Corona Virus and Real Estate

In the final analysis, we must admit that the Coronavirus crisis is in fact the very last thing we needed in California – given the chronic problems with the job-based economy, and conflicts within various markets – the troubled agriculture business and the real estate market, just to begin with. 

Since 2016, we could clearly see a  downwards cyclical trend in California, revealing shrinking home sales.  And for whatever reason, we’re experiencing a peculiar growing trend, featuring  conflicts between siblings and other family members within estates and trust funds, typically with real estate.. with less and less cash each year that goes by. 

These conflicts between sibling beneficiaries typically revolve around inheriting real property, with one or more heirs and/or beneficiaries wanting to take more than their fair share of inheritance assets… Moreover, we see a lot of sibling conflict  revolving around the question of who will retain inherited property, or will beneficiaries looking to sell that property to an outside buyer win that battle of wills…. Taking the estate into an area involving parent to child exclusion, and transfer of property between siblings, or buying out a siblings’ share of a house, also known as buying out siblings’ property shares or sibling-to-sibling property transfer.

Interestingly enough, it is only in the state of California where you have property tax relief which actually looks like tax savings set up specifically to deal with economic problems brought about by the Pandemic – in every state… Put forth and passed by Lawmakers that actually care about the well being of the American people. 

CA Proposition 13 and Proposition 58 would actually be excellent tax break solutions for folks in every state right now, with a relentless Pandemic causing death and mayhem, both with our health, and with our job based economy.  This type of property tax savings for American home owners would be right on time – where you can keep parents property taxes, transfer parents property taxes, while inheriting property taxes at a low 1978 Proposition 13 base rate… Having the ability to use Proposition 58 property tax transfer benefits, with parent to child transfer or, as lawyers call it, “parent to child exclusion” – covered on trust lender Websites…   Property owners in every state should be learning more about these types of tax benefits, on official Websites such as the official California State Board of Equalization site; or at one of the free, well researched, well vetted niche California tax relief resource blogs like this site.  

It’s important to learn how trust loans work alongside reliable  Proposition 58 or Proposition 193 property transfer tax break benefits, making it possible to establish and retain a low Proposition 13 tax base with parent to child exclusion guaranteed; upon any  beneficiary buyout of sibling property shares, or as realtors call it, “the transfer of property between siblings”, and “lending money to an irrevocable trust“ – typically from an irrevocable trust loan lender with a solid, reliable reputation.

Learning about these tax breaks, and how they work with trust loans or without… will strengthen residential and commercial property owners’ ability to communicate  the right data points to their so-called representatives in Washington… with the hope that one of these days, sooner than later, we’ll start to see property tax relief being established in every state in this country, just as they have in the state of California. 

And yet  now with all the problems in the real estate market brought about by the Coronavirus Pandemic, with home sales on the wane as potential buyers cancel house viewings, or flat out decide against risking a large down payment and pricey monthly mortgage payment due to fears that they may lose their lucrative  white collar job in the very near future… Or that their investments in the stock market or in CDs may plummet any day soon.

With the Coronavirus crisis literally paralyzing the real estate market, and the retail as well as service industries in California; and elsewhere, doing exactly as it wishes to do with us essentially, as we continue to flounder.  With absentee leadership and misinformation costing thousands of fatalities, and an economic disaster getting more and more serious by the day. 

Looking at this issue realistically, we’re now talking about 45 million people filing for Unemployment. 2,415,000  jobs lost just in April 2020 alone as an example, and similar losses before and thereafter, as months go by and the virus deepens it’s effect on our way of life.  With tens of millions of people out of work.  We’re now talking about almost double the number of Americans unemployed during the Great Depression, which was over 25 million.  Let’s look at California, given the plunge of the real estate market due, to a large degree, to the Coronavirus crisis.  

California home sales fell to the lowest level since the last “Great Recession” as the housing market suffered the full impact of the Coronavirus Pandemic in May and sales remained below 300,000 for the second straight month, the California Association of Realtors informed us recently.   May 2020 home sales in California decreased 13.9% from 277,440 in April and down 41.4% from 12 months ago, when 407,330 homes were sold within that year. It was the second straight month that home sales dropped below 300,000 units. Additionally, the past year’s plunge was the largest drop in home sales since the Recession beginning in November 2007, contributing to a sales drop of 12.9%

It’s odd that experts are warning us that California could see a 20% increase in homelessness if this current economic downturn continues month after month. We may see as many, if not more,  evictions and foreclosures in California than we had during the last  “Great Recession”.   Not only that, with bread lines continuing to mushroom all across America; teeming with Americans in long lines of cars… apparently in their 6th or 10th or 12th week of unemployment, what would help residential and commercial property owners would be property tax relief similar to how it’s done in the great state of California. 

This is precisely the tax relief model that should be reviewed by Congress as a serious non partisan, non political Emergency Disaster Relief Measure… being that California the only state in America where you can still  avoid property tax reassessment at current rates; capped at 2% taxation, thanks to the original 1978 CA Proposition 13.

Websites that focus on California Proposition 58, on property tax transfer and on how trust loans from trust lenders work for estates   with property conflicts between siblings… equalizing distribution of cash, as real estate attorneys put it – so all beneficiaries walk away feeling they got what they wanted, and that it was win-win for all concerned.  This would give beneficiaries and home owners alike enough info on property tax transfer and parent to child exclusion, and property tax relief in general, to put their demands in writing to Congress…  and demand property tax relief as part of the Coronavirus Stimulus Package!  It would certainly make a great deal of sense right now, no question about it.