February 24, 2010
How To Pay Off Your Mortgage Faster
For most people a mortgage loan of 30 years is the only way for them to affordably own a home. The monthly payments are all they feel they can afford. If they were to be told they could pay their mortgage off faster and not have to come up with more money or make changes to their budgets do you think they would go for it?
Most people do not realize how easy it is to pay a mortgage off faster than the bank states. The first rule should be to have the best possible interest rate. If your credit score is better now than when you obtained the loan refinancing might be in order. The lower the interest rate the easier to pay the loan off quicker and you also save thousands in interest payments.
The easiest way to pay the mortgage off faster is to split the payments. Instead of making a monthly payment of $1000 you should make bi-weekly payments of $500 each. This method allows you to make 2 extra mortgage payments each year without ever noticing it in your budget. The two extra payments that are made are going directly to the principle of your loan and will reduce your loan life.
There are some who pay a large lump sum to the loan at the end of the year. The regular payments are made and then a portion is paid towards the principle. The lender may have limits as to how much can be paid without being penalized so you need to find that out before paying this way. This may be an impossible method for some but for those who do it they pay 15% of the loans balance towards the principle each year and have an extremely early payoff.
For the average person coming up with 15% of the loan amount each year is impossible. To be able to still reap the benefits of over payments and not kill yourself coming up with the money you can pay an additional amount with each months payment. The amount you decide on is up to you and what you can afford as well as the lenders penalization limits.
If you are looking for a way to truly reduce the size of the loan and want to see more results than just a mere five years drop off you can combine methods. If you choose the bi-weekly payments then include an additional payment with each. A small amount will show you results so you do not have to go overboard here. The larger the amount the sooner the payoff obviously but even with a modest amount you will see a ten year difference in the lifetime of the loan. If you are lucky enough to have a lender who does not penalize for over payment then you can easily reduce your loan by 15 years or more with over payments. The weeks you have more you can send more and when you don?t have much just send a few dollars over.
Graham McKenzie is the content coordinator for a leading South African leading Home loans and Bond Origination portal which provides access to ABSA Home loans.
Filed under Loans by Graham McKenzie
February 14, 2010
Saving on Homeowners Insurance
Your home obviously holds a ton of importance to you. It’s the place of residence where you can go back to every night and sleep tight in. It’s filled with everlasting memories and important objects of affection. But what happens in the event of a tragic disaster? I’m talking about a type of disaster that completely destroys your property?
Many families are cutting corners today in this tight economic climate by reducing or completely eliminating home insurance. This is a very bad and irrational decision on the homeowner’s part.
There are a number of ways you can save on your home insurance premium. Simply raising the insurance deductible one notch is a great start, because it can save you hundreds of dollars each year on the policy.
Protect your home with safety devices such as smoke and burglar alarms if you haven’t already. Insurance providers reduce premiums for homes well protected.
Purchasing additional policies like car or life insurance from the same company will also reduce costs greatly. “Bundling” your policies, as it is commonly referred to as, reduces costs substantially.
Always insure your home for 100% of the cost to replace the home in the event of a disaster or damage of the property. “Insured to value” as it is defined, will save you money on your premium and provide you will adequate coverage.
Also, make sure you maintain a strong credit score. Many insurance providers will examine your credit report and scores as part of the insurance process. The providers use your credit score to help develop their own insurance score, which decides how high of a risk you are. The higher the risk, the higher the insurance premiums. Many insurance providers believe a good credit score is an indicator of responsibility, meaning you will pay your premiums on time and won’t file excessive insurance claims. You can obtain a copy of your credit report from the credit bureaus and review it for mistakes. Correcting mistakes can help boost your credit score. So can paying down debt.
As you can see, there are numerous ways to save or reduce your home insurance premium. Simply cutting back costs or eliminating the policy altogether is not very responsible. Protect your best asset.
Tom Martens is the syndication coordinator Insurance-south-africa.co.za. South Arica’s leading Insurance information portal.
Filed under Loans by Tom Martens
February 2, 2010
Who Needs A Subprime Home Loan?
A subprime home loan is a loan with dramatically high interest rates, made for the high liability borrower. These types of loans are often considered ‘high risk” as they often include fine print terms involving fees and high interest. The bonus is that these types of loans are available for people who have bad credit, no credit, or records that keep them from getting other loans.
The settings of loan amounts are usually affected by Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae associations, however, this is not right when it comes to a home loan. In this sort of loan, the rate of interest can be as much as the issuer wants it to be and they are free to add any type of fine prints that they wish. Therefore it is highly essential to carefully read your signing document. It is also recommended that you let you lawyer take a look at it.
A subprime house finance loan is usually too risky for the one who borrows it. Many people having bad credit score and low income get loan these days, but the financing company ensures that they make profit out of it. This is done by keeping the rates of interest very high and by including several hidden charges.
Don?t loose heart, as there are some advantages of getting a subprime home mortgage. In a case if your credit record is too terrible to be considered by other lenders but you have enough funds to pay for monthly bills, then a home credit may be suitable for you. It may take several years to get your credit score fixed, and at time you emergency require the amount. If you timely make all your payments then you may be able to perk up your credit and refinance your mortgage.
This is when many mortgage agents propose home loans for you. If later, you feel that you plan doesn’t suit your needs then you can get it refinanced. However, this may not be feasible if the rates are mentioned in your original documents. These rates would be so high that it would become nearly impracticable to get your loan refinanced and this may keep you trapped with bill that you are too high to pay.
The easiest way to avoid getting scammed, and to find the best loan out there for you, is to find a quality mortgage broker. Before choosing the broker to handle your loans you will want to search around and meet with several different brokers. By doing this you will get a good idea of their practices and be able to choose the one that is less likely to give you a bad deal. You can investigate a specific broker by searching their name online, at the Better Business Bureau, or by calling the company that they work for.
Get a subprime loan only if you are certain that it is the most suitable choice for you. Your agent will inform you about diverse other ways to get a loan on the basis of your financial condition. Don?t hurry and take enough time to explore all options and different types of loans available. Also ensure that you read the agreement well before accepting it.
Graham McKenzie is the content coordinator for South Arica?s leading Homeloans portal which amongst others offers Bond origination services for all major banks.
Filed under Loans by Graham McKenzie
So family and friends have been telling you that you should buy your first new house, right? As you busy weighing the pros and cons of the idea, this article would try to help you understand what it takes to buy a new home.
1. Buy only if you plan to stay long if you are already familiar with the fact that you can not stay there for more than three years, perhaps it is time to own another. Since the cost of property and then sell in the short term would mean that you’ll probably end up poorer, even if you see that your property value appreciated. If the market is bad, you have to suffer the damage would have been unthinkable.
2. Boost your credit rating before you head to the bank for your mortgage application to buy a house, make sure you have an impeccable credit report. When you spot problems on the report, make an effort to correct and fix them. Your credit report would play a big part in deciding if a lender is going to grant you the loan.
3. Find suitable home loan 80 percent of the purchased price is the average loan amount banks are willing to disburse, subject to qualification. But you can go to the online calculator to figure out more about the maximum loan amount the bank is willing to approve you. The calculator would require you to input information like your income, debts, and expenses to work out a loan comfortable to you, or to thee bank.
4. Down payment requirement as a rule of thumb, banks expect 20 percent down payment from home buyers. If you have problem putting up this amount, your only option is to discuss your requirement with those offering sub-prime loan. This is done on a case to case basis and there is also pre-qualification requirement.
5. Buy the hot place with good schools, if you find a place where a number of elementary schools. This is because school districts in the highest consideration for buyers who have children going to school. If you want to sell your property, you may receive a premium on a fair assessment of the price.
6. Enlist the help of property agent While Internet is useful disseminating valuable information like home listings, when it comes to a time to follow up, like physical home inspection, negotiating terms and price, human type interaction cannot be avoided. It can be a good idea to get help from exclusive buyer agent as they can help to take care of all these hassles on your behalf and acting on your interest.
Finally, when you choose to go ahead with the house hunting, get ready for some serious work. You would want to find out the sales trend of similar housing type in the nearby area. Check the most recent transacted prices. Always do a background check on the property that interest you, before you get to meet the prospective seller or the representative. This way you will walk into the negotiation confident and talk your way into buying that dream home of yours.
Looking to find the best deal on Property Elites , then visit our site to find the best advice on Real Estates Portal for you.
Filed under Loans by Billy Chen
January 26, 2010
Mortgage Application Tips
Are you anxious about your mortgage request getting rejected? There are various precautions you can take to make sure that your loan application gets accepted, most of them just need good research and some time.
First step for getting your mortgage application approved is to ensure that you have a good credit score. Though regular checking of your credit score is not recommended, it’s vital to identify its nature and how to solve the problems, if any. A good credit score ensures that you your loan request won’t be rejected.
Next step is to ensure that all important papers are with you. For a mortgage application, you would need several documents, and you may need some time to get them ready. See if you have all your tax file records, bank statements, proof of income, and details of investments, before filling up the application. For self employed people, this process may have some hurdles. You will have to show proof of old tax returns to verify that your business runs well and you earn money. Technically, you are known to be self employed if earn by getting commissions, have your office at home, or if you have 25% share of the business.
Among the frequent mistakes that people commit when applying for finance is that they request for a huge amount. Even though applying for a certain amount doesn’t take much, but if your financer feels that you may not be able to pay back then your loan application may be rejected. Do some research and get pre-approved for a mortgage so that you know accurately how much the bank can offer you. You can also let the bank decide the amount.
While applying for a mortgage application you must communicate properly to get what you look for. A lot of individuals are involved in finance, like your agent, real estate broker, attorneys, the seller, and inspectors. You need to ensure that you communicate with all s that the procedure goes well. Without this your application may get rejected and you may have to reapply.
Before you apply for a mortgage get a good idea of what you are getting into. Learn all you can about interest rates, mortgage types, and down payments. The goal is to get a payment plan that works for you so you don’t have to refinance in the future. Take care in choosing your broker as well, as there are some that are more interested in making money than getting you a good deal.
After you have clearly understood the mortgage deals available then you must choose the one that suits your needs the most. You needn’t worry abut your loan application when you have done the proper research on mortgages and taken all steps to get the suitable loan. Very soon, your application would be accepted and you would be able to buy your new house and easily make your monthly mortgage installments.
Graham McKenzie is the content coordinator for South Arica?s leading Homeloans portal which amongst others offers Bond origination services for all major banks.
Filed under Loans by Graham McKenzie
