Several years ago I had the thought that I would get into real estate investment. So much wealth has been created by people through various forms of real estate investment that I thought I'd give it a go. I decided at the time that I'd go with the lease/option method where you invest in a property and then find someone to lease the house with an option to buy before closing and use their money to help purchase the property through creative financing. I read a couple of books and then found a guy online who offered a course on the was to successfully make it work. It was very detailed with sample contracts and plans to find people to lease your property and how to find the properties you want to lease. I was pretty excited because I really thought I was headed in the right direction.
One of the things he highly recommended was a legal service to review the contracts. He said he used a program called Pre-Paid Legal. I had heard the name before but didn't really know anything about it so I went online and did a search and found a guys link who happened to be near me and started reading about the service. Here's what was offered in the program:
Unlimited telephone consultations on an unlimited number of different legal matters.
So any time I had a legal question I could call an attorney and get advice.
Unlimited contract review up to 10 pages on any number of different subjects.
Good plan for a real estate investor, or renter or for anyone who signs
a contract.
A letter written or phone call made by attorney if deemed beneficial.
A handy tool if someone fails to follow terms of contract.
Moving violation defense for any covered offence like speeding tickets.
Try to follow traffic laws but who knows? Could come in handy.
24 hr emergency access to attorney in case I'm detained for any non-drug/alcohol offence.
Never know what might happen.
25% discount on other services not covered above like divorce, bankruptcy, etc.
They also have a comprehensive identity theft program with restoration services
Very valuable today.
And last but not least they will draw up a standard will and medical directive as part of the membership.
Usually runs $500 or more so I could see the value.
The company was founded in 1972 and is on the NYSE.
All of this for a monthly fee of $17 or $26.95 if you include the identity theft. Sounded good to me so I bought the program. I've received a lot of good advice and actually used their advice to keep a ticket off my record after I was involved in an accident where I was at fault. I found out my daughter had actually purchased a plan also and has used the service to keep at least 3 speeding tickets off her record which has saved her a few bucks.
I decided that since the service seemed reasonable that it might even be something worth adding as a sideline product. So I decided to become part of their marketing force and let people know about the service. The real estate thing never got off the ground but several years later I still have an active membership and still represent the company.
Something I've found is that most people just don't realize how valuable it is to have access to an attorney for advice on even little matters. It's surprising how little things can turn into big things if you ignore them.
Many people will say that they've never used an attorney to which I would say “if it was free, would you?” Rich people pay a lot of money to keep attorneys on retainer to avoid problems and for $17/mo a person can do the same thing with Pre-Paid Legal.
Didn't know the story was going to be so long so I'll just say it's a program that's helped me and a lot of other people. If you want to know more click the link and watch the video.
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