Saturday, August 4, 2007

Is A Debt Consolidation Refinance Good?

If you’re living from paycheck to paycheck rest assured you’re not alone. Many folks barely make ends meet on a week to week basis. Sadly many people can’t even remember where they spend their money. They only thing they know is that it’s all spent before their next paycheck. This lack of financial wisdom is causing many consumers to file for bankruptcy as a means of relieving themselves from their high debt and financial obligations. What many folks don’t know is that this method of erasing your debts also destroys your credit rating and any hope for having a good financial status. Instead there may be another alternative – A debt consolidation refinance may be just what the doctor ordered to fix your current financial disarray.

The main reason anyone would and should consider utilizing a debt consolidation refinance is because it usually can help eliminate the harassing phone calls from your creditors and the debt collectors they employ. It’s also designed to consolidate all of your bills into one monthly payment that is slightly lower then what you previously paid in order to help alleviate some of your financially induced stress. Another benefit is the ability for a debt consolidation refinance to keep you from filing bankruptcy allowing you to stay recognized as a credit worthy consumer.

So when should you consider seeking out a debt consolidation loan or refinance? Typically, you should consider a debt relief loan as soon as your monthly bills become difficult or near impossible to pay. This early intervention through the use of a debt refinance loan will prevent you from having to pay outrageous interest rates, late payment fees and charges which will only complicate your already shaky financial status. Another good indicator of when to seek out a debt relief loan is when you only make the minimum payment amount due every month and when all of your credit balances continue to remain the same even after your monthly payments.

Homeowners have a big advantage over non-homeowners because they have the option of applying for a debt refinance using the equity in their home or house. Using this method requires the discipline to pay off your consolidate bills monthly and to avoid incurring any new bills. Don’t use your home as collateral unless you intend to make the payments on your new debt consolidation loan.

Always make sure to do your research online in order to find a reputable debt refinance and Consolidation Company. Many of these companies appear to be the real deal on the outside but in all actuality may only really be a loan shark in disguise. These establishments need to be avoided at all costs as they will place you under strict monthly payment terms and charge a much higher rate when compared to a real lender. One of the better debt refinance companies include several non-profit lenders who will be able to give you the best options when it comes to refinancing your current debt.

As you can see proper research will allow you to find a good debt refinance company which has the potential to help lower your current monthly payment total, keep you from filing bankruptcy, prevent you from paying higher interest rates and allow you to maintain your credit worthiness ranking.

Timothy Gorman is a successful Webmaster and publisher of Debt-Relief-Solutions.com. He provides more debt relief solutions, bankruptcy tips and information on choosing a debt consolidation company that you can research in your pajamas on his website.


Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Tim_Gorman

Refinancing After Bankruptcy

Refinancing after a bankruptcy can seem like an especially difficult challenge, but it doesn’t have to be. Six months after your bankruptcy has been finalized, you can find lenders willing to refinance your mortgage. In fact, refinancing your mortgage can help rebuild your credit to good standing in two year’s time. The following steps will help you find the best refinance lender while helping your rebuild your credit record.

Preparing For Refinancing

Right after bankruptcy, you have six months to prepare to refinance your mortgage. Begin by establishing good payment history by regularly paying your bills and current mortgage. This is also a good time to open a credit card account to start establishing good credit history.

If possible, also start building up a savings account. The more cash assets you have, the better your application will look. Consider having a garage sale or taking a second job to raise funds.

Researching Lenders

Once you are ready to refinance, research mortgage lenders and their rates. Online mortgage websites allow easy comparison shopping. Look at both interest rates and fees of refinancing quotes. Usually a slightly higher rate with low fees is the best deal.

With bankruptcy on your credit report, you will typically need to work with a sub prime lender. You can expect to pay a few percentage points above a traditional mortgage, which you can find through online mortgage companies.

Choosing Your Refinancing Package

You may be offered a chance to cash out part of your home’s equity when refinancing your mortgage. If you need to make home improvements or buy a car, this may be a good option. However, if you keep your home’s equity in place, you are improving your credit.

Once you have decided on your terms, you can finish your loan application online or through the mail. Quotes are not guaranteed, so rates may vary slightly once your application has been approved. Before the loan is finalized though you have the opportunity to review the loan again.

After Refinancing

With your refinancing completed, you can plan to lower your interest rates through refinancing in two years by building up your credit score. Continue to make regular payments and add to your cash reserves. Before you apply to refinance again, review your credit report to be sure your bankruptcy closed all past accounts on your record. With a solid credit history behind you, you can apply to traditional mortgage lenders.

To view our recommended sources for refinancing after a bankruptcy online, visit this page: Recommended Bad Credit Mortgage Lenders Online.

Carrie Reeder is the owner ABC Loan Guide, an informational website about various types of loans.


Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Carrie_Reeder

Mortgage Financing Loans - FAQ

What types of mortgage financing loans are available?

Fixed Rate Mortgage Loans: Payments remain the same for the life of the loan. Housing cost remains unaffected by interest rate changes and inflation. Adjustable Rate Mortgage Loans: Payments increase or decrease on a regular schedule with changes in interest rates; increases subject to limits.

Is there special mortgage financing for first-time homebuyers?

Yes. Lenders now offer several affordable mortgage financing loans that can help first-time homebuyers overcome obstacles such as bad credit. Lenders may now be able to help borrowers who don’t have a lot of money for the down payment and closing costs or have quite a bit of long-term debt.

What factors affect mortgage loan payments?

The amount of the mortgage financing, the size of the down payment, the interest rate, the length of the repayment term and payment schedule will all affect the size of your loan payment. So will a low credit score in that it will put your mortgage financing at a higher rate.

How does the interest rate factor in securing mortgage financing?

A lower interest rate allows you to borrow more money than a high rate with the same monthly payment. Interest rates can fluctuate as you shop for bad credit mortgage financing, so ask lenders if they offer a rate “lock-in” which guarantees a specific interest rate for a certain period.

How large of a down payment do I need?

There are mortgage financing loans now available that only require a down payment of 5% or less of the purchase price. But the larger the down payment, the less you have to borrow, and the more equity you’ll have. Mortgages with less than a 20% down payment generally require a mortgage insurance policy.

Mike Hamel is the author of three business books and several articles about mortgage financing. His material is featured on sites like http://www.badcreditmortgagerefinancingnow.com Find out more about mortgage financing loans at Low Owe


Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mike_Hamel

What's The Difference Between An HEL And A HELOC?

I was asked this question recently and thought that this might be a good place to talk a little about these two types of products.

What is the difference between a “Home Equity Loan” and a “Home Equity Line of Credit” and when should I use them?

First, let’s start with the basics. When you buy a house you get a mortgage, usually for the amount of the purchase price, less any down payment you make. Your monthly mortgage payments are made up of principal, interest, taxes, and insurance, commonly referred to in the industry as “PITI”. Every payment pays down a portion of your loan principal along with the interest charged by the lender to give you the mortgage, as well as taxes and mortgage insurance.

With each payment, the portion that goes toward the loan principal is how much more of your home you own. You might have heard it said that that’s the “equity” you have in your home. So on a home of $500,000, if you pay your very first mortgage payment and $100 of that payment goes toward the principal, you now have $100 of equity in your home. With every payment, you slowly pay down more and more of your loan principal so that eventually you end up paying for your entire home… 100% equity in your home.

Over the course of your mortgage, while you have some equity in your home but you don’t own your home free and clear, you can borrow that money, usually up to (or close to) the amount of equity you have in your home. So, let’s say that after several years of mortgage payments, you have built up $100,000 equity in your $500,000 home. You can borrow against some of that equity. Here’s where HEL and HELOC come in.

Home Equity Loans (HEL) are slightly different than Home Equity Lines of Credit (HELOC). A loan is when you borrow money once and have to pay it back. Once you’ve paid it back, the loan is done. Usually there is a time limit that you have to pay it back. A line of credit, though, is called “revolving credit” or, you can think of it as an ongoing loan. You can borrow it, pay it back, borrow against it again, and pay it back. As long as you keep paying it back, you can keep borrowing against it. If, for whatever reason, you choose not to pay these back, they are added back in to your mortgage payments.

So, should you get one? If so, which one should you use? At Realty Counselors Inc, we feel that one of the wisest uses of either a HEL or a HELOC is to grow the value of your home. So, for example, you might want to borrow against the $100,000 equity in your $500,000 home to make improvements on your house and property, increasing the value to $600,000 or more. That’s a great use of these loans. Another smart use of the money might be to compare interest rates between these home equity loan products and your credit card. If you have high credit card bills, you may want to borrow against your home’s equity (which is likely a lower interest rate) and pay off your credit cards.

You may want to consider taking out one of each on your home: an HEL for home improvements and an HELOC that you only use in case of emergencies… because it’s always nice to have that money available if you need it.

Whatever you decide, be sure to think through carefully:

• Will you need the money once (in which case you want an HEL) or will you need it available to you on an ongoing basis (in which you will want a HELOC)?
• Will you be able to pay back the loan or line-of-credit AND your mortgage at the same time?
• Are you using an HEL or a HELOC wisely, to pay off higher interest charges, or are you tempted to unwisely use this “new found cash” to buy frivolous items?

It’s nice to know that you have options if you have worked hard to build up equity in your home.

Armen Gukasyan is Founder and President of Realty Counselors Inc, a Los Angeles-based real estate and mortgage consulting and brokerage firm. He is also the author of The 24 Laws of Marketing Every Real Estate Practitioner Must Know


Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Armen_Gukasyan

The Bi-Weekly Mortgage Rip off

The current buzz term in the financial planning circles and also within the mortgage industry today is Equity Management. This is the term given to strategies that involve using your home's equity to fund investments, retirement plans, even the family car. Although the concept has been around for many years, one book in particular has spearheaded a new interest in these ideas. The book, written by Douglas Andrew, is called "Missed Fortune". That book was followed up with "Missed Fortune 101", an abbreviated version for the average consumer/investor and quickly became very popular with Financial Planners and Mortgage Brokers - two groups of professionals that clearly benefit when the strategies espoused by the author become accepted by a wider audience. We have seen Financial Planning firms offering an evening out (with dinner included!) for the opportunity to present these ideas to a groups of people at one time. Even the Chicago Federal Reserve has gotten into the act by releasing the results of a study regarding Mortgage Pre-Payment vs. investing in tax deferred retirement accounts. If you would like to read the study, a link to it has been placed at the end of this article.

In my experience from working with hundreds of homeowners each year, while many homeowners may understand the benefits of applying such strategies, a large majority still prefer the peace of mind knowing that eventually, their home will be paid off. You can show theses folks all the charts and studies... but if the strategies presented are not relatively simple to deploy, most of them will not go through the necessary steps required of them. Making additional principle pre-payments is quite a bit simpler than opening new retirements and choosing investment vehicles that exceed the return gained through principle reduction. After all, we all know the return of principle reduction - it is equivalent to the interest being paid. Locking in a return of equal proportion considerate of the tax benefits may be readily available, but it's certainly not as simple as cutting an additional check each month!

While I also see benefits in deploying the strategies discussed in Mr Andrew's books, I have long been of the conviction that getting out of debt is a positive financial move for most people. When most people think of early principle pre-payments on a mortgage, the Bi-Weekly payment often comes to mind. I think the primary reason for it's popularity is due to two factors. One reason is simply that so many people are paid on a bi-weekly schedule. It's an easy sell to someone that gets paid every two weeks to pay half of their mortgage payment every two weeks.

The second reason it has become popular I already mentioned.... it's an easy sell. A few companies figured out that they could earn a fee for helping people arrange their mortgage payments in this way. Then they figured out a way that they could pay a commission - no license required. So many people just hopped on the bandwagon and began selling this principle pre-payment strategy. They were told that it would cut 9-11 years off a mortgage thereby saving tens of thousands of dollars in the process. Sounds good,right?

Maybe.

It's probably better than doing nothing. But you can easily do this yourself, without paying a fee at all.

When you make bi-weekly payments, you end up making one additional mortgage payment each year. It does work - one extra payment each year will cut approximately 7-10 years off the tail end of your mortgage. There are 52 weeks in the year. Cut that in half and you have 26. 26 bi-weekly payments equals 13 monthly payments, get it? That's all there is to it.

So where's the rip off? The rip off comes when companies and consultants offer to assist you with the process. First, they charge a fee for setting up the account, from a low of $100 to as much as $800. Setting up the account simply means opening an escrow account. Then, they ask that you fund the escrow account with at least one monthly payment depending on when your next payment is due. See it's real simple - they take some money up front, then put you on the plan, paying one half of the payment every two weeks. By the time the first of the month rolls around, there's enough in the escrow account to make the payment. And get this... there's even a small charge for every escrow deposit - anywhere from $2 - $6. Times that by 26 deposits and that'll cost you an additional $52 - $156 per year. For something you can easily do yourself.

The worst part of the story is yet to come. By the time the 12th payment rolls around, there's enough in the account to make one full extra principle payment. They wait until the end of the year before making an additional pre-payment! But mortgage interest is based on "Per Diem" meaning "per day". This simply means, the sooner you make additional principle pre-payments, the less interest is accrued. It would benefit you more to simply divide a full monthly payment by 12 and then add that amount to every mortgage payment!

Then, there's this to think about - the bi-weekly "consultant" controls hundreds, maybe thousands of these escrow accounts. How much interest do you think they are earning by holding all those accounts at a bank? Suffice to say, interest represents a 3rd income stream. No wonder there are so many companies offering bi-weekly payments!

THERE IS A BETTER WAY!

This past summer (2006) I was fortunate enough to be introduced to a gentleman that is recognized throughout Australia. His book - "How To Own Your Own Home Years Sooner! Without Making Extra Payments sold over a half million copies there. Now he has set his sights on North America. His name is Harj Gill and he is known as Consumer Advocate Harj Gill. In America, he is not only teaching his system - he also aims to clean up the entire mortgage system! And it needs it!

More on that later. Right now, I want to introduce you to Consumer Advocate Harj Gill's system. Mr. Gill's system takes advantage of the way mortgage loan interest is calculated. As I mentioned earlier, mortgage interest is calculated "Per Diem" (per day) and is paid in arrears - meaning the interest that accrued for the most recent month is due on the first day of the next month. (September's interest is due on October 1) With Mr. Gill's system, you don't make extra payments - you just make them earlier. At the heart of Mr. Gill's system is a software program he developed that shows borrowers how to restructure their payments to eliminate tens of thousands of dollars in interest while knocking many years off their loan and credit card balances.

The software is simply life-changing. It is available online through his website at SpeedEquity.com.

Recently, Mr. Gill has chosen me to be his liaison to the country's mortgage brokers. This is a prestigious position - one that I take very seriously. Mr. Gill felt it necessary to have a liaison because his "take no prisoners" attitude toward loan officers and brokers that care more about lining their own pockets than the welfare of their clients has caused concern with many of the legitimate and ethical brokers that DO care about their clients. It is my responsibility to help educate the quality brokers out there and to show them that Mr. Gill is not against them - he only wants to rid the industry of the bad seeds. He is right on the money - the industry does need a serious clean up effort. I am only too happy to do everything I can to help Mr. Gill in his quest.

Here is the link to the Chicago Fed Study - http://www.missedfortune.com/downloads/ChicagoFedStudy.pdf

Ron Borg is the CEO of Mortgage123.com - Their Credit Score Protection Plan offers consumers up to 8 lender quotes but only one credit inquiry unlike other mortgage shopping portals: http://www.Mortgage123.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ron_Borg