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REAL ESTATE Now with property values no longer rising at meteoric rates, there will likely be some distress sales and situations where purchasers are trying to get out of agreements. "And we know from lawyer negligence statistics that in a market like this ev- erybody's got to take it much more carefully because every- body's looking at deals with much more scrutiny. In a hot mar- ket you get it done and glitches get ignored. So it's really a time for lawyers to be very prudent, very careful," says Usher. Residential real estate lawyers are worried, but don't be- lieve the roof is about to cave in on their profession. Certainly, house prices are falling. In Toronto, the average resale value fell by a stunning 15 per cent in October, compared to the year before. But even in a recession, people still need to buy and sell homes. The question is whether they will find the financing to close their deals. And, even though credit is tight, banks are reluctant to stop lending money to homebuyers, since home loans are an important revenue generator for financial institu- Chosen Trusted Proven "Thank you Chicago Title for making our title insurance transition a positive and effortless one. We have used other insurers in the past but none compare to the extraordinary program Chicago Title has to offer. The excellent customer service and support provided speaks clearly for this impressive product." Waller & Homer, Hamilton, Ontario tions. "I don't think credit is going to dry up, but it's definitely going to be tighter," says Toronto lawyer Bob Aaron. "We're looking at a soſtening of the real estate market across the board and it's going to affect everybody in the industry, including lawyers. There could be a lot of belt tightening," he says. Nevertheless, Kathleen Waters, president and chief execu- tive officer of the Toronto-based Lawyers Professional Indem- nity Co., notes that real estate lawyers' offices have become quite automated so they can do more with a smaller staff. This means there is little cost and lead time in ramping up or ramp- ing down their activities when the market changes. "Technol- ogy has helped the real estate bar be more resilient and better able to adapt to the fluctuations that are inevitable in real es- tate," she says. Freelance journalist and business writer Kevin Marron can be reached at kevin@kevinmarron.com 1-888-868-4853 www.chicagotitle.ca A SYMBOL OF PROTECTION Our corporate symbol is inspired by that age-old o For just as medieval castles survive to this Insurance Company Canada deliver the kind of f protectiont investments will endure for many years to c this day, the come. ROTECTION that a ge- e-old aphorism, "A man and man hom the men andwomen n's home ome is his castle." hi protection that your clients d wome of Chicago Title n that your clients' real estate men of Chica www. mag.com NO VEMBER / DECEMBER 2008 23