January 25th, 2007 Social Butterfly Club Member Interview: Alan Baggish
Reporter: Alice Zhou
 
Alice: Tell me about a job you had in the past?
Alan: I worked as a manager for a pizza restaurant in North Carolina.

Alice: Where in the United States are you from?
Alan: Greensboro, North Carolina, which was a town of about 150,000 at the time. It’s really hot in the summer and can get cold in the winter. College basketball is big in North Carolina and I went to UNC (The University of North Carolina) at Chapel Hill, one of the biggest basketball schools in the country. My university has the nickname "The Tarheels".

Alice: Could you tell me a bit about your education?
Alan: I got my Philosophy undergrad at UNC Chapel Hill, then completed my Law degree at University of British Columbia.

Alice: I don’t understand how something as intellectual as Philosophy is related to something as practical as Law. Could you elaborate?
Alan: It is about logical construction of argument. Students of Philosophy get pretty good at it, and we use that thinking in the practice of Law.

Alice: Tell me something that no one knows about you?
Alan: I used to be a deadhead= followed The Grateful Dead on their tour.

Alice: If you’re the President of the United States, what policy will you put forward right now?
Alan: Universal Medicare.

Alice: Could you tell me your heritage background?
Alan: Our family came over to America in the early 1800’s, I have Polish, German and other Eastern European roots.

Alice: What brought you to Canada and Vancouver specifically?
Alan: I traveled to BC in the early 1990’s, visited cities and towns across Alberta and B.C like Banff, Jasper, Calgary, Vancouver and Vancouver Island. I fell in love with the scenery and liked the people when I came to visit.

Alice: What about the people here?
Alan: People here are polite, easy to get along; although they’re not push-over’s. Law professionals here are “generally” easy to get along with.

Alice: What area of law do you conduct?
Alan: I practice Business Law, Real Estate Law (Residential and Commercial), Wills & Estates.

Alice: How are Litigators different from Solicitors?
Alan: Litigators are generally more animated than solicitors, and argue in court, they help you solve your conflicts. Solicitors are measured in their personality, and draft contracts etc.

Alice: I am at an age where I’m starting to consider buying real estate. Could you tell me about the steps of the buying process, it’s very mysterious to me?
Alan: Sure, here are the nuts and bolts in simple language:

1. You go and find your perfect piece of real estate with your realtor.
2. You get mortgage broker to secure financing, your realtor draft contract for the offer on the house.
3. Offer is passed to the other realtor and owner of the house, gets accepted or declined. If offer is accepted, a deposit will be given to realtor as good faith money. (the deposit is often 5% of the purchase price, $ usually used to pay for Realtor’s fee)
4. Subject removal: The contract will often include "subject clauses" which give the buyer some opportunities to back out of the contract as they gather the necessary information about the property and the transaction.  Some typical clauses include: the right of the buyer to have a home inspector examine the property. For many condo purchases, the buyer will have a chance to review the recent strata minutes and budgets.
5. Lawyer drafts the transfer and mortgage documents, explains their effects to the client/buyer and receives the remainder of the downpayment from the buyer.
6. If everything goes through, the deal closes.

Rule of thumb: If you need a mortgage, you need a lawyer. Banks won’t lend $ to you until you get legal advice. The seller pays for both realtor fees for purchasing a house.

Alice: What do you do for fun?
Alan: I play Ultimate, in fact, I played with a team called "Grind" and we played in the World Ultimate Club Championships in Perth, Australia, November, 2006. I also play in Vancouver Ultimate League. It’s a lot of fun.

Alan Baggish has provided legal expertise in the past for Gracious Host Events, and I found him easy to work with, very clear in explaining legal jargon in everyday language. If you are thinking of incorporation, resolving a business conflict, purchasing real estate, doing estate planning give him a call.

Alan Baggish
Bertoldi & Co. Legal Services
514-675 West Hastings Street
Vancouver, B.C., V6B 1N2
Tel: 604-628-9333
Fax: 604-677-6253
Website: www.bert-law.com
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it