Saturday, February 25, 2006

Should I Refinance With My Current Lender?

by Craig Romero

With so many homeowners refinancing lately, there are hundreds of refinancing questions being asked. One of the most common is "Should I refinance with my current lender?" The answer is both yes and no.

Your current lender should be the last lender that you obtain a quote from, but you should definitely contact them when you are thinking of refinancing. Get together quotes from other lenders, and then approach your current lender and ask them to meet, or even better, beat those quotes.

You can also ask them to waive certain settlement costs and other fees involved since you are already an established customer and your lender may have customer retention programs, but you will need leverage before you do this. That leverage should come in the form of quotes from your lender's competitors.

In fact, your lender may opt to just decrease the interest rate you are currently paying, thereby allowing you to avoid settlement costs altogether.

However, there are drawbacks to using your current lender. Your lender already has your business, once you pay the lock-in fee, they have your money too. Since they already have your mortgage, they have no incentive to close the deal in a timely manner. There are also times when lenders will not quote you the best rate they have, but will quote you a rate that is lower than your current rate.

For instance, if you're at an eight-percent interest rate currently, your lender may offer you 6.5 percent because it's significantly lower than your current rate. Normally, that would be great, but if rates are at 5.5 percent, your lender isn't doing you any favors. That is why it is so important to be prepared with quotes from other lenders. It lets you know what rates are available to you, and lets your lender know that you're not going into the situation blind.

A wise decision is to treat your current lender as you would any other lender (see examples at: http://debt-solution.biz ). If they do not come in with the lowest rate or best service, take your business elsewhere. While it is nice to do business with a familiar face, you are not obligated to refinance with them, and if you can save money by going elsewhere, you should do so.

About the Author

Written by Craig Romero/Mortgage Analyst

Discover how to quickly build a minimum of $40,000 worth of home equity and pay your mortgage off in 10 years or less without making biweekly mortgage payments. Visit:
http://debt-solution.biz

 

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Friday, February 24, 2006

Should I Refinance?

Barrett Niehus

Should I Refinance?

By Barrett Niehus

Interest rates are at an all time low. Lower in fact than they have been in forty years. With this low rate comes huge opportunity for home owners to lower their payments and take some equity out of their home. The question about weather refinancing is necessary is dependent on your current financial situation, and what you will save versus how much the refinance will cost. The analysis is a simple one, but one must understand the process in order to benefit from the refinance activity.

When weighing the decision to refinance, one must simply look at your current monthly payment and your remaining payoff period. Then compare this to the monthly payments and required payoff after the refinancing activity. If the benefit of refinancing outweighs the cost of the process, then the refinance makes sense.

The easiest way to evaluate if a refinance makes sense from a quantitative sense is to list your current monthly payment the amount left on your mortgage, and the number of payments that you have left. Multiply the number of remaining payments by your current monthly mortgage payment and list this under all of the numbers.

Next to these numbers write down the amount that you are refinancing, the refinance period, and the estimated monthly payment. The payment amount can be calculated using a spreadsheet, or possibly a mortgage calculator like the one found at http://www.freetrainer.com/overview.htm. Within the amount that you are refinancing, be sure to include the cost of the refinance, origination fees, appraisal fees and transfer and escrow costs. Once again, multiply the monthly payment by the total number of payments and record this number.

If you are refinancing your current mortgage and not taking out any equity, the refinance makes the most sense if you can reduce your monthly payment, and if the total amount paid (number of payments multiplied by the monthly payment) after the refinance is less than the total amount to be paid on your current mortgage. If the monthly payment is less than your current payment, but the overall amount is greater, you must decide if paying less monthly outweighs the increased amount you will need to pay. The opposite decision is required if your payment goes up but the total amount due decreases. If in either of these situations, care must be taken and the returns evaluated carefully to make the best decision.

A caveat to the above analysis is that the amount refinanced must be equal to the existing mortgage. If the refinance amount exceeds the amount currently due on the mortgage then a much more complex analysis is needed. For this type of analysis, you will require a spread sheet with present value and amortization calculations. If you are not comfortable with these type of calculations, consult a financial advisor or accountant to assist with quantifying your decision.

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About the Author

Barrett Niehus is the Managing Director or IP Ware Real Estate Investment Analysis Software, http://www.freetrainer.com

 

Dobler Consulting Inc
2339 Warwick Dr
Oldsmar
FL 34677
United States



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Thursday, February 23, 2006

Short on cash? Finance the Mortgage Points

Syd Johnson

Once you get a quote for a home loan don't be tempted to take the entire amount if it looks like you overqualified. Most consumers fill out an application for a home loan and hope they can get enough money to buy their dream house.

A nice chunk of those consumers also overqualify for their home loans. If go to your local bank, credit union or mortgage broker and you are approved for a $500,000 home loan, they payments might be a bit more than you realistically afford.

Look at your entire budget
If you are not good with your money or would prefer to not stretch your finances to the limit to get a home, get your hands on a good mortgage calculator as soon as you get the figures on your home loan. You might think all will be fine as long as you can own your own property.

However, you must take into account all of the things that come along with owning a home. Sometimes you can get so caught up with the actual dollar amount of your home loan that you forget the other pieces of your budget.

Check your budget to see if you still have money to enjoy things like going out, purchasing new furniture, a family vacation once per year and regular manicures and pedicures. Then add in your student loans, car payments, credit card bills, lunches at work and tickets to take your family to baseball games a couple of times every season.

Don't forget home maintenance costs
There are also the home maintenance issues that are not included when you qualify for a home loan. If you live in a part of the country that's particularly hot or cold, your heating and air conditioning bill could easily add up to a couple of hundred dollars per month.

Your home loan package does not include budgeting for lawnmowers, landscaping and fixing broken windows. Some of these expenses can be put off until a later day, but some of them will require your immediate attention once you move into your home.

Know your spending habits
If you are used to living paycheck to paycheck and generally not taking care of your budget as a renter, you will probably carry over some of the same habits to your new home.

The best way to avoid a financial disaster is to make your home loan a part of your financial life instead of the centerpiece of your financial life. If you are stressed out about money issues from the very first move in, it is unlikely that you will enjoy your new home or anything else in your life for a long time.

About the Author

This article may be freely distributed as long as there's an active link to http://www.rapidlingo.com
Syd Johnson
Editor

Dobler Consulting Inc
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Oldsmar
FL 34677
United States



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Monday, February 20, 2006

Shopping for a Personal Loan to Suit Your Finances

Holly Bentz

Just as one would shop around for the right automobile to suit your taste and financial style, the same is true in shopping for a personal loan. If you're thinking about taking out a personal loan, it's important to make sure it matches your paying and financial composite. For example, do any of the following apply to you?

  1. If you plan to take out a personal loan do you plan to repay the loan off fast?
  2. Would you prefer to stretch your repayment plan out for as long as possible?
  3. Do you have poor credit – therefore gaining a personal loan approval is important to you?
  4. Are you looking for the lowest interest rate possible on a personal loan?
  5. Because you require a large sum of money (over $10,000) you would like to put your home up for collateral?

As the above questions depict, personal loans come in all assortments with varying terms and payment guidelines. As we all know all men are created equally, but not all salaries and personal loans are right for all financial needs.

Did you know that the average American consumer (almost 60 percent) carries – an average debt of over $10,000? Moreover, almost 60 percent neglect to remit their monthly credit card and mortgage balances on a timely basis. The profile of the middle class family is generally cash-challenged and used credit cards for their basic necessities.

In the realm of personal loans, American consumers must take caution during the search for a personal loan. Financial desperation has a way of affecting a consumer's judgment. Banks, creditors and lending institutions are targeting the financially fraught consumer. The sector is referred to as a "sub-prime" market. The target audience is the working poor or impoverished who are in most cases unable to make payments.

The rampant growth of the industries has been evident in both mortgage lending and cash advance firms. Normally, sub-prime loans (home financing and payday) are accompanied by mammoth interest rates. In reality, it boils down to supply and demand.

After all, why should an organization dole out loans or credit to consumers who are unable to pay or have demonstrated a poor payment history.

Fact: Annually, creditors and financial institutions charge over $7 billion in late fees.

Despite the advantages and drawbacks of personal loans, here are a few ways to shop for a loan customized to your financial style:

Fast Repayment Plan

If you plan to take out a quick personal loan to hold you off until you receive a tax refund or even a salary bonus, look for a personal loan that does not have a prepayment penalty. Since many payday loans and other personal loan products are designed to make the company money over the life of the loan, many carry a pre-payment penalty clause. Read the fine print and thoroughly review the contract to avoid being pigeon-holed into a personal loan.

Extended Repayment Program

The unemployed consumer should look for the personal loan where the repayment plan can be stretched out overtime. Opting for this type of loan can circumvent the chance of biting off more personal loan than one can afford while they are looking for gainful employment.

High Interest Rate

Some consumers do not have the luxury of being choosy in pursuit of a loan. Particularly, for the indebted with a low credit rating, the chances of personal loan approval may be limited. Generally, financial institutions up the interest rate based on how risky they deem the loan to be. Also, if a person has shown a poor payment history, the only way for the lending company to protect their interest is by charging an excessive interest rate.

Lowest Rate

Although the lowest interest rate possible always sparkles with appeal, it can be tricky. Pay particular attention to any personal loan that sounds too good to be true. For example, certain fraudulent lending companies will detail ambiguous wording in a personal debt agreement to purposely defraud the consumer of property (house or car).

Secured Loan

For a lending institution's perspective, the secured personal loan is completely failsafe for the bank. In any case, if the borrower defaults on the loan, they have an expensive property to sell to even make a profit. Before selecting a secured personal loan evaluate if the risk of possibly losing one's home is worth the pay-off of any loan worth $10,000 or more.

Whatever you personal loan you decide to take out, remember to prioritize what is important and only select the loan tailored to your financial situation.

© About-Personal-Loans.com. All rights reserved.

About The Author

Holly Bentz is a finance writer and a contributor to About Personal Loans.

About-Personal-Loans.com

Dobler Consulting Inc
2339 Warwick Dr
Oldsmar
FL 34677
United States



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Sunday, February 19, 2006

Selecting An Equity Finance Consultant

William Cate

Selecting An Equity Finance Consultant
By
William Cate

Most Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) realize that it's a hundred times easier to raise venture capital for a public company than a private company. There is no shortage of individuals and firms seeking to advise and coordinate the going public process for CFOs. The problem is that many of these equity finance consultants are inept and/or dishonest. Here are some simple rules for finding a competent and ethical advisor.

Avoid firms that don't disclose anything about themselves or their employees. The Net is a wonderful free-tool for doing "Due Diligence" investigations on firms and individuals. Do an advanced search on the firm and its principals. Credit checks and background investigations are wise investments before you hire any consultant.

All equity finance consultants have two basic ways to take your company public. They can help you do an Initial Public Offering. Or they can suggest one of several alternative ways to go public in the USA. None of the alternative tactics include a public financing for your company. Whatever solution the prospective equity consultant advises, you should ask for an estimate of costs, time to trading and the odds of being called for trading. You should also determine how the equity finance consultant expects to make money helping your company go public.

If you have an operating company and decide to do an IPO, your costs should average between $1.5 and $2.25 million. You should expect that it should take an average of 18 months to get your "Effective Letter" from the SEC. And your odds of success are about even, that is, 50/50. You should expect to pay your underwriter about 18% of the money raised. You will be expected to pay non-refundable upfront expense fees. You should budget $10,000/per broker presentation that will be needed to help the underwriter raise your IPO money. If your prospective consultant disagrees with these guidelines, ask them in writing for the evidence to support their viewpoint.

IPO alternatives range in costs from $60,000 to several million dollars. Amazingly, the most expensive IPO alternative is the most popular. While doing a reverse merger shouldn't cost your company more than $150,000 in out-of-pocket Due Diligence costs, the expense of maintaining your shell float's share price will run into millions of dollars.

In a reverse merger, the public shell insiders retain their shares. This means they have several million shares of your stock to sell. You are responsible for finding the public buyers of their stock and all future shareholders of your public company. Let's assume that the reverse merger insiders have three million of your public company's shares. Your goal is to maintain a $4 share price. The previous shell owners will gross $12 million on the sale of their reverse merger shares. It should cost you $0.25/share to buy the past owners' shares. The past owners will take a three million-dollar bite out of your investor relations' budget.

However, that's only the beginning of your problems. Your reverse merger public company must now find the buyers, each quarter, for those past insider shares. Assuming you can maintain the same $4 share price, the estimated annual investor relations costs will be $12 million per year, in addition to any other shares in the public float. This $12+ million investor relations cost will continue as long as the company is public and trading at $4/share.

The cash price of an OTCBB (Over-the-Counter Bulletin Board) shell with 90% or more control is about $1.5 million. The primary advantage to a shell purchase is that the buyers are certain that their shares will trade. The major disadvantage is that the shell insiders often create shares for themselves and hide this fact from potential buyers. The industry axiom is that there is no such thing as a clean shell. Thus the buyer also inherits the future costs of finding the buyers for those hidden shares.

There are alternatives to taking a company public whic cost less than $100,000. They don't create stock that enters the float. If you are interviewing potential equity finance consultants, you should ask them for their low cost strategy and determine its odds of working for your company. You should also ascertain the ongoing investor relations costs of any public company strategy.

Most professionals in the equity finance business have far more interest in short-term profits than long term earnings. If your purpose in going public is to give your investors a "liquidity event," you'll easily find equity finance consultants who share your myopic vision. If you are going public to build your company, you should read my ebook Venture Capital Profits. It's the formula for a win/win public company strategy. The public profits. The insiders and private placement investors maximize their profits.

About the Author: Since 1981, William Cate has been managing Director of Beowulf Investments [http://home.earthlink.net/~beowulfinvestments/], a Merchant Banking and Equity Finance Consulting firm. He can be contacted at: Beowulfinvetments@Earthlink.net

About the Author

He has been the Managing Director of Beowulf Investments [http://home.earthlink.net/~beowulfinvestments/] since 1981 and is the Executive Director of the Global Village Investment Club [http://home.earthlink.net/~beowulfinvestments/globalvillageinvestmentclubwelcome/]

Dobler Consulting Inc
2339 Warwick Dr
Oldsmar
FL 34677
United States



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