Maelstrom in Real Estate

Maybe the maelstrom in real estate is starting to wear itself out and wind down. I sure hope so and I’ll bet many of my seller clients feel the same way. In an article dated today, Monica Chen with the “Durham Herald Sun,” writes on Durham County North Carolina foreclosures.

According to the NC Administrate Office of the courts; Durham County had 446 foreclosure starts from June through August 2010. This is down from 508 for the summer of 2009. Still the news is not rosy, 446 is a lot of foreclosed home and a lot of people moving from ownership into leasehold. Although Durham’s unemployment rate of 7.6 percent is below the sate wide level of 9.7 percent, there are still a lot of unemployed and underemployed people in our market.

The Herald Sun article further asserts from sources with the Mortgage Foreclosure Defense Project for Legal Aid of North Carolina that current sub-prime lending practices are affecting current foreclosure rates. HUH???? The Herald Sun article points to statistics that are four years old and two years old, kind of destroying the article’s credibility….these are not current lending practices; let’s call them…dated. The Herald does state that there has been a drop in sub-prime lending practices, this is true; there has been a drop in ALL lending practices from all banks.

So, with foreclosure rates starting to decline perhaps we’ll see a market return to stable real estate market.

Estate planning probate vs. no probate

Estate planning probate vs. no probate

Ok children, draw near and listen. First, I am not an attorney and I am not giving legal advice. I am speaking friend to friend.

Ten years ago I lost my partner. We “planned” for both of our inevitables…or so we thought. We went halfway I learned this week. We had Wills drawn we had Durable Powers of Attorney drawn; we had Advance Directives aka Living Wills drawn, we had Health Care Powers of Attorney drawn and all of those legal documents worked as they should have.

Oh, if we had known to take it just a step further. This week I attended a conference given by www.estateplanningforpartners.com">Jeffrey Marsocci Esq. This conference was so enlightening whether you are married, partnered or whatever. Get with it, contact this guy and start protecting yourself today. Here’s a little low down on some of the myths that WE operate under:
• Wills provide for the management of our estates, NO! Wills tell the courts how to handle our estates. Even with a Will, in North Carolina and presumably elsewhere our estates travel through probate…THE COURT SYSTEM.
o There is a terrible loss of privacy
o There is a terrible waste of time and money…it took the estate of Elvis Presley nearly 12 years to work through probate.
• Probate takes the assets of the deceased and distributes those assets to beneficiaries.
• If nothing remains titled (owned) in the name of the deceased, then there is NO need for probate.

Here’s what most of us don’t know, PROBATE IS EXPENSIVE.

So, here is how Jeffrey Marsocci Esq. can help. This smart lawyer has built part of his career helping folks avoid probate. He helps married and unmarried folks, partnered or not to create revocable trusts. So please whether you’re are single, married, partnered or not, call this man, set an appointment and protect yourselves.

The information here comes from “Estate Planning,” by Jeffrey Marsocci Esq.
Mr. Marsocci’s telephone number is 919-844-7993

Michael L. Sullivan is a full service real estate professional and REALTOR serving central North Carolina. For all of your real estate needs visit Michael's web sites,
RentDurhamNC.com or TeamMichaelSullivan.com