Law School Discussion

Hey rez,

Well today I read through the purchase agreement, and was pleased to find a loan contingency clause as well as a damages limitation clause which prevents the seller from doing anything beyond keeping my deposit ($16,600), even if I materailly breach the agreement right before closing.  That at least gives me several months to decide if I want all in, or I'm willing to dump the deposit and run.  The latter strategy would only be exercised if the housing market starts to take a nose dive.  But I think you're right about the strength of real estate in this area.

I also went to the Pleasant Valley Parks Department to see the planned adjacent park layout.   I'm pretty happy with what I saw.  I was concerned it would be more big venue stuff (e.g. stadium or large bleacher seating with concessions).  Instead, it'll just be a standard local park with four baseball diamonds and a bunch of soccer fields.  Parking is way across the field from my place too, so I should have a nice view.  Down the road, I think the park will help make my place even more attractive to people with children and dogs.

I'm a 3L in the evening program at Southwestern.  How about you?

I hear ya about the cost!  I am figuring that I am going to be able to write off about $50k in interest, taxes and other deductions.  I have almost cut my taxes in half.  I'm also renting in Ventura at $1700/mo.  I stayed up late after I signed my agreement thinking of how I was going to make it work.  With the right offs, it works for me.  Hopefully it works for you.  It is a great investment.

I was going to purchase one of those townhomes.  That is a very good area. With CSUCI close by, you souldn't have any problems.  Also check with the City of Camarillo for additional development planned in that area.  I seriously do not think that the housing market in this area is going to go down.  Within the next few years, the market may slow down but never lose money.

BTW what school do you attend?

I've been looking at a new development in Camarillo, CA. I just got the call on Friday telling me the next phase has been released, and I have to come in and sign the purchase agreement for my selected place on Sunday (8/14/05).  I asked to review the purchase agreement and CCRs over a month ago, and again on Friday after I got the call to come in and sign, but they keep telling me it's their "policy" not to give out the purchase agreement, even for review, until the time of my signing appointment.  They then state that I "shouldn't worry," because I have 3 days to rescind after the date of signing.

After taking a year of contracts, it seems bizarre to me that they would have such a policy. Their policy blatantly deprives me of any opportunity to have an attorney review this document or recommend changes prior to my signing it.  In fact, it doesn't even give me a reasonable amount of time to sit down by myself, read through it, and evaluate all of the provisions prior to having to either sign it or lose the place to someone else walking in an hour later.  Further, it presumes that three days is enough time to find a good attorney, set up an appointment, have him/her thoroughly review the agreement, consult with me in person, and allow me reasonable time to consider all the facts and make an informed decision as to whether I should rescind.  Without going into a bunch of enforceability defense theory, their policy seems to unnecessarily compromise their ability to enforce their own agreement against me. 

This is the second builder (out of two) I've met who has such a policy.  Anybody know if this type of policy is commonplace (i.e. "industry custom")?  Or are these developers not really serious about enforcing these kinds of agreements against a disputing purchaser?  Maybe they just assume most people aren't familiar with how to attack the enforceability of such an agreement.  Am I missing something here?

Yeah, most of the finals I thought I did my worst on actually turned out to be my best grades.  My Pops told me that would be the case, and he was right.  Go have a glass of wine.

Southwestern (in los Angeles)

Have you ever seen the 1966 movie, "BlowUp", directed by Michelangelo Antonioni?  In the movie, a young photographer snaps a photo of a couple kissing in the park.  Proud of having captured a simple yet magical moment, he rushes home to develop the shot.  But as the image develops, he notices something in the background that he didn't realize was there.  Each time he blows photo up larger, he sees more and more detail that leads him to believe a crime may have been committed, and his camera may have been the only witness.

From my experience, law school requires you to hone and intensify your ability to see things (in the form of issues) that most people would miss completely.  This gives you a greater awareness of your environment and how your actions, or the actions of others, will impact society and be treated by our legal system.  In the process, you learn to better evaluate the facts that support or refute a given conclusion.

It's a bit of a philosophical angle, but I've noticed throughout my life that most people don't really want to consider all the facts when formulating an opinion.  People are generally drawn to the conclusion that makes them "feel good."  In fact, they tend to resist facts or reasoning that challenge the validity of such conclusions.  From my personal observations, religion and romantic relationships are two areas where this tendency is generally pervasive.  

In the course of your "transformation" in law school, you will likely stifle much your ability to accept a conclusion based upon the "feel good test."  So be careful what you wish for!  But remember, because of your unique ability to see legal issues with such clarity, people will pay you lots of money to guide them through the legal mine field that is life.

Good luck!