Realty World Northern California & Nevada

If you have never been involved in the sale of a property in which the title of the property was in conflict to a deceased property owner’s Will, be thankful. What a complicated mess it can become!

Most often, this is through no intention of the property owner, but rather a misunderstanding of the fact that when there is a discrepancy between the two, the Deed of Trust supersedes the instructions of the Will.

An example would be the title to a property owned between two friends is held in 50/50 joint tenancy. They each have children and their individual Wills state that upon the death of either, their interest in the property is to transfer to their respective children. Though very well intended, the title is held in Joint Tenancy (with right of survivorship) rather than Tenants in Common. In this instance, the interest in the property would transfer to the surviving titleholder, not the children of the deceased owner.

Estate planning is essential and can save you and your heirs from a lot of unexpected, and unnecessary, headache and expense. Holding title to property that corresponds to your Will or Living Trust is a must. For information regarding estate planning visit http://money.cnn.com/retirement/guide/EstatePlanning/.

Terri Adamo
Franchise Sales Director
Terri.Adamo@rwnc.net

Reaping The Benefits By Engaging With Local Trade Groups

Many today are caught up in this new social structure which makes it possible to open communication between individuals, groups, or even organizations.  Generally, there is a common interest or shared value between those who open up this line of communication whether it be through a blog site, Q & A, or a social networking site such as FaceBook, Trulia, or ActiveRain (just to name a few). A whole new language lies within this social networking such as nodes, or ‘the social capital,’ and the list goes on.

This new relationship building base has evolved from years of people wanting to develop common ground between each other. More than likely the text books from my old Sociology Courses in college are being completely rewritten, if not revamping the entire course, to meet this new format of ‘sociology,’ especially at the rapid pace that social networks are advancing.

Within the Realty World system, not only are we moving our members beyond what they ever imagined in social networking, but we have other very high-powered programs for our members to build stronger business models for themselves. One of the most powerful programs to engage in is our local Trade Groups. As it states in the Operating Rules of the Trade Groups, the intention of the Trade Group is “to take advantage of Realty World synergism by pooling ideas, resources, and training activities for the purpose of solving common problems and promoting common benefits among the members of the group.”

In the same realm of the Realty World social networking initiatives, the Realty World Trade Groups are going to move to a new level under a new format that includes agents in the meeting, training, more in depth networking, and yes, the building of stronger relationships not only between the members but the common communities they serve.  We invite everyone to find a new commitment and become a part of their local Trade Group.  

Dennis O. Stewart, GRI
Vice President & Regional Director
Dennis.Stewart@rwnc.net

Anyone can be scammed; and although I have a pretty good nose for these things, I almost got caught by this one.

A very official notice was mailed to me late last week that indicated that I could save $2,706.28 in property taxes by requesting that my property be reassessed due to its decline in valuation. The letter has very specific details on my home including the Assessors ID Number. It goes on to say that they will handle all the filings with the County Assessors offices for me for only $179.00 service fee. Further, if the reassessment wasn’t granted they would refund the fee. It seemed like a very inexpensive way to get this done. Who has time filing papers? Just as I was ready to write a check, I paused  for a moment and decided to research this on Google. I found out that this is a scam. A great article was written on this particular scam by Broderick Perkins (Examiner.com).

Scott Gill
Senior Vice President
Scott.Gill@rwnc.net