Safeguarding properties with solid wills during coronavirus period? Waiting for the ‘unicorn’. Unicorns do not exist in real estate, and finding the perfect property is like finding a needle in a haystack. Looking for perfection can narrow your choices too much, and you might pass over solid contenders in the hopes that something better will come along. But this type of thinking can sabotage your search, says James D’Astice, a real estate agent with Compass in Chicago. How this affects you: Looking for perfection might limit your real estate search or lead to you overpaying for a home. It can also take longer to find a home. What to do instead: Keep an open mind about what’s on the market and be willing to put in some sweat equity, DiBugnara says. Some loan programs let you roll the cost of repairs into your mortgage, too, he adds.
If you want to sell your home, you have to get rid of the clutter…period. Anything that you have not used in at least a year or more must go. Although this may not be easy, it is well worth the trouble even if you have to use a friend’s or relative’s garage or rent a space in a storage facility. Anything that is sitting on flat surfaces such as tables and countertops must go. Floors, closets, and cupboards should also be clean and clear because this translates into more space for potential buyers.
For estate trustees and executors who are waiting for the issuance of letters probate and certificates of appointment, which are delayed by court shut downs, the volatile stock markets have created an added nightmare. Any trustee who is responsible for an investment portfolio in an estate or trust must be alert to the impact of the market volatility which has been far wilder during the past months than for many years before. Even if purchases cannot be made, the ability to make sales of securities in order to do as much as possible to protect capital values is something that the trustee needs to arrange with the brokers who hold the accounts. Find even more details at wills during Coronavirus.
Electronic signatures and counterpart documents are not permitted and all sessions should be recorded if possible. A special ‘attestation clause’ explaining that the Will has been witnessed virtually is advised and further guidance is expected to follow from professional bodies. This more convoluted and long-winded process carries more risk of the Will being ineffective, e.g. if the will-maker dies before the process has been fully completed. However a Will is signed, the basic formalities must still be observed, ie the will-maker must understand what they are doing and not be unduly influenced by anyone; witnesses should also have the requisite capacity and must not be beneficiaries or spouses/civil partners of a beneficiary. Professional advice should ideally be sought in all cases.
You might hear the word “budget” and cringe a little, but you shouldn’t. Budgeting is not hard, and it doesn’t mean you have to stop doing things you enjoy. Budgeting is simply creating a plan for your money so you have a better idea of where it’s going every month. A popular and effective way to budget is with the 50/30/20 rule. How it works is 50% of your income goes towards the necessities (bills, food, housing, etc.), 20% of your income goes towards savings and the remaining 30% you can use for whatever you please. This is a nice and easy way to break down your paycheck, but you might need to adjust it a bit to fit your lifestyle. Mortgage: This one’s a tricky one, but mortgages are generally considered good debt. They are usually long-term loans with low interest rates, so you’ll still have money freed up for investments and such. The interest from mortgages is also tax deductible, so that’s a bonus. In the end, it’s up to you to decide whether purchasing a home is the right move, as the value of a house will not always rise as some people think. You’ll also have to add in the expenses of property tax, utilities, and home insurance.
A lot of discussions have taken place over the past seven months or so in light of COVID-19 and the market reaction to it. The purpose of this client briefing is to share some observations with you from our recent experiences across our deals in the United Kingdom: Lenders are currently showing a degree of flexibility in their approach to defaulting and/or potentially defaulting borrowers. This is prevalent specifically in scenarios where the relevant events of default, and/or potential events of default, have been triggered by events outside the control of borrowers or where the loans were fundamentally performing pre COVID-19. See extra info on https://techbullion.com/wills-and-covid-19-safeguarding-your-assets-during-a-global-pandemic/.