During the Pandemic, many people changed the way they work and those changes may have made them rethink where their real estate. Some businesses changed to a work from home model or a hybrid model of working from home some days and from the office some days. These changes meant for some they could move further away from their office since they were going to work from home anyway. Or maybe they were working from home a few days a week. And some with school age children had to have their children learn virtually from home.
Last year my children went back and forth at different times of the year between all virtual, hybrid, and in-person learning. My husband began working entirely from home and I was working a hybrid model of a few days at home. Having 4 people in the house trying to be on phone calls or zoom calls at the same time could be loud and distracting. My family had been living in a 3 bedroom home, my children’s bedrooms were too small to add a desk, my “office” was set up in our master bedroom, and my husband’s “office” was in the basement but was in an open space with no door to close.
We decided we needed more space in our real estate. We needed to be able have separate work spaces where we didn’t have to hear each other’s calls and could have quiet to concentrate on our work. Like many people, who were suddenly spending more time at home, we decided if we were spending so much time at home, we needed more space. We decided to move into a larger home where I now get my own home office that is not in my bedroom. I can close the door from the distractions. My husband also is now able to have his own office as well with a door he can close. My husband spends the majority of his days on phone calls and prior to us moving he constantly had to tell the kids to be quiet.
If you have also moved recently or plan on doing so soon, don’t forget to think about your existing estate plan. If you have a Trust you may want your Trust to own your real estate. If you already purchased your home and it was not put in the name of your Trust you should think about calling an attorney who can prepare a Special Warranty Deed, to transfer the ownership of the home from you to your Trust.
If you haven’t already moved but plan to soon and have a Trust, the closing company preparing your new deed should be able to do this. Just make sure you inform them when completing the closing paperwork. Some mortgage companies will not allow you to put the deed in the name of the trust at closing. If this is the case, an attorney should be contacted to transfer the property after the mortgage closing. If you don’t have a trust and your estate plan consists of putting beneficiary designations on all your assets to avoid probate upon your death, you should contact an attorney after closing to prepare a beneficiary deed for your real estate. This will allow your real estate to pass to the beneficiaries of your choosing and avoid the need for Probate.
-Lisa Villareal