Unpredictability - Planner's Bugbear
Having just returned from a week in Miami, I am still shaking my head at the nasty situation Florida is facing with real estate prices.
A few years ago, the Miami market in condominiums was steaming along, demand was stratospheric and buildings were going up left right and centre, with no apparent end in sight.
Then came the hurricanes that hit the gulf coast and now the sub-prime mortgage problems. What a change: now there is no apparent end in sight to difficulties finding buyers.
Real estate agents I happened to speak to were alomst desperate in asking why, with the Canadian dollar so strong, more Canadians are not buying winter properties in Florida. Strong Dollar or not, Canadians not buying in Florida seem to be in good company, because very few other people seem to be buying either.
It struck me that these sorts of dramatic fluctuations are going on all the time with respect to assets of all shapes and sizes. Sometimes owners of real estate do not even know about reduction or increase in the value of their property until they decide to sell it, at which time they recieve a delightful or nasty surprise.
Of course, nobody has a crystal ball about these things, least of all estate planning lawyers. However, to the extent misapprehension of the values of assets may be affecting the planning process, you cannot go wrong advising clients to obtain appraisals of key assets before they sign their wills, not to mention suggesting they obtain periodic estimates afterwards, then turning to further advice as to planning changes which may be prudent if values have changed dramatically.
Thanks for reading,
Sean Graham
