Hello and Happy New Year.
With extremely low inventory and interest rates still hovering below 4 percent, 2015 will be a great time for both buyers and sellers in the Bay Area Market! Buyers should be aware that prices have appreciated significantly in the past year (over 15%!) and sellers may also rejoice in that fact. Obviously, you can never exactly guess the market; if you could, we would be millionaires. The old premise of " buy low and sell high" is an ideal, but the root of that is " idea"- markets are constantly moving and if you are buying and selling, the whole thing is relative!
That being said, if you do own a home, one thing you may be concerned about is the impact on your heirs of how you hold title. Many people assume, erroneously, that " Joint Tenancy" is the best way to hold title, as it guarantees the right of survivorship. However, for a married couple, they can ensure that by taking title as " Community Property with the right of Survivorship". The tax difference in the two methods can be significant. Other ways of holding property are as " Tenants in Common" or as Trustees of either a "Revocable" or "Irrevocable" Trust. You can also hold property as " Community Property". Please contact me for a printout from a title company for some details about these methods of holding title. ( As the way you hold title can have significant legal and tax ramifications and I am neither an accountant nor an attorney, I must refer you to those professionals to discuss the specific details of your situation. The title company print out is just for your basic information!
If you have significant equity or other assets, the best way to hold title is often as a Trust. Don't worry. No matter how you currently hold title, if you need to change the vesting, you can contact a local title company or even do it yourself at the County Recorders. Usually, a bank won't make a loan to a trust, so most people who get loans do so as individuals and then change the vesting within a couple of days.
Please contact me if you would like recommendations to attorneys who draw Trusts, and by all means, if you might need one, do consider generating one in the early months of the year. I can say from personal experience, having had to settle my father's estate ( he had a will and NOT a trust) the process of probate which is what happens if there is no trust, is expensive, time consuming and stressful.
I promise my next post will be a little less heavy, but for now...... take this to heart and also have a very happy 2015!
