Video Summary


Can a home equity loan be used to purchase investment property?  The answer is yes.  You can use the proceeds from a home equity line of credit to purchase investment property.

 

Once you obtain this line of credit on your home, the bank does not monitor what you use the money for.  You can use it for entertainment, to pay off credit cards; you can use it for anything you like.  The downside of it is, you put a mortgage against your home.  So if you do not repay it, your home is at risk.

 

So yes, you can use the proceeds from your home equity line of credit to buy investment property, or for that matter, to take your bride out to dinner.

 

If you have any questions about a home equity line of credit, give me a call at 727-847-2288.

 

Video Summary

 

Is a home warranty worth the price when purchasing a home?  Well, that is a real great question, and I do not think I have a good answer for it.  I guess if any of the appliances go out, the answer is yes.  If none of the appliances go out, well, the answer is no.

 

So that is the nature of the beast whenever you are talking about insurance.  Any time that you get insurance, well, if you do not have a casualty loss, you have paid the premium and therefore it was not a good deal.  However, you are getting the home warranty or buying the home warranty to have peace of mind so you do not have an unexpected expense.

 

If you want to further analyze the situation, look at how old the appliances are.  And if they are relatively old, there is a higher possibility of them breaking down, well then you can go ahead and buy a warranty so you are not surprised later on.  I suggest that you really understand the warranty so you know how much it is going to pay, whether you have to pay a service call or any of the deductibles, and whether there is a maximum they have to pay, let’s say, for an air conditioning system.

 

Also look at the value of what you are trying to insure against.  As far as an air conditioning system, you are looking at thousands of dollars.  If you are looking at a refrigerator, well, that could be depending on the refrigerator – could also be in the thousands.  And then look at how long the warranty runs for.  Because if you are paying $500.00 to insure a $1,000.00 refrigerator or a couple of thousand dollars worth of appliances, well that is a pretty steep premium to be paying for that.

 

So hopefully I have answered your question, and I do not think there is a cut-and-dry answer.  You need to look at the circumstances, and what your tolerances are as far as whether or not you could stand the surprise or have the money to pay for it.  You might also ask that the seller provide you with the home warranty whenever you purchase the home and negotiate that into the contract.

 

If you have any more questions about it, please give me a call at 727-847-2288.

 

Video Summary

 

Can a contractor place a lien on my home if I did not sign a contract?  The answer is yes.  Under the Construction Lien Statute, someone who improves real property can place a lien on your property if they are not paid.  That is all under the Construction Lien Statute.  They do not have to give you a notice to owner.  The question then becomes, whenever they try and enforce the lien, as to the amount that they lien the property.  If they do not have a contract, and you do not have an agreed-on price, they have to prove the value of the services they put on your property if they try and foreclose the lien.  So, in answer to your question, yes they can lien your property.

 

 

So if you have any problems with a contractor liening your property, or have any questions about the Construction Lien Statute in Florida, give me a call at 727-847-2288.

 

Video Summary

 

Using long-term care insurance and planning for incapacity.  Long-term care insurance, available through private salesmen or through union and employment sources can be an essential planning consideration in advance of incapacity.  There are three main types of coverage available in long-term care insurance – home healthcare insurance, assisted living care insurance and skilled nursing care insurance.  The cost of medically necessary skilled intermediate and custodial care nursing, home residency will be covered if policy considerations are met.  This may be crucial to affording care if you are not eligible for Medicaid as the average cost of skilled nursing care, currently in New Port Richey, Florida, is approximately $7,000.00 per month.

 

In-home care – the cost of a doctor prescribed home healthcare aide furnished by a home healthcare agency will be covered if policy conditions are met in the right circumstances.  This may be crucial to some, as without coverage, the average cost of a home healthcare aide in New Port Richey, Florida is approximately $100.00 per day.

 

Assisted living care insurance – the cost of assisted living care insurance are increasingly covered by modern policies.  Some policies are equating assisted living care coverage with home healthcare coverage for insurance policies and either one of them will be covered under the benefits of your policy if you have home healthcare insurance.  The average cost of the assisted living care facility for a monthly basis in New Port Richey, Florida currently is approximately $2,000.00 per month.

 

There are some considerations that you need to make prior to purchasing long-term care insurance.  The younger the purchaser, the less expensive the policy premium is going to be.  For the desired coverage, it is recommended that a person at age 75 would pay approximately $5,000.00 to $6,000.00 per year in premiums for long-term care insurance.  Additionally, another benefit is a tax deduction that you may make when you file your income taxes.  The tax deduction that you may make would need to be for an itemized tax return for long-term care insurance, but the premium must be at least or more than seven percent (7%) of your adjusted gross income.

 

Also, very few companies will write policies for people who are over the age of 82 years old.  To be very honest, most insurance companies won’t write them at all.  That’s why it’s very important to take these considerations into your estate planning when you’re at age 70 and older.  As you get older, as I stated it’s increasingly difficult to get this sort of insurance coverage.

 

Most important to consider in planning for long-term care insurance is the quality of your insurer.  Dealing with the fly-by-night insurance company may save you costs in the interim, but it will surely mean more grief when the time is come to collect the benefits that you crucially need at that time.  Most important to consider is the stability of the company, it’s management skills, it’s payment history, and the investor practices of the specific company.

 

These are the most important evaluations to consider with long-term care insurance.  If you have any questions or need assistance in involving incapacity of your loved one, please give me a call here at Waller and Mitchell at 727-847-2288.

 

 

 

Video Summary

 

Can family members have me removed from the Will of my late parents?  No, they cannot.  Once someone passes away the Will cannot be changed.  The only time a Will can be changed is while someone is alive and they can always have a last Will and they can choose who they wish to leave matters to.  There are various challenges that can be made to Wills, which can divest you or eliminate you as a beneficiary if the Will was procured by undue influence or the testator, that’s the person making the Will, was not competent.  That is a Will contest and if you were a beneficiary under the Will that was procured by undue influence or the person was not competent, well then you could possibly lose your inheritance.

 

But just because they want to remove you as a beneficiary under the Will they cannot do that unilaterally.  There has to be some legal basis as to why you would not inherit.  Along the problems that we are seeing, as far as trusts are concerned, the trust is not published and if someone is appointed as a trustee under your parents trust and they passed away, the trustee has the power to distribute the property to whomever they want and cut you out because you do not know what is in the trust, which is a real problem, particularly when you come see an attorney to ask him to do something about it and you do not have a copy of the trust so you do not know whether you are included or not.

 

If you have any questions about that, about your Will or trust and you being a beneficiary, well give me a call at 727-847-2288.