Looking for a home mortgage will help you get the best financing deal. A mortgage, regardless if it is a purchase of a home, home equity loan or refinancing is a product, so the terms and prices are negotiable. It is helpful to compare the costs involved to obtain a mortgage. A thorough research on the best deals could save you thousands of dollars.
If you are looking right now for a home mortgage, here is what you can do to find and qualify for the cheapest rate possible.
1. You have to shop around for a loan as hard as you would a car or a Caribbean cruise. Try to compare fees and interest rates from at least a dozen lenders by looking at newspaper ads and online sites. Loans that offer the lowest rate with $1,000 fees or less are usually the best.
2. Check out your Credit Report since this is the most important determining factor of the amount you can afford for a mortgage. If you find errors, you could fix them by writing a letter to the credit bureau, explain the problem, and ask them to do an investigation. Attach whatever proof you have and send everything through a registered or certified mail.
3. Pay your dues on time. Thirty-five percent of your credit score is based on whether you pay your bills on time. When applying for a mortgage, it is important that you do not have late payments on your report within the last six months. More than anything, lenders want to know that you would be able to pay your dues promptly every month. If your credit history reflects a skipped payment or payment that has been a few days late, you will be considered as a risk and borrowers in that category pay higher interest rates or worst, denied the mortgage.
4. To qualify for the best mortgage, you should be able to pay down your credit card debt. One-third of your credit score is based on the amount of available credit you have consumed. If you owe $8,000 on your card with a $15,000 credit limit, you have used more than half of your credit available and that will appear excessive. Every time your debt-to-available-credit ratio goes up above fifty percent will get you penalized. Reducing your balance to less than half of your limit on each card that you possess will have a positive and immediate impact on your score.
5. Refrain from applying for a new credit card and other kinds of loans. Your prospective mortgage lender will check your credit report when you fill out their application and those are noted on your history. Each inquiry could lower your score by up to 12 points.
6. The mortgage rate that you qualify depends on several factors and one of which is your years on your job. Different lenders will look at work stability as the key factor to determine the loan program that you qualify. Discuss with your lender about the best deal for you.
If you will borrow over eighty-percent of the value of the home, you will most likely have to carry mortgage insurance as part of your monthly fee. This fee normally drops off as soon as you have obtained twenty-percent equity in your home. You can buy out the mortgage but this often results in a higher rate of interest. You should be able to weigh the best option for you based on your needs and plans. A qualified mortgage consultant can help in evaluating your credit report. He or she has strategies and tools to ensure you are managing a credit in such a way to have a higher credit score.
The rates of mortgage are currently volatile. Some lenders adjust their rates several times everyday and usually based on the current market rates. Others change rates once a week. Once again, it is necessary to shop around for the best rates before you settle on one.
May 15th, 2010 | Posted in Real Estate | No Comments
Refinance NOW–before it’s too late
If you haven’t found the time to refinance your existing home mortgage, it’s time to take action–like yesterday! Every time Alan Greenspan, Federal Reserve Board Chairman, opens his mouth, you can bet that the federal funds rates will rise by at least a quarter of a point, or by 25 basis points in investorese. What that means to you is that home mortgages will rocket as well.
A quarter of a percentage point may not seem like much, given that the federal funds rate currently stands at 2
May 14th, 2010 | Posted in Real Estate | 1 Comment
Debt consolidation and credit rating are invariably linked. When you are looking to consolidate your debts, there are bound to be impacts to your credit score. These impacts can be good or bad, depending on the type of debt consolidation you use. Here are some common methods of debt consolidation and how they impact your credit rating.
Many people looking for debt consolidation have high credit card balances. Credit cards are considered to be revolving balances. This means that the amount of debt will raise and lower periodically. Having too much revolving credit can have a negative impact on your credit score because this is unpredictable debt. So, the best way to consolidate credit card debt is with a fixed rate loan. This will lower your revolving debt balance and help boost your score. Just don’t use those cards again or close them all at once. Closing the cards will negatively impact your credit rating.
Now, don’t think that credit cards are all that you can consolidate. Personal loans, car loans, student loans, and more can be put into one loan to help you save money and raise your credit score. Each time a loan is paid off, your credit score will go up. So, if you have loans that can be consolidated, go for it!
Probably the cheapest way to consolidate debt is to use the equity in your home. This will afford you the lowest rate with the longest terms. This will allow you to have a lower payment, which will make your monthly budget a little easier to manage. Now if you don’t own your own home, don’t lose heart. There are still plenty of personal loans out there to help you get a handle on your debt. Check your local banks as well as online to score the best deal on a debt consolidation loan.
Many people choose to go through a debt consolidation company. This is a whole different type of debt consolidation and will impact your credit differently. These companies deal with your creditors to help lower rates and work out a repayment plan that is more advantageous. Most people who go this route are already having trouble making payments, and as a result, their credit rating has suffered. Debt consolidation companies can help you raise your credit score, but it will take a while. In the short term, your credit rating may drop, but you will see it steadily rise if you stick with your debt consolidation plan.
There are many ways that consumers can deal with debt consolidation and credit rating. The option that works best for one person does not necessarily fit another person’s situation. It is best to explore all options for debt consolidation. Credit rating is directly linked to the type of debt consolidation that you choose, so make sure that you make an informed decision.
April 18th, 2010 | Posted in Finance | No Comments
Home credit is in my opinion the single biggest driving force behind the Canadian economy. Most home owners depend on and even count on the increasing value of their home in order to consolidate debt or cash out for tax free profit to subsidize their ever shrinking purchasing power. As the changes to accessing credit continue to tighten up that option is slowly but surely being removed and the consequences will be drastic.
Consumer spending is essential to economic recovery. As more and more consumers are being turned down for debt consolidation and mortgage applications are being declined a perfect storm is developing in relation to the housing market. I see more foreclosures and more downward pressure on housing prices as all these changes come into play. Tight credit means less lending and less lending means less money gets into circulation. The reduced spending effects business and lay offs increase and the economic spiral downward continues. Could I be wrong? I hope so. My advice; plan for the worst and you will not be caught unawares. Interest rates are low so now is a good time to refinance your home and put a little nest egg aside in case you need it if you are laid off. Consolidate that credit card debt if you can. Long term debt is always better than short term with it’s higher interest rates.Home credit could be the solution. Now could be the time to refinance your mortgage.
If you are a small business owner and have home equity access it now. Refinance and put money aside to weather the coming storm. In a recession cash is king and I don’t think we can put this one behind us yet. Remember “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” Having cash set aside could be the cure you will need to come out on top.
All the best
Larry Matthews
April 16th, 2010 | Posted in Real Estate | No Comments
A Best Home Equity Line of Credit option is the best resource available among the various options of home equity lines of credit. A Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC) is a form of revolving credit that demands one’s home as collateral for the loan sanctioned.
Many lending institutions claim to offer the best home equity line of credit loans in a variety of ways. While loans are available at variable interest rates, some come with attractive low introductory rates and a few with fixed rates. The choice is up to the house owner. Variable interest rates are ideal for people who need a low introductory rate. In other words, it is a good option if there is no plan for using a large portion of the loan amount. The fact is that the interest rate may increase or decrease over the years. The interest rate will increase resulting in a higher monthly payment. A careful selection will enable a customer to choose what is best for them.
Fixed rates are great for individuals who plan on using their home equity line of credit to payoff debts or other huge expenses. If you use a variable interest rate in this plan, it will probably take years before the line of credit is paid back to the lender. The interest rate increase may drastically lift your monthly payments during these periods. A situation can arise where you may be unable to maintain payments, and the lender may have to foreclose your home. The Best Home Equity Line of Credit should therefore be chosen with utmost care and consideration. You can get information on obtaining the Best Home Equity Line of Credit from many sources, including online lenders. Before signing, make sure you compare loan products and lenders, as well as review the terms of your loan contract carefully.
April 16th, 2010 | Posted in Real Estate | 1 Comment
Times are definitely tough for many Americans at the moment. With this recession that started around the middle to the end of 2008 and has continued right into 2010, many people are finding it hard to make ends meet. One of the tools that people use to dig themselves out is to tap into a home-equity line of credit.
Unfortunately there are many traps that you can fall into when it comes to this sort of thing which is why I wanted to write this article today to shed some light on some of the more common ones so that you can get the money you need to take care of yourself without getting taken advantage of by the banks.
One common trap when it comes to refinancing your home is that many banks will charge excessive upfront fees, which they usually label as points and can very quickly make refinancing your house prohibitively expensive.
What many people don’t realize is that banks are not required to charge you points. There is no law saying they have to do it. They only do it because they think they can get away with it. In the old days people stuck with one bank for most of their life and that created a culture of bank superiority where they thought they could just do whatever they wanted. Fortunately for us these days we know better. It only takes a few minutes to go online and search for cheaper loans at competitive banks. So if you’re not happy with the number of points that your bank is charging you for your refinance, you can do one of two things.
You can either go to another bank and deal primarily with them. That’s the first option. The second option is to research other banks and come up list of several others that charge fewer points or less points and then confront your own bank with this information. Tell your loan officer that you have other banks who are willing to charge you less and if they want to keep your business they will meet or beat that offer. You be surprised how often this will be effective.
Another trap to fall into is the variable interest rate trap. Variable interest rates are loans that fluctuate as far as interest rates go. Usually they state that once a year the bank can reassess the financial situation of the economy and increase or decrease the rate of interest that they charge you within a normally preset range. Usually this is one to three percentage points that they’re allowed to increase or decrease depending on the current prime rate that is being charged on average nationwide.
You may be tempted to get a variable interest rate loan because if interest rates are falling your loan will decrease and you’ll pay less but during times of inflation when interest rates are rising you end up paying more in the long run. A fixed rate loan is better because you know without a doubt that your payments are set in stone for the next 30 years, at least if it’s a 30 year loan, and you know that the bank can’t increase your rate no matter what. That kind of peace of mind is well worth the expense in my opinion.
So there you have several common traps to look out for when it comes to getting a loan to refinance your house. Armed with this information you should deal to negotiate the best loan possible at the lowest cost to you.
April 13th, 2010 | Posted in Finance | No Comments
Mortgage Prepaying
Mortgage prepaying consists on cancelling part or the total amount of the mortgage loan remaining debt. If the type of mortgage loan lets you pay part of the principal and not only interests, then you’ll be saving money by prepaying your mortgage.
The reason why prepaying part of the principal can save you thousands of dollars is that interests are calculated as a percentage over the principal. If the loan’s capital is reduced, the interests charged will also be reduced.
Since the interests are the lender’s earnings, many lenders penalize these practices either by not letting you prepay the mortgage or by charging prepaying fees in order to discourage these practices.
Home Equity Lines of Credit
The difference between the property’s value and the remaining of the home loan debt constitutes equity. And the equity you’ve build on your home since the mortgage loan was agreed, can be used to obtain further finance in the form of a home equity loan or line of credit.
A home equity line of credit is guaranteed with the same asset as the mortgage loan. This line of credit usually carries lower variable interest rates which let’s you take advantage of good market conditions and get money at probably the lowest rates on the private financial market.
Combining Both
Prepaying itself let’s you save thousands of dollars in interests. But in order to do so you need to save a significant amount of money and make a lump mortgage payment every 4 or 6 months in order to reduce the principal. You’ll then get fewer interests and thus, lower monthly payments that will let you save even more money each month.
However, you can’t always save enough money to make such payments and if you want to have any reliability in your finances, you’ll probably want to have an extra amount available for any unexpected situation.
At this point is when home equity lines of credit come in handy. Since they carry low interest rates, these lines of credit are the perfect solution for solving the problem of unexpected situations. Even if you haven’t save enough money, you can turn to them in order to get extra money and make a mortgage payment to keep canceling the principal.
You’ll then destine the extra money to repay the amount you borrowed from your home equity line of credit. Moreover, if anything unexpected comes to happen you’ll have more cash available on your line of credit and won’t have to apply for a loan and wait to be approved.
In order to see if this is the solution for you, you need to go through your mortgage loan terms and check if there are any penalizations for prepaying your home loan. Then compare the amount you’d save on interests with the prepaying fees and the home equity line of credit costs. If the overall transaction saves you at least a couple of thousands and reduces your mortgage length, then seize the opportunity and start prepaying your home loan.
April 10th, 2010 | Posted in Real Estate | 1 Comment
If you are someone who wants to purchase a home or perhaps likes to buy a much bigger one, your primary action to make is first check on your general financial status. You are in the right time to refinance, and one thing to remember is to find the lowest possible refinance home mortgage interest rate.
As you start in your search for that dream house, you also have to make sure that you know how you are doing as far as your current financial standing is concerned. This will allow you to realize the amount that you can spend for your house, in effect, preventing you to go overboard.
When refinancing, there are a great list of benefits such as getting a lot of opportunities for savings. One means of getting some savings is by the qualifying for low refinance home mortgage equity rate.
How does one prospective mortgage refinance borrower qualify for low refinance home mortgage equity rate? By readying up your financial status and placing it in a healthy and sound position. One way of doing this is by making better your credit score.
One very effective way of placing your financial position in a good position and hence be able to obtain a nice low refinance home mortgage interest rate is by improving the credit standing. The first thing that you must to do is review your current credit score and see how your standing fares. If you found out that your score is less than desirable, you have to act fast by looking for means on which to make improvements on your credit rating.
There are many ways to improve on your credit. On top of the list is by paying back old loans and debts. You all have to do timely payments and without fail. These certainly are two of the best and most effective ways of putting your credit standing back on the right track.
April 1st, 2010 | Posted in Real Estate | 1 Comment
The decision to refinance your primary residence is often not made without careful consideration and planning. One of the biggest decisions is deciding if you are going to use a home equity loan, refinance your current mortgage or get a second mortgage. After deciding on the type of loan you need the next item borrowers focus on is getting the lowest home mortgage refinance rate available to them. When it comes to refinancing there are many factors that determine your interest rate. The days of putting on your best suit and talking to the bank manager are gone. Today you are blasted with low home mortgage refinance rate offers on the radio, Internet and TV. A lot of these companies are national lenders and may not be based in your town or even the same state.
You may wonder if these companies that advertise the extremely low rates have a secret or special program that a local bank or mortgage broker does not have access to? The simple answer is no, all mortgage banks and brokers have access to the same programs and rates. Although if a particular company is writing more loans they may get preferred pricing and be able to offer a slightly lower home mortgage refinance rate. The other way a national company can offer slightly lower rates is that some of these larger companies are actually mortgage bankers and get lower pricing then a standard broker. Many of your local mortgage brokers also are mortgage bankers so you should be able to find the same interest rate and program locally but have the added benefit of working with a local company.
When shopping for your home mortgage refinance rate keep in mind that bigger is not always better and that a local mortgage broker or banker can usually match or beat the deals offered by the large lenders that advertise on TV and radio.
March 29th, 2010 | Posted in Real Estate | 1 Comment
Even with poor credit, your options for getting a home equity loan are
numerous. Home equity loans are different from other types of personal
loans. For starters, these loans are secured. Lenders prefer this
factor because it’s easy for them to recoup their money if the loan
defaults.
Understanding Home Equity Loan Options
When applying for a loan using your home’s equity as collateral, there
are several options. Homeowners with poor credit may take advantage of
a home equity line of credit. Similar to credit card cash advances,
homeowners are approved for a line of credit up to a dollar amount not to
exceed their home’s equity. Homeowners are free to withdraw funds as
needed. The money can be used to payoff debts, repair an automobile, or
make home improvements.
On the other hand, a home equity loan is disbursed as a lump sum of
cash. Similarly, the funds may be used for large expenses or major home
repairs. Both home equity options must be repaid. Home equity loans have
fixed terms, whereas home equity lines of credit are available for a
specific length of time.
Pros and Cons of Home Equity Loan Options
A home equity loan and line of credit are beneficial because they
provide extra cash when you need it. Furthermore, if you have bad credit,
maintaining regular payments will boost your credit score. If the funds
are used to consolidate debt, homeowners can get on the road toward
becoming debt free and boosting their credit score. In fact, many people
obtain a home equity loan as a means of improving their credit rating.
The pitfall most common of home equity loans is the inability to repay
the money. Sadly, some people cannot handle credit or money
responsibly. Thus, once debts are consolidated or paid off, some people accumulate
additional debts. The smart maneuver would be to close paid accounts,
which would alleviate the temptation to use a credit card.
After incurring additional debts, some people are powerless to continue
regular payments. If you acquire a home equity loan, there are multiple
liens against your house. Consequently, either lender may foreclose. By
defaulting on either loan, you risk losing your home.
Current Mortgage Lender vs. Sub Prime Lenders
When choosing a mortgage lender, do not rely on your current lender to
offer the best rates. Getting a quote from your lender is ideal;
however, you should also request quotes from new lenders. Banks or credit
unions will not offer the lowest rates to persons with poor credit.
Nevertheless, you can attain comparable loan rates by using a lender that
specializes in bad credit loans. Sub prime lenders have convenient online
applications and instant approvals. If using a mortgage broker, you
will receive several sub prime loan offers within seconds.
March 21st, 2010 | Posted in Finance | 1 Comment