price: $229,293

Average monthly rent : $2,165

Price to rent ratio: 8.83

Miami’s high foreclosure rate and unemployment make it a great place to bargain hunt.

“Miami is an area where at the peak of the market, people were flying in from all over the world and spending lots of money buying and developing homes, and they delivered beautiful buildings,” said Christian Tupper of Related Cervera Realty Services. “The prices at which they were sold originally were tremendously higher than they are now, so now someone who wants to buy has access to amazing properties.”

Tupper said he’s currently showing a 2-bedroom condo in a high-end building in downtown Miami that was selling for around $500,000 a couple years ago is now listed for $350,000.

Popularity: 40% [?]

Quit Claim Deeds get scrutiny from Title Insurance Underwriters

Posted by Gabriel on Oct 2nd, 2010 | no comments

I write title insurance in Miami with The Fund and can tell you that their heads of education have advised me against using a Quit Claim Deed for any purpose. Now they can explain the technical reasons behind why as lawyers and as a Title Company we should discourage the practice of using a Quit Claim Deed but the practical reason for it is to avoid the scrutiny. I have been told by more than one underwriter that a Quit Claim Deed that is recently in the chain will raise suspicions about the transfer. For one, it raises the question of whether there may have been a fraudulent transfer. Secondly, documentary stamp taxes may not have been properly paid.

If you ate divorcing and are told to do a QCD then ask your lawyer about incorporating the transfer of property within the Final Judgment.

If you need to transfer property to a related party then I suggest using a Special Warranty Deed and having your lawyer even put language in the Deed that no doc stamp tax is required.

Quit Claim Deeds may be easy to write but can cause more headaches when you sell the property in the future. Make sure that you consult with a real estate professional about whether a Quit Claim Deed, Special Warranty Deed or Warranty Deed is best for your circumstances.

Popularity: 66% [?]

Foreclosure can be a Taxable Event

Posted by Gabriel on Oct 2nd, 2010 | no comments

I just read a great article on Short Sale myths and something that was addressed is that many people believe that being foreclosed is not forgiveness of debt and therefore not taxable. This is simply not true and is just one more reason that if you are at risk for losing your home you have to act early and find out all your options, which include considering a loan modification, short sale or bankruptcy. There are exceptions when the deficiency in a foreclosure is not taxable. You should speak to an attorney or tax professional about the specifics of your case.

Popularity: 45% [?]

Miami Herald Article mentioning my website, MyDivorceLawyer.com

Posted by Gabriel on Feb 15th, 2010 | no comments

Miami Herald photo with Gabriel Bodner, Dr. Michael Epstein and Dr. Jerome Poliacoff

I am very excited that the Miami Herald mentioned my website in an article about business collaboration. It is a pleasure working with Dr. Jerome Poliacoff and Dr. Michael Epstein. I consider Dr. Poliacoff and Dr. Epstein to be leading psychologists in Miami on very difficult family issues. It is an honor to work with them on this project and to be associated with their technological vision as mentioned in this article.

If you want to read the article check it out at my website http://www.mydivorcelawyer.com/resources/news.html.

Popularity: 100% [?]

Accidental Billionaires | The Facebook Story

Posted by Gabriel on Dec 17th, 2009 | no comments

Just finished reading the Accidental Billionaires book and I have to say that it is an excellent read, but it is also a great story of the importance of having legal protections in place when forming a partnership.  I can tell you from my own personal experience that partnerships can be extremely rewarding and other times can destroy the closest of relationships.  Sometimes, simply going through the exercise of drafting a contract about how your duties and profits will be split can reveal everyone’s intentions.

As for the book, I highly recommend it.  Ben Mezrich has written another fun and exciting biography about rare genius that inspires people to want to go out and invent something special.

Popularity: 64% [?]

Outsource to India (not a chance)

Posted by Gabriel on Dec 7th, 2009 | no comments

I was working on a tech solution that I had hoped to outsource. So I called a tech company in India that had a long list of Fortune 1000 clients. I also called a company based out of Chicago.

If you know me, you know that I am very open minded about outsourcing. I want my tech work done right but at a fair cost. Tech is global so the workforce is global and I don’t have a politically protectionist bone in my body. That being said, my experience with India is getting worst by the day. The tech support call centers are bad and the IT solutions are subpar.

The Chicago company I called had a human with a real phone (not voip) who understood what I wanted to accomplish and did a proof of concept for free over a web meeting. The Indian company pushed for a sale over the phone, when I demanded a proof of concept they insisted on being paid.  Their product proved inferior and they wanted to be paid more for it then the company based out of Chicago.

Don’t get me wrong, I dealt with a call center in the Philippines that was great a few weeks ago, but for intelligent technology solutions you still find affordable and capable people in the US as compared to abroad. You may be able to hire someone in India or elsewhere for half the price of the US but sometimes you end up getting a non-working product that gets thrown away.

I can now laugh (knowing that it’s true from my own experience) about a friend who was building a classified website with a company from India. He had been working for a week describing what he wanted when finally the voice on the other end of a voip phone asked “What exactly is a classified?”. My friend told me that he almost pulled his hair out. If there was a question about what a classified ad was then why didn’t someone ask about it the first day.

Outsourcing is great, but just make sure you look at all the options and request a proof of concept before buying in.

Popularity: 51% [?]

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-12-06

Posted by Gabriel on Dec 6th, 2009 | no comments

• Just went to the Atlanta aquarium. Very nice exhibits and lots of fun. #

Popularity: 45% [?]

Do your Legal Research on Google Scholar

Posted by Gabriel on Nov 30th, 2009 | no comments

Google has released a new site where you can do legal research.  I still prefer Precydent.com as a free solution over Google but I am sure that Google will continue to improve its search functions over time.  Check out Google’s legal research site at scholar.google.com.

Popularity: 66% [?]

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-11-29

Posted by Gabriel on Nov 29th, 2009 | no comments

• About to see Precious. I can't say enough about how great it is to be disconnected from the office. It's nice not being chained to a desk. #

Popularity: 46% [?]

Why Fastcase may win over Lexis and Westlaw

Posted by Gabriel on Nov 28th, 2009 | no comments

Fastcase is the opensource solution for finding case law online.  It is cheaper and easier to navigate then Westlaw and Lexis.  It doesn’t have all the bells and whistles that Westlaw and Lexis have, but for lawyers looking who are tech savvy and need research done without billing their clients an arm and a leg for it Fastcase is a great solution.  Another newcomer to online legal research is Precydent.com.  For the non-lawyer looking for case law, I would try this out first and then go to Fastcase for a free trial.  The law should be open to everyone.  The public should not have to go down to the law library just to look up some cases and statutes that may affect their lives.  I believe that services like Precydent and Fastcase are finally opening up the law to everyone.

Popularity: 79% [?]