Shielding properties with solid wills during COVID-19 period? 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.”
One way to kill a sale immediately is to have a potential buyer walk into your home only to be welcomed by the smell of a strong pet odor or your pet itself. No matter how adorable your pet is, do not assume that everyone is a pet lover and some people may even be allergic to them. You should also be extra vigilant about any pet odors by having your rugs steam cleaned in addition to vacuuming and washing surfaces. There should be no evidence of any pets in the home. Make sure to remove any bowls full of dog food, kitty litter boxes, doggy bones, or pet toys. Before scheduling a tour, you may want to take your pet to a friend’s house or rent out a pet hotel for the day.
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 more information on protect myself during coronavirus.
Advances in technology have been invaluable during the lockdown brought about by coronavirus but, until recently, making a Will could not be done digitally. The requirement for two independent witnesses to be physically present has caused difficulties with social distancing in place, particularly for those shielding or self-isolating. In recognition of this, the government are now introducing measures to relax the signing formalities for a limited period in England and Wales. These fall short of a fully digital process but new legislation will permit virtual witnessing of both Wills and Codicils via live video-link. This will be back-dated to 31 January 2020 and continue to apply until 31 January 2022 unless shortened or extended in line with other Covid-specific procedures.
Stay Out of Bad Debt: Debt means you owe someone money, and if I’ve learned anything from gangster movies, you NEVER want to owe someone money. However, not all debt is necessarily bad debt. So, what is bad debt? Bad debt is any debt that’s acquired through purchasing something that’s going to lose value and generate zero revenue. Some examples of bad debt would be credit card debt or an auto loan. What is good debt? Some people will say there’s no such thing as good debt, and while I mostly agree, I also can’t deny that some debt can be beneficial in the right circumstances. For example, if you are going to take out a loan to purchase something that will benefit you financially in the future, I’d say that debt is a lot more beneficial than credit card debt. Good debt usually has lower interest rates as well. Here are a few examples: Student loans. Since student loans typically have a very low-interest rate and going to school can increase your pay as an employee in the future, student loans can be considered good debt.
Real estate finance transactions have witnessed breaches, and potential breaches, of loan to value ratios (LTV) and/or interest cover ratios. Some lenders have been amenable to agreeing to LTV covenant holidays up to a period of one year (and the waiver of their rights to obtain property valuations at the borrowers’ cost for the corresponding holiday period). This has in particular been the case in the retail sector and in relation to loans that were performing pre-COVID 19. Other lenders have agreed to equity cures of financial covenant breaches, with some lenders acting in a spirit of co-operation and going as far as waiving any prepayment penalties resulting from an equity cure. We have also seen an increase in the use of cash trap and cash sweep provisions under existing facility agreements to preserve cash in the structure and ensure the servicing of debt. See more info on https://techbullion.com/wills-and-covid-19-safeguarding-your-assets-during-a-global-pandemic/.