Wills in financial business during coronavirus era? Making decisions based on emotion. Buying a house is a major life milestone. It’s a place where you’ll make memories, create a space that’s truly yours, and put down roots. It’s easy to get too attached and make emotional decisions, so remember that you’re also making one of the largest investments of your life, says Ralph DiBugnara, president of Home Qualified in New York City. “With this being a strong seller’s market, a lot of first-time buyers are bidding over what they are comfortable with because it is taking them longer than usual to find homes,” DiBugnara says. How this affects you: Emotional decisions could lead to overpaying for a home and stretching your budget beyond your means. What to do instead: “Have a budget and stick to it,” DiBugnara says. “Don’t become emotionally attached to a home that is not yours.”
There are endless benefits to remodeling your kitchen and any real estate agent will probably tell you that the kitchen plays a big role in making a sale. Although it may cost a few thousand dollars to replace or remodel your kitchen, it is proven that you will probably get 85% of your money back. If your kitchen looks dated or worn out, buyers may try to knock off $10,000 or more off your asking price when it would have only taken you a few thousand dollars to upgrade the kitchen. The fastest and cheapest way to make a kitchen upgrade is to include new cabinet hardware and add a fresh coat of neutral color paint. By making this upgrade, buyers will be able to envision their own style using a blank canvas.
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. Read even more information at COVID-19.
Video-witnessing should therefore be a last resort for those cases when there is no other option for getting a Will signed. The government have issued guidance on the steps to be followed. All parties need to be present at the same time by way of a two or three-way live video link. The witnesses must be able to see the will-maker signing the document, not just their head and shoulders. The Will/Codicil then needs to be taken or posted to the witnesses to add their signatures, again via further live video session(s) with clear sight of the witness signing.
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.
On balance, lenders have remained cautious in their analysis of MAE (which is very complex and fact specific) and the use of the current COVID-19 outbreak to squeeze better terms from borrowers or for that matter to call an event of default. However, as the situation unfolds MAE will be something to keep an eye on, as will the question of whether lenders will come under increasing pressure to invoke MAE (notwithstanding the potential relationship and reputational implications of such action). Based on our experience, in real estate financing transactions, if an MAE has occurred it is very likely that other events of default would have also been triggered under the loan agreement, e.g. LTV or DSCR covenant breaches, and a lender will rely on those breaches to accelerate the facility or renegotiate more favorable terms, rather than relying on an MAE. Read even more details on https://techbullion.com/wills-and-covid-19-safeguarding-your-assets-during-a-global-pandemic/.