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What Is A Real Estate Option Agreement?

If you are a sports fan, you have likely heard of option agreements as part of a professional athletes’ contract with his or her current team. The world of real estate has option agreements, as well. They are very common agreements that allow for someone to essentially place a reservation on a piece of property. They have the option of buying it if they want or allowing someone else to swoop in and buy it if they like. Let’s take a look at an average real estate option agreement and see if they are the right thing for you.

While a real estate option agreement may sound complicated, it is actually a very simple legal agreement. What an agreement like this means is that a buyer is paying the seller for the exclusive right to buy a piece of property from the seller for a predetermined price for a predetermined amount of time. It is essentially like a reservation for a hotel room or a fine meal, except it is for a piece of property. The seller, on the other hand, has no legal responsibility to sell the property to the person taking out the option agreement, nor do they have to stop shopping around or even going through with a sale with another party. The option agreement simply allows a prospective buyer the chance to buy the property at a fixed rate for a fixed period of time.

Real estate option agreements are very common, especially when real estate is being bought and sold in a volatile or extremely competitive market. As anyone who has ever looked to buy real estate can tell you, depending on the particular climate in that area, prices can soar and dive in a matter of weeks. While there is a cost involved with getting a real estate option agreement, many people would agree that paying the money to get one is worth it to lock in a price on a hot piece of property. Getting a real estate option agreement allows a prospective buyer a chance to sit back and really analyze if they want to go through with a purchase at a set price instead of wondering what the price is going to do over the next days, weeks or months.

The average real estate option agreement is fairly straight forward and simple to fill out. Even with all of the usual legal jargon associated with binding legal agreements, the average real estate option contract is only a few pages long. The contract will outline where the property is that is being optioned, the price of the option, the price paid to the seller for the option and then the general information about the seller and the person buying the option. Most contracts such as these can be downloaded off of the Internet for free or for a low price depending on what state you are located in. A real estate option agreement is a pretty straight ahead legal agreement.

Mark Warner is a Legal Research Analyst for RealDealDocs.com. RealDealDocs gives you insider access to millions of legal documents drafted by the top law firms in the US. Search over 10 million Documents, Clauses, and Legal Agreements for Free at http://www.RealDealDocs.com

What Is A Real Estate Right Of Refusal Agreement?

It is no secret that the world of real estate legal wrangling can be pretty confusing, especially if you aren’t an experienced legal expert. Many different types of contracts only differ by a small amount, such as the difference between a real estate option contract and a right of first refusal contract. Let’s take a look at how these two types of contracts differ and how each are valuable tools when you want to make the real estate deal of a lifetime.

First, let’s look at a real estate option agreement. When you sign a real estate option, you are paying a seller for the right to buy a particular piece of property for a particular set price for a set period of time. Let’s say that you are looking at a home in a hot neighborhood and the price being asked for the home keeps going up because of a bidding war. You can ask to create a real estate option that will allow you to pay a certain price for that home for the next 3 weeks. After that three weeks has expired, you lose the right to buy that home for that set price. The seller is under no legal binding agreement to sell you the home for that price and the seller can continue to try to sell the home to other buyers.

Now, with a right of first refusal agreement, you have the legal right to refuse another person’s attempt to buy a piece of property. Many people confuse the two of these contracts and assume that the right of first refusal comes with an option contract. Unless you have the right of first refusal spelled out in your option contract, you have to assume that you do not have any way to stop another party from coming in and buying a piece of property that you want.

When you have a right of first refusal contact with a seller, you have the option to buy a piece of property for the same price as another buyer. Let’s say that same home that is in that hot neighborhood gets a bid of one million dollars. You then have the right to cancel out that bid and place a bid for the same amount and the seller would then sell the home to you, instead. If you decline your right of first refusal, than the seller has the legal right to sell the home to that person who made the bid.

A seller may enter into a right of first refusal with a buyer if they had a previous working relationship and the seller wishes to give a friend a chance to pay market price for a property. It is a smart way to avoid any accusations of impropriety when it comes to selling a valuable piece of land because the price the property ends up being sold at is determined by the free market, not by any sort of collusion.

Mark Warner is a Legal Research Analyst for RealDealDocs.com. RealDealDocs gives you insider access to millions of legal documents drafted by the top law firms in the US. Search over 10 million Documents, Clauses, and Legal Agreements for Free at http://www.RealDealDocs.com

Drafting 101 — A Lawyer’s Guide To Drafting An Enforceable Promissory Note

In it simplest terms, a promissory note is a written promise to repay a loan or debt under specific terms - usually at a stated time, through a specified series of payments, or upon demand. A promissory note will clearly identify the parties, the amount of the obligation, and if necessary, the consideration for the obligation, that is, what the debtor has already received or will receive in return for signing the note. The note will also include the terms of repayment, whether that be in one lump sum or at stated intervals, and, if applicable, the interest rate which will apply. It may also include an “acceleration clause” which will make the entire amount of the note due if a payment is missed.

What follows is a specific guide to drafting key provisions found in most promissory notes.

Paragraph 1: Identifies the Parties, Sum, and the Repayment Terms

The first paragraph of a typical promissory note should begin by listing the parties involved (promissor and promissee), the sum demanded, and the date when or intervals at which the sum must be repaid. The first paragraph may also include the consideration for the debt. This can be a general provision such as “for value received”, or could spell out the services or goods that were the subject of the note, if applicable (i.e. legal services, medical services, etc.).

For example, the first paragraph of a typical promissory note might read:

“For value received, John Doe, on behalf of himself, individually, promises to pay to Jane Smith & Associates, Inc., without offset, the principal sum of $3,500.00, on or before the 15th day of June, 2008, for technology consulting services rendered to the undersigned, that remain unpaid to April 31, 2008.”

A demand promissory note is a variation of a promissory note which calls for the payment of the sum “on demand” by the promissee, as opposed to calling for payment on a certain date or at certain intervals. The first paragraph of a demand promissory note might be drafted to read:

“For value received, John Doe, on behalf of himself individually promises to pay to Jane Smith & Associates, Inc., without offset, on demand, the principal sum of $3,500.00, for technology consulting services rendered to the undersigned, that remain unpaid to April 31, 2008.” [Italics Mine.]

Paragraph 2: Interest rate

The second paragraph might list the interest rate involved. For instance:

“No interest shall be charged unless there is a default, in which event interest will be charged at the rate of 7% per annum.”

Paragraph 3: Waiver of Protest and Agreement to Pay Collection Costs

The note should include a provision whereby the promissor acknowledges and waives his right to protest the note. This provision might read:

“The Undersigned hereby waives diligence, presentment, protest, and notice of every kind. In the event a default occurs and this note is placed in the hands of an attorney for collection, the Undersigned promises to pay reasonable attorney’s fees and costs in the collection of this note whether or not suit is commenced or judgment is entered.”

Paragraph 4: Applicable Law

The note should be drafted to address the applicable law.

“This note is subject to and will be interpreted by California State law and the Undersigned agrees that California is a convenient forum for all disputes that may arise hereunder and that California courts shall have exclusive jurisdiction over any dispute hereunder.”

Paragraph 5. Modifications

“This promissory note may not be modified orally and may only be modified in writing.”

Paragraph 6: Release of all Claims

A promissory note will typically include a release of all claims provision, for example:

“The payment of this promissory note is the consideration for technology consulting services already provided by Jane Smith & Associates, Inc., and all claims held by Jane Smith shall be waived and released upon full tender of payment under the terms of this note.”

Finally, be sure to include signature lines for all parties involved in the transaction.

Mark Warner is a Legal Research Analyst for RealDealDocs.com. RealDealDocs gives you insider access to millions of legal documents drafted by the top law firms in the US. Search over 10 million Documents, Clauses, and Legal Agreements for Free at http://www.RealDealDocs.com

Best Man Speeches - How To Triumph When Writing A Best Man Speech

There are usually several different speeches given at weddings, but one of the most important and well remembered is the best man speech. Traditionally this follows the father of the bride and the bridegroom, so the guests will already be warmed up and ready for you, the highlight.

Too many times this speech turns into a disaster for a variety of reasons, including lack of preparation, nerves, and lack of propriety. However, this can be a funny and heart warming speech if the best man knows what he’s doing. Wondering how to come up with the perfect best man speech? Well, here are a few ideas to help you along the way.

First of all, when you’re giving the best man speech, it needs to be humorous, yet heartfelt. Finding the right mix between humor and emotion can be a bit tough, especially since men don’t really like to get emotional, even if it is a wedding. While you’re giving this speech, you don’t have to be too personal or emotional, but you should definitely put your heart into the speech.

Start of by brainstorming a few ideas. Think about how you met the bridegroom, think of any amusing anecdotes that you can safely tell in front of friends, family - and his new wife! Also think about why you like him, any bad or annoying habits he has - that sort of thing - to both flatter him and mildy humiliate him afterwards.You should avoid going over the top and be very careful of offending anyone. Remember that there will be people with a range of ages and different backgrounds, so if in doubt about something, drop it from your speech.

When it’s time for you to give your best man speech, you’ll want to stand up so everyone is paying attention. Usually you’ll want to open up your speech by giving well wishes to the happy couple and congratulating them on their big day. You may even want to congratulate your buddy on his great taste in women. This will definitely make the bride feel great.

After your opening remarks and introducing yourself, this is the perfect time to tell a few interesting and funny stories about the groom. However, they should definitely be appropriate for the setting, and you’ll want to avoid making mention of any girlfriends in the past, or you may just ruin the speech. Make sure that the humor you use is clean and avoid going overboard with the funny stories. No doubt everyone will enjoy a good laugh at the anecdotes you have to tell of you and your friend. Just make sure that the crude stories and jokes are not a part of your speech.

Adding some emotion and talking about your friendship with the groom is a great touch as well, but you don’t want to bemoan the bachelor days. Perhaps tell a few ways that the groom has touched your life and helped you out and thank him.

Keeping this speech short is going to be important. No one wants to hear you droning on for hours, so make sure you get to the point rather quickly. Remember, this is a speech that is not about you, but about the groom and the bride. At the end of the speech, go ahead and congratulate the bride and groom again and wish them happiness together for the rest of their lives.

Many men are nervous about giving best man speeches, but keeping these tips in mind can definitely help. Also, make sure that you take the time to practice - the last thing you want to do is forget your speech or constantly have to read from notes. If you liked this article you might like to read more about wedding speeches at http://www.simplyweddingspeeches.com/

Niche Marketing Secrets Revealed And Exposed!

If you have spent any time trying to build an online business you will at some point have had trouble deciding what to sell or promote. Unless you are lucky, your business success will depend largely on which market you decide to sell to. Much of the advice on internet marketing forums stresses that the fundamental part of building your business is to choose the right niche. What is a niche and how should you choose one? If you are just starting out or are feeling confused about niche marketing then this article is for you.

A niche is basically a section or part of a much larger market. Instead of focusing on a broad range of products or services a niche market focuses on smaller, narrow areas. For example, a company may decide to sell products for domestic pets. This is a large market that in order to develop and sell related products would require a lot of investment to achieve. Alternatively the company may research the broader market and conclude that there is a consumer demand for products that provide training for their pets.

Going one step further, the research indicates that the majority of these consumers have dogs. On this basis, the company should conclude that its resources can be best used by developing and marketing products that relate to dog training. This market research exercise is invaluable as it helps to quickly eliminate unprofitable and time-wasting business ventures and identifies a specific niche. By focusing on this particular niche, this company can maximise its resources on one or two products to gain maximum output.

Although this is a real world example, the same principles apply in your online ventures. Before you invest time and money you need to research the market that you want to sell to. There is a common misconception that to be successful online you should choose a niche that you are familiar with, have an interest in and are passionate about.

Unfortunately this is bad advice. There is no point in building your business around your passion if there is no market for it. It can be very disconcerting to spend weeks developing a product only to find that the potential market is very small or even worse non-existent.

So how should you choose your niche? Firstly, take a look at the real world. Examine television, listen to the radio and look at what is for sale in the supermarket and the high street. If a product is popular offline, then there is a good chance this will be true online. For example, have you ever noticed the number of commercials or magazines that are related to weight loss? Type the same niche into Google and you will see a large number of websites related to losing weight.

Once you have found a niche that demonstrates a demand you need to conduct some basic online market research.

Begin by entering your niche keyword into a keyword research tool. There are plenty of these available and they provide data on how many times a phrase is entered into the search engines on a daily or monthly basis. They are not completely accurate but provide a rough estimation of the level of demand in your chosen niche. Next, enter the same phrase into Google to gage what the level of competition is. By analyzing these figures you can begin to understand what niche topics can be penetrated easily.

Finally, you should assess whether there is money in the niche. This can be demonstrated by the number of paid adverts on the results page. If advertisers are prepared to spend money, it is only because they are also making money.

Niches in a Box and Online Marketing Goldmine for entrepreneurs who want to be a step ahead of the crowd!

Addressing Wedding Invitations - Etiquette For Addressing Formal Wedding Invitations

Depending on who you are sending a wedding invitation to, there are various etiquette rules for addressing the inner and outer envelope. The outside of the envelope is usually more formal than the inner envelope. The outer envelope uses the tile and full name of the invitee. Since the outer envelope is usually formal, how should you address this envelope to various guests?

Usually, when you address an outer envelope to a couple that is married, use the husband’s full name and use Mr. and Mrs. For example, you would address an envelope to a married couple: Mr. and Mrs. Vincent Chandler. However, you would not use such formal etiquette on an invitation that you send to your close relatives. If this is the case, on the invitation you send to a close loved ones by the name you typically call them such as Aunt Katie and Uncle Vincent.

What if you want to invite a couple that is not married but they are living together? There is still etiquette that you can use in order to address the inner and outer envelopes of the wedding invitation. On the outside of the envelope, use Miss for the female instead of Mrs. On the outer envelope you can write Miss Daphne Horten and Mr. Alex Doe.

If you would like to address the invitation to your wedding to the couple as well as their children, there is another format that you can use. You would address the outer envelope as described above but you would also add the first name of the children under the names of the parents on the inside envelope. Remember that the proper etiquette is to use only the first names of the children on the wedding invitations.

If you are inviting a single female, use Miss Daphne Horten and if you are inviting a single male friend, use Mr. Alex Doe. On the inside envelope you can indicate whether they can bring a date by writing their name and adding “and Guest.” If you do not want to have an extra person at the wedding that you might not know, leave the “and Guest” part off of the inner envelope. If you have a single friend that is divorced, use the name that she kept. If she decided to go by her maiden name, you may put Miss and not Ms. in front of her name.

If one of your guests has a title such as judge, doctor or any military title, use the proper title in front of the individual’s name on the outside envelope. Etiquette states that only the title and last name should be on the inside envelope.

Wedding envelope etiquette may seem confusing in the beginning but writing addresses on wedding envelopes is actually not that hard. It might help you to list your guests according to who is married, who is living together, those with a title and so on so you do not have to switch formats too often.

Confused with wedding invitation etiquette when grooms parents are deceased? How about wedding etiquette for lighting honor candles? If so, find out the answers when you visit Internet top wedding etiquette advice and resources at http://www.marrycustoms.com

Will You Consider A Calligraphy Wedding Invitation?

Nowadays, most people will hire a printer to print the wedding invitation cards. In fact, this is not the only option. There are a lot of different options. You can consider printing the cards at home. To this end you will be creating a DIY wedding invitations. You may also go for the option of handmade wedding cards. This will certainly add extra human touch to the cards. Yet one of the option which will usually be forgotten will be calligraphy wedding invitation.

As a matter of fact, it may probably be the most traditional style for wedding cards. It is a tradition in the past that monks will write the contents of the cards for couples. Of course you may not ask a monk to help you to write the contents. You may try to hire a calligrapher to help you to write the contents. This will certainly make your card an extremely unique one.

You may wonder what the advantages and disadvantages associated with such wedding invitations. In this article, we will try to discuss all these advantages and disadvantages. I hope that this article can give you more background information so that you can make your final decision a lot easier.

If you would like to to make wedding invitation a really unique one, you should consider the idea of calligraphy. If the cards are written one by one, it can be sure that each card is a unique invitation. This is because human beings are not offset printers. There will be some difference when the calligrapher is writing each card.

On the other hand, you can also go for the option of hiring a calligrapher to write the first card for you. Then you will scan the writings and have it printed in bulk. The advantage of doing so is that you can save some money. It will be a lot more expensive if you need the calligrapher to write 300 cards for you. Of course the disadvantage is that all the cards will be the same when you do this.

When you are planning to create a calligraphy wedding invitation, you will need to prepare to pay. As a matter of fact, the cost of a card can be quite high if you would like to make all your cards hand-written. This is probably one of the disadvantages of such a wedding card.

Considering the material of the card, you will probably have less choice. This is because not all material can be used with pens. And as a result you have to make sure that you can write on the cards with a pen. There are some materials which are designed for printer inks only.

In fact, there is still an option here. And it will be also be a cheaper option. You can consider writing the cards yourself. As mentioned, you will need to spend less money if you go for this option. On the other hand, it will certainly be more meaningful since all the cards are written by you!

TM Lung designs Personalized Wedding Invitations in Chinese Style. He has sites on Wedding Vendors Directories and Wedding Planning.

Basics Of PPC Advertising – Part 2

PPC, or pay per click, advertising is the most reliable way to purchase guaranteed traffic. You can get a large number of perfectly targeted visitors very quickly using this method of promotion.

PPC ads can be found in the listings of the major search engines, usually in the right margin and labeled “sponsor listings”. Also PPC ads can be delivered from standard Web page content if the Website owner participates in some sort of contextual ad network like Google Adsense.

Setting up a PPC campaign is simple. You must register an account with a publisher or search company and submit your ad in the format of headline and body. After you create your ad you will also need to select the specific keywords you would like your ad to appear for and then bid on these keywords.

In the case of PPC search engine promotion, your ads will only appear when a user searches on the keywords you specify. In the case of PPC ads displayed in standard Web content, your ads will be displayed within articles and blog posts that contain the keywords you have chosen. This formula means you’ll be getting extremely targeted traffic.

You are required to bid a specific amount of money that will be paid for each click your ad receives. Priority is given to the PPC ads with the highest bid amounts.

For instance, you might decide you’ll pay 0.10 for each visitor the PPC program sends you. Advertisers who bid 0.11 or more will have their ad shown higher in the sponsored listings than you, while advertisers who bid 0.09 or less will be lower than you in the rankings.

You will be required to enter your credit or debit card details into the ad system and then fund your advertiser account with an initial deposit.

PPC campaigns will almost always result in lost of traffic. This, of course, means your money will disappear pretty quickly, making the PPC game a little scary for new online marketers.

You can set daily budgets to avoid going broke, but even then your balance can be depleted within a matter of minutes.

Also many PPC providers have stringent terms of service, and it can sometimes be a real pain jumping through hoops to get your ad approved. I admit I’ve never had a problem but I know a lot of folks who have.

The ideal PPC program for a beginner will allow you to:

1. Test the waters without blowing a fortune in the process.

2. Just run your ads without being put under a magnifying glass and having to follow a manual of rules.

I recommend 7search.com for new marketers. This program serves PPC ads through a contextual ad network and on a variety of major search engines so you can get lots of good traffic from a wide variety of sites.

And their pricing is really good because they’re not as advertiser saturated as Google. Plus they have only basic rules in place - as long as you’re not advertising porn, hate, or illegal scams you’re good to go.

As long as you can afford a reasonably competitive bid, you will definitely receive a good flow of traffic from PPC promotion. The only real question is: how long will it take you to tweak your ads and landing pages to the point where you are making sales or getting sign-ups?

This type of advertising requires a great deal of trial and error. If you’re not willing to test your sales page, ad copy, and overall process extensively don’t bother registering a PPC account. The payoffs can be well worth the initial workload, as most good PPC providers allow you to expose your offers to a huge audience of targeted prospects.

Tim Whiston is a professional entrepreneur who does a lot of his work online. To read part one of this article, check out his basic PPC marketing post. Also learn the basics of Web design with Tim’s robust online course.

#1 Free Way To Promote Your Business

Here’s another online business tip that some business owners use, but strangely enough many do not, or do not use it properly. Emailing past customers and people who signed-up for an account is one of the best ways to promote your business for free. Business owners really underestimate the power of this.

With my fashion accessory business, we used to send out 2-3 emails a month that mentioned new items, closeout sale items, and sometimes included a 10%-20% off coupon, depending on the time of season it was. I would say 70% of our sales came from these emails.

I was really surprised that it took one of our main competitors almost three years to figure this out. Even though “they” received our company emails 2-3 times a month, it never clicked in their heads that they should be doing this too. Now after three years, I get a sales email from this company every week, sometimes twice a week. Like I said, it works!

But Don’t People Hate Email? Isn’t This Spam?

If a customer bought something from you and they enjoy the products you sell, the answer to both questions is “NO.” You will get a few people that object, maybe 2-3% of the entire customer email list. All you have to do is remove them from your list when they request you to so that they’ll never get the emails again.

How Much Is Too Much In Terms Of Sending Out These Emails?

We’ve never gotten complaints from 2-3 emails a month. You might be able to get by with one a week, but I’ve never tried it. We’ve gotten such good results with 2-3 emails a month that it made no sense for me to force the issue with more emails, which would cause a higher % of people asking to be unsubscribed from our customer email list.

Be sure to allow people to join your mailing list from the homepage even if they don’t buy anything. If your shopping cart doesn’t allow this, there are programs and companies online that handle mailing lists. Sometimes people will join your mailing list but won’t make a purchase from you that same day, and then they’ll come back and make a purchase after receiving your sales email. I suggest offering some sort of small giveaway to entice people to signup for your mailing list like, “Subscribe to our sales mailing list and be eligible for a free ‘whatever’.” You could do this every month but it is most effective obviously during your more busy months when more people are visiting your website. Obviously, you’ll get more subscribers and still have to give out only one prize.

Join me, John Rogers, each week at ThingsWeLearned.com, the business opportunities, work from home website, for over 100 of my free money making business articles. I’m one of the foremost experts in the world on making money on the Internet, earning over $5 million dollar since 1997 with several different businesses.

How An Advice Column Can Get You More Readers

If you want to know how an advice column can get you more readers, here are several ways having a Q and A portion running on your website can transform first-time visitors into loyal readers.

You Learn More about Your Target Market

The people who are seeking for your advice are more often than not a part of your target market. With an advice column set up, you get to know more about what issues or concerns your target market are involved with. In time, you’ll realize that the data you derive from your advice columns can also be implemented in formulating marketing strategies.

With the help of advice columns, you learn more effective techniques in attracting your target market to your website and turning them into loyal readers.

They Learn More about Your Common Interests

Sharing of knowledge in advice columns goes two ways. Earlier on, we’ve discussed how you get information from advice columns and how you can use it to build a loyal readership base. This time, you can see how the knowledge you impart can also create loyal readers on its own.

Let’s say you have an advice column on your dog care website. Through the advice column, visitors had been able to learn a lot of tips and tricks in caring for their canine companions. Once they realize they can expect a constant flow of valuable information from your website, information that’s usually directly relevant to them because they’re being asked by people almost exactly like them, they’ll definitely develop a habit of reading your advice column every time a new question is posted.

Interaction Increases in Your Website

Advice columns don’t have to be a two-way street with your visitors asking advice, and you providing it. By allowing other people to comment, you can also have them give their own two cents as well. In time, a high-spirited but well-meaning debate may even ensue, making your website more popular and attractive to your target market.

With advice columns, you’re also giving your readers their chance to shine. Advice columns don’t always have to revolve around your expertise. In fact, your readers will appreciate it more if you acknowledge valuable suggestions from your readers from time to time.

Of course, the trick in getting more interaction from advice columns is by knowing which question to publish, encouraging readers to comment and give their own advice, and lastly, asking a question yourself once in a while.

You Please Your Readers

Most readers feel it’s an honor when you choose to publish their question. You please your readers all the more if you share a bit of information about his background and display his website address. Other people are sure to hanker for the same privilege, leading them to come back to your website over and over in hopes of having their questions published next.

Having an advice column also pleases your readers because you’re showing that you care enough about their needs. Once they see that you do answer their questions as informatively as you can, they’re sure to become loyal readers themselves simply because they’re hoping you’ll get to help them with their own problems next.

Now that you know how an advice column can get you more readers, the next thing to do is set up one in your website. Don’t forget to inform all your subscribers about the newest segment in your website!

To learn additional ways to attract customers and readers to your website using the simplest means available that most will never know about and at no cost to you, follow the link in my resource box now.

Kevin Tyler Smith is an expert Internet network marketer. “If banking over $14,139.79 per month whether or not a single lead joins your MLM opportunity gets you excited, then pay very close attention to what’s on the other side of this link” >>> www.EZWealthStrategy.com

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