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Shielding real estate assets with strong wills during coronavirus era

Wills in real estate in coronavirus period? Fixating on the house over the neighborhood. Sure, you want a home that checks off the items on your wish list and meets your needs. Being nitpicky about a home’s cosmetics, however, can be short-sighted if you wind up in a neighborhood you hate, says Alison Bernstein, president and founder of Suburban Jungle, a real estate strategy firm. “Selecting the right town is critical to your life and family development,” Bernstein says. “The goal is to find you and your brood a place where the culture and values of the (area) match yours. You can always trade up or down for a new home; add a third bathroom or renovate a basement.” How this affects you: You could wind up loving your home but hating your neighborhood. What to do instead: Ask your real estate agent to help you track down neighborhood crime stats and school ratings. Measure the drive from the neighborhood to your job to gauge commuting time and proximity to public transportation. Visit the neighborhood at different times to get a sense of traffic, neighbor interactions and the overall vibe to see if it’s an area that appeals to you.

The Realtor you choose will play an important role in making a successful sale. A reputable Realtor in Germany will constantly monitor the multiple listing service (MLS), know the comps in your neighborhood, and know what properties are going on the market. A Realtor that works by themselves may not have all the skills they need to help you from start to finish. Another reason why we recommend having a well-balanced real estate team help you through the entire process, and why we formed one ourselves! Since 92% of homebuyers begin their house hunting online, you need to make sure that your agent is doing a good job showcasing your home properly by using appealing pictures (At least a minimum of 6 for a successful online listing).

Affidavits have been permitted to be sworn remotely, even if full regulations to permit the process have not been introduced, and the courts have been operating on limited scales to deal with a variety of urgent litigation matters electronically and by way of video conferencing, with more routine matters like probate applications (Certificates of Appointment of Estate Trustees), being handled in one way or another. Consultation meetings with clients themselves have been arranged by way of various video conferencing facilities and on occasion in socially distanced settings, again with masks and sanitizer until in-office meetings can again be scheduled. See more information on Wills And COVID-19.

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.

Break Down Your Income & Expenses: Credit for this one goes to user GeekLimit on Reddit – one of my favorite personal finance tips! This is an odd little trick that can change the perspective you have about your money, and help you budget better. It’s all about breaking your income and expenses down into daily values, like this: You make $2,500/month = ~$83/day. You pay $800/month for rent = ~$27/day. You pay $200/month for car insurance = ~$7/day. Everything else (food, phone, gas, etc.) comes to $750/month = ~$25/day. That means you’re left with $24/day in spending money. Want to save $1,000 for a nice vacation? You’ll have to save about 42 days worth of your spending money. That means 42 days of not spending a dime. Want to buy a new $10,000 car? That’s about 416 days worth of your spending money. This will help you see how far purchases are going to set you back and affect your spending ability.

We have seen lenders ask for, and borrowers agree to, enhanced information covenants, including the delivery of updated compliance certificates following a payment default by a tenant where the borrower is a landlord of a multi-let property. Some lenders are exercising their rights under loan agreements to block distributions to investors, thereby minimizing any leakage from the structure. Others are allowing for the release of funds to investors once the loan has been stabilized following an equity cure. For our Middle Eastern sponsor client base, release of distributions to their investors has been a key factor in re-negotiating the terms of their existing loan agreements. Having said that the practicalities of the current market has meant that in many cases there is very little (if any) cash available for distributions, even in the cases of stablised loans. See extra information on https://techbullion.com/wills-and-covid-19-safeguarding-your-assets-during-a-global-pandemic/.