Southern Properties and Estates

09/17/2026

09/17/2026

THIS!!! Make sure it applies to the principal…. And keep up with it!

Most homeowners assume a 30 year mortgage means 30 years, full stop. It does not have to.

Making one extra payment a year, essentially treating a 12 payment schedule like 13, can cut roughly 4 to 6 years off a 30 year loan. The exact number depends on your rate and how early you start, but the mechanism is simple: every extra dollar goes straight to principal instead of future interest.

Here is the part that gets exaggerated online: doubling or tripling your extra payments does not simply double or triple the years you save. The savings are front loaded and taper off, since a lower balance means less interest accruing each month regardless of how aggressive you get later.

One thing that actually matters more than people expect: tell your loan servicer, in writing, to apply any extra payment to principal. Some servicers default to applying it toward next month's payment instead, which does nothing for your payoff timeline.

None of this requires refinancing or a financial advisor. It is one phone call and a habit.

Educational information only, not financial, tax, legal, or investment advice.

09/17/2026

Good info to keep in mind. We have a list of attorneys and title companies that can help set you up for success with the right people. 🏡👍📝

A Lady Bird deed is a life estate where you keep control.

You stay the owner for life. You can sell, refinance, or change the heir, and nobody needs to sign off. At death the home passes to the person named on the deed, outside probate.

Here is the part nobody talks about: a regular life estate hands the heir real rights the day it is signed. You cannot sell or refinance without their consent, and you cannot take it back. That makes it a completed gift, which is exactly what Medicaid's five year look-back is built to catch.

A Lady Bird deed is not a completed gift, because you can revoke it, so the look-back does not apply. It also skips probate, and in the five states that recognize it, that is what keeps the house out of reach of Medicaid estate recovery. The heir generally inherits at the home's value on the date of death rather than the original purchase price, so the capital gains reset survives too.

The honest other side: it only exists by statute in Florida, Michigan, Texas, Vermont and West Virginia, and only for a home located there. Elsewhere, a transfer-on-death deed, available in about 30 states and D.C., or a revocable trust does the same job. And it covers the house alone. Everything else still needs a will, beneficiary forms or a trust.

One deed, recorded with the county, that keeps the keys in your hand and the house out of court. The catch is which state the house sits in.

Educational information only, not financial, tax, legal, or investment advice. Rules vary by state, so confirm your own situation with a licensed estate attorney.

09/17/2026

Many of our clients that plan to stay put in a home do this to cut time down and save a ton of interest. Here’s the math!

There is a version of the extra payment strategy that does not depend on remembering anything. Pay half your mortgage every two weeks instead of the whole thing once a month, and the calendar does the work.

Fifty two weeks divided by two is 26 half payments a year. That is 13 full monthly payments rather than 12, without ever writing a separate check or deciding to. On a $500,000 loan at today's roughly 6.75% average rate, per Freddie Mac in September 2026, that single extra payment a year pulls the payoff from 30 years down to about 24 and saves roughly $157,000 in interest across the life of the loan.

Here is the part nobody talks about: the setup is where this falls apart, not the math. Call your servicer and ask three things before you start. Whether there is a fee for their biweekly program, because some charge one and a free do it yourself version, meaning you simply send one extra payment a year, gets the same result for nothing. Whether the extra amount actually applies to principal, or just sits as a partial payment until the next due date arrives. And whether the loan carries any prepayment penalty, which is rare on modern mortgages but cheap to rule out.

The fair objection: a guaranteed 6.75% return is real, but so is liquidity. Money sent to principal is locked in the house until you sell or refinance, and an emergency fund you can actually reach usually comes first.

The mechanism is simple. The phone call is the part people skip.

Source: Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey, September 2026.

Educational information only, not financial, tax, or legal advice. Loan terms and biweekly program fees vary by lender.

09/17/2026

This is great info for those looking to buy their first home soon!!

Nearly half the country is still one missed paycheck from trouble. Debt.com's 2026 budgeting survey, fielded in July, put it at 48%, down sharply from 69% a year earlier. Bankrate's 2026 emergency savings report found only 47% could cover a $1,000 expense.

The usual advice is to spend less. The more useful change is the order.

Most households pay the bills, spend what is left, and save whatever survives the month. Savings is the last line, so savings is the line that gets skipped. Moving it to the top, even at $25 or $50 a paycheck, is what turns saving into something that happens without a decision.

Then one expense, not all of them. One subscription nobody opened this year. One dinner out traded for a night in. An insurance quote compared against the renewal notice. Fifty dollars a month is $600 a year, and it only works because it repeats.

Here is the part nobody talks about: the goal was never the budget. It is getting one paycheck ahead. Cover one week of expenses, then two, then a full paycheck, then a month. The day this month's bills are paid from last month's income, the calendar stops setting the pace.

The honest other side: for plenty of households there is nothing left to cut, and no reordering fixes a math problem where the income is too small. This is a plan for the family with a thin margin, not no margin. And anyone carrying 25% credit card interest should usually clear that before stacking savings past a small starter cushion, because the card grows faster than the account.

No perfect plan required. Just the order, one cut, and enough repetition to get a month ahead.

Source: Debt.com 2026 Budgeting Survey, fielded July 2026 among 1,051 US adults, and Bankrate's 2026 Annual Emergency Savings Report.

Educational information only, not financial, tax, legal, or investment advice. Your own numbers will differ, so confirm them with a licensed advisor.

09/17/2026

Close to retirement? Considering? Read this and speak with your private financial advisor before you make any decisions.

The date on a retirement letter does not change a pension or a Social Security benefit. It changes what the last paycheck and the unused vacation are worth after tax.

For most people the choice comes down to two dates: December 31, or the first week of January.

Retire December 31 and the final check, plus any vacation payout, lands on top of a full year of salary. It gets taxed at the top of that year's bracket. This year's 401(k) room is probably already spent, so there is nowhere to put it.

Retire in early January and the same money lands in a year with almost no other income. A fresh 401(k) limit resets: $24,500 for 2026, or $32,500 for anyone 50 or older. If the plan allows a deferral out of a final paycheck, a large vacation payout can go straight in.

A near empty tax year has a second use. It is usually the cheapest year to move traditional retirement money into a Roth, because the conversion gets taxed at whatever bracket that quiet year puts you in.

Here is the part nobody talks about. Most people assume the bonus follows the work. It usually follows the payroll. Plenty of plans pay the annual bonus in February or March and require the employee to still be on payroll that day. Leaving December 31 can forfeit a bonus that was fully earned. Staying six weeks can keep it.

The match runs on the opposite rule. Many plans require employment on the last day of the plan year to receive the match or the profit sharing contribution. December 31 satisfies that. December 30 might not.

Health coverage cuts both ways. Many plans run through the end of the month, so a January exit buys a few extra weeks, but it also starts a second deductible year for a single month of coverage.

One separate date rule worth knowing: the rule of 55 allows withdrawals from that employer's 401(k) without the 10% early withdrawal penalty, but only for someone who leaves in or after the calendar year they turn 55. It is a calendar year test, not a birthday test, and it does not survive a rollover to an IRA.

The honest other side: none of this matters if nothing pays out at separation. Plenty of employers do not pay unused vacation, and plenty of states do not require them to. No payout, no pending bonus, no large final check, and the two dates are worth about the same.

The best day is not a date. It is whichever side of the calendar your employer's payout rules happen to sit on.

Source: IRS Notice 2025-67 for the 2026 retirement plan limits, and IRS guidance on the age 55 separation from service exception. Figures current as of September 2026.

Educational information only, not financial, tax, legal, or investment advice. Plan rules and state vacation payout laws vary, so confirm your own with your plan administrator.

09/11/2026

$1,399,990!!! COME SEE NOW!! PIRATES BEACH WEST! VACATION RENTALS ALLOWED! No updates needed!! One of the newer homes in this gorgeous community is situated to not only have ocean view nonstop but Galveston State Park as your back yard!! Your view is incredible!! Private beach entry & beach for owners. Stunning is an understatement here! Rental allowed! 6-7 bedrooms w 5.5 baths including an elevator for ease of supplies and people to all floors! Open concept kitchen, dining & living! Chef’s kitchen w all Thermador stainless appliances! Huge island doubles as breakfast bar. Primary bdrm/ensuite are spacious. Secondary rooms are incredible as well! Full utility/pantry. Screened in porch + covered/uncovered decking for all seasons/weather! Garages/storage golfcart, fishing, supplies, etc. Base floor area is unreal & perfect for entertaining nonstop! When you can’t make it down for the weekend ~ Lease it out! Nothing was missed here! Seconds from the ocean!!

09/11/2026

There are still no words good enough and tears. God bless those lost, the heroes and those still struggling with the loss or illnesses from helping. NEVER AGAIN & NEVER FORGET.

09/04/2026

Heart felt closing here. 🏡❤️ This beautiful client is also a long time personal friend of ours. We have grown up raising our children together. We were so honored and privileged to be a part of this chapter. Honey did incredible work from start to finish with our seller on walking through step by step, helping to stage and finding the perfect fit in a buyer. To the incredible next chapter! God’s prayers and hugs from us. ❤️