It's pretty easy to get jaded about our experiences at work. A lot of people tend to treat the education that we need to acquire to perform our jobs with a bit of disdain. I have heard people say "It doesn't work like that in the real world" or "you have to throw out everything you learned in school". There's dozens of popular sentiments that generally imply that education is not terribly useful when it comes to the actual jobs we have to perform.

I understand why people say these things because no amount of education can prepare us for the odd situations that come up when we are out in the field. There are real life situations that can happen that are impossible to replicate in a classroom.

I do believe though that education is very useful, especially in a quickly changing world. The internet is fairly new and many aspects of the electronic transfer of information are yet to be properly regulated. This is just one reason why professionals have to be up on things. The way we negotiate contracts and agreements will be greatly affected by the laws, rules and regulations that are now being created. Privacy issues are already hot topics of conversation, and that's not going to change in the near future.

Yesterday I attended a course in Cobourg about The Agreement of Purchase and Sale. It was time very well spent, and even though I do try to keep up on these things, it's very helpful to actually attend the course so that I can reinforce some of the things I already knew and learn a whole bunch of new things.

The instructor was Active Rain's very own Brian Madigan, so not only was it fun to go and meet someone in person who I know from the internet, I was looking forward to picking up some knowledge that I can use on a daily basis. Understanding each and every clause in the Agreement of Purchase and Sale is important, and occasionally a client (one of the ones who actually reads the entire agreement) will ask me something. Now I won't have to make things up, I can answer with confidence. Just kidding, I didn't make things up, I'd just change the subject really quickly.

Brian's blogs are always well written, and he is extremely knowledgable about the legal aspects of real estate matters, I guess it helps that he's a lawyer. I would definitely recommend this course to agents, even very experienced agents who have been using these forms for years. It's surprising how much useful information we can pick up, and this information may go a long way in helping us stay out of the court room.

I know a lot of agents who get their 24 education credits every two years, but see it as an obligation rather than an opportunity to increase their knowledge. I really enjoyed picking up these 3 credits, and if Brian is ever offering a course in your area, I'd really recommend going and getting some credits, learning some handy information and meeting Brian.

Buddhists have a great way of looking at hurdles that have presented themselves in their lives. They are thankful for them because these hurdles give them an opportunity to practice their patience. In that spirit, I'm very thankful for the huge opportunity I had on Sunday to practice my patience. If I become the sort of person who seems to handle events with equanimity, experiences such as these will have gone a long way to making it so.

I was driving to show a property on the beautiful shores of Rice Lake, and let me tell you, it's much more fun in the summer. The cottage is on one of those little private roads that branches off another private road, pretty much in the middle of nowhere.

I did see the sign at the intersection "Summer Maintenance Only. Use at Own Risk." I heeded the warning on the sign and proceeded to use the road at my own risk.

I spend quite a bit of time in my car, and I trust it implicitly. It's an old warhorse, and we've been through a few adventures together, so I have a lot of confidence that we will be alright in just about any circumstance. We've had some hairy moments, but I have always come out alright.

The road didn't look too bad, it hadn't been maintained, no one had salted it or spread sand around, but the slope looked gentle enough, so I didn't really worry too much.

For about 10 seconds.

Until I rounded the corner....

Yes, that's my car there.

I did manage to get to the cottage, and I did manage to view it, and after about 20 minutes I did manage to turn my car around in what was probably a 17 point turn.

Where I had trouble though was getting back up the hill. Underneath the little sprinkling of snow was sheer ice. Thrice I almost made it to the top, only to have my tires spinning about 10 yards from the crest. I backed down the hill slowly again to take another run at it. The third time backing down wasn't very good, my brakes were useless and I skidded into the ditch.

It only took about 15 seconds of tire spinning to know that I needed a tow truck. My car was completely hung up.

My cell phone was useless, there was absolutely no reception. Brilliant. It's fifteen degrees below zero, I'm at the bottom of an icy hill, and as usual, I'm hardly dressed for the outdoors (I'm one of those idiots who complains about the cold all winter but never dresses accordingly). It was mid afternoon to boot, the sun wasn't going to be around much longer either.

After scrambling up the hill and walking for a little, I managed to call a tow truck. They had no idea where I was since the road wasn't on any maps, nor could it be found on Mapquest. After making sure they knew where I was, (although I wasn't terribly sure myself) I headed back to the car and waited, and waited, and waited.

The waiting really wasn't all that bad, I kept my mind very active debating the merits of death by carbon monoxide asphyxiation and death through hypothermia. From what I understand, they both have some pretty good points, and are both preferable to being burned alive at a stake, although at the time I was craving a bit of the warmth that being burned alive at a stake could provide. Just a tad though.

It took about an hour and a half, but the good people at Brown's towing in Port Hope managed to find me. I will be forever thankful to them, and although people often complain about the costs of towing, it was worth every penny.

It was a pretty difficult job for the driver, first he had to back down the icy hill, which had become much more treacherous as it got darker and colder, and then he had to winch my car out, which was not easy since the tow truck kept slipping back. The first run up the hill was not a success, and the truck and my car slid down the hill in tandem.

Now I was a little worried about being crushed between a tree and a tow truck. The driver was very good and we were lucky. We slid to a standstill near the bottom of the hill where we uncoupled the vehicles, backed up a bit and he coupled them together in a more secure fashion which he had been unable to do half way up the hill.

He took a flying start, built up a good head of steam and we made our way to the top with a little bit of slipping and sliding. I must say, I felt very relieved when we reached the top, it was a pretty nervy drive. The driver seemed to be enjoying himself though.

I am always thankful for men like the tow truck driver. The working guys who know what they are doing and who arrive and fix problems for us. They are so confident and cheerful, and will come out on freezing cold nights when the rest of us would rather be curled up at home. These are the unsung heroes who make it possible to survive the winters in Canada. Next time you are grumbling about the cost of a tow, remember that these guys are out there on the coldest nights rescuing fools like me, and that they probably don't get paid enough for those jobs.

Fortunately my car was undamaged so I could drive it back home without any further hassles or delays. I jumped into the shower and had one of the nicest hot showers in recent memory. Now that I'm safe and sound I'm thankful that I had that opportunity to practice my patience. I'm hoping that my next opportunities come when the weather is much warmer though.

Thank you very much Brian at Brown's Towing in Port Hope Ontario. You got me out of a sticky situation. I will never question the cost of a tow again.

Anybody who has ever sold real estate for a living will have some rather odd stories about people. Real estate, for the most part, is really about people, and as we all know, some people can be a little difficult to deal with.

I recently had a listing. I did a market evaluation for the sellers (I agonize over them), and they liked the work I put into the evaluation and decided to list with me. The sellers are from out of the province, and really didn't know very much about the property they owned. they hadn't even seen the place in years. I think I just came up with a realistic price and they liked the fact that I had warned them that it might take some time to sell, as the property wasn't in very high demand at the moment. Perhaps they appreciated the honesty.

Sure enough, the listing did prompt a bit of interest right off the bat, but only from one prospective buyer, the guy across the street. He'd been eying it for years.

After a flurry of phone calls and requests for more and more information, he decided that the property was priced too high for his liking, so he would take a pass on it for now. He figured that it would eventually come down in price and that it probably wouldn't sell until then. He did leave me with some instructions though, and I was to call him immediately if anyone else made an inquiry on the property or if we received an offer.

On the one hand, I appreciated his interest in the property, but on the other hand, I was a little miffed at him. He did, after all, have the option of putting an offer in at a lower price to test the waters. I believe my clients would have worked with a lower offer. I don't know what his exact thought process was, but I think he was going to wait for a price reduction. I agreed to keep him informed, and other than the odd call from him seeking reassurance that there wasn't much interest in the property, didn't have much further contact.

A couple of months passed, and one fine Friday afternoon I received a phone call at the office from someone; "I'm standing right in front of your for sale sign............". Well this fellow was interested enough to come straight to the office and submit a cash offer on behalf of the company he worked for. The location was exactly what they had been looking for.

We did up the offer and I phoned my clients and scanned and emailed it to them. They were quite happy. I made sure to tell them not to send it back right away (I made sure that the irrevocable stretched past the weekend), and I explained the situation with the fellow across the street and that maybe he might have an offer forthcoming.

Well, I phoned Mr. Ditherer, and much like a kid who has no interest in a toy until he sees another kid pick it up, he wanted me to hold the press until he could submit an offer himself. Full asking price and all cash as well. Wouldn't you know it though, by the time he came to the office, there was already a fax waiting in my fax machine. My clients had signed the Confirmation of Acceptance and had sent it back immediately. They didn't want to risk losing the first deal, they liked the quick closing, they liked the offer, and they liked the absolute lack of any conditions whatsoever. They just wanted it sold, and frankly, they resented the "wait and see" approach of Mr. Ditherer, which to them had undertones of Schadenfreude. I guess the asking price wasn't so unreasonable after all.

Real estate agents encounter this time and time again, people who lose out on properties that they really do want because they are looking for the absolute best bargain possible. After all is said and done, that imaginary price line in the sand, if it's a matter of a few thousand dollars, shouldn't prevent someone from owning a sensibly priced property that they really desire. Chances are someone else will scoop it up.