In Florida, there’s only one thing hotter than the temperatures right now: the housing market. Accelerated by the pandemic, residential real estate booms are happening all over the country. In Florida, where many aspire to homeownership, the market is especially lively. Prices have risen across the board, resulting in much higher sale amounts than during the pre-COVID days. While this trend can make shopping for a Read More

Most people have heard of an Estate Plan, even if they haven’t realized that they have. Everyone has heard of a Last Will and Testament, commonly just known as a Will, where they list that they leave everything they have to their kids or spouse or long-lost twin. Some adults plan on just writing this in a Google Doc or scribbling it on a napkin if they ever get sick. Unfortunately, in Florida, that doesn’t cut Read More

Refinancing your home’s mortgage allows you to replace your current home loan with a new one. It is a great option to get into a more advantageous financial situation, especially if it has been a long time since you took out your original home loan. At Schlegel Livingston, LLC, refinancing is one of our specialties. Here are our 6 tips for a stress-free refinancing process: Decide What Your Goal is Knowing Read More

Estate Planning, though universally necessary, is very specialized in execution. Just as no two people are exactly the same, no two Estate Plans  will have the same needs and desires. Though most people have heard of a Will, they may not know that a Trust would be a better fit for them - or some combination of the two. For the uninitiated, an Estate Plan is a legal document that dictates what someone wants to Read More

No one has ever accused the homebuying process of being straightforward, quick, and easy. Even in the best of cases, it is easy for important things to slip through the cracks. One of the most important aspects of the home buying process is getting Title Insurance, which is all too easily overlooked by those who don’t understand it. For the purpose of this article, we are going to discuss buying a home to live in, Read More

Divorce is never easy. It affects all aspects of a couple’s lives - their living situation, financial situation, emotional situation, familial situation, and their work. It even affects their Estate Plan, which many people do not realize. Updating your Estate Plan is unlikely to be the first thing that comes to mind when you finish going through a divorce - but maybe it should be. Making an Estate Plan is Read More

An Open House is an exciting part of the real estate selling process. It is the time where you will probably have the most people inside your house at one time. It will invite potential buyers inside your home who wouldn’t be able to see it usually. You’ll have a lot of people asking you questions all at once. For how exciting it is, it can also be overwhelming. Sometimes it feels like you don’t even know where to Read More

When you think about estate planning, you probably know most of what you want to put in your Will. You might think about your money, home, vehicles, and possessions. You might not even consider your digital assets - even though they are increasingly important. Before we continue: what exactly are digital assets? Your digital assets include: Your smartphone… (Even if it will be outdated in two years!) Read More

Buying a home is one of the biggest investments you will ever make. To ensure that you pay fair market value, an appraiser will inspect the property and complete a report that includes the amount they believe the property to be worth. This report is then used to help you decide whether to buy it. Your mortgage lender will also review the appraiser’s feedback to determine whether to issue you a mortgage. Although Read More

A revocable or irrevocable living trust is one of the most common estate-planning documents in use today, second only, perhaps, to a Last Will and Testament. Like a Will, a trust can distribute certain assets to your heirs upon your passing. There are some situations, though, where it makes more sense to place an asset into a trust instead of designating in it your Will.  For larger assets, like real estate, it Read More