Home Loan Tips: Avoid Mortgage Troubles, Other Pangs of Rising Interest Rates
San Mateo, Calif. (ContentDesk) July 3, 2006 -- As any real estate agent knows, home sales heat up with rising temperatures every summer. Now, with mortgage interest rates more than a full point higher than at this time last year, fuel costs riding high, higher minimum credit card payments and consumer debt still raging, many U.S. homeowners risk foreclosure on their homes - but they dont have to lose their slice of the American dream. Last year, 31 percent of home loans issued were adjustable-rate mortgages [ARMs], which could spell big trouble as fixed mortgage rates hover around 6.83 percent and ARMs are poised to go much higher, said Brad Stroh, chairman of Bills.com. Holders of ARMs will be paying an additional $14 billion annually for every 1 percent increase in mortgage rates.
People who bought homes at the edge of their spending ability with an ARM could face dire consequences as their mortgage payments increase -- but they can take steps to keep their financial situations in check. According to the Mortgage Bankers Association of America, 4.7 percent of U.S. mortgages were delinquent at the end of 2005. With $9 trillion in outstanding U.S. mortgage debt, that places $423 billion at risk of foreclosure. Homeowners who are at risk (as well as prospective homeowners) can use the tips below to avoid mortgage trouble.How to prevent problems:1.???Create a budget and dont stretch yourself too far.
The unexpected can and does happen to millions of Americans each year. For people who live at the far edge of their means, one life event can hijack their lives and lead to defaults on bills and/or mortgage payments. The key is to build a detailed budget of income and expenses, making sure to allow some breathing room to weather an unexpected downturn. 2.???Be very careful with ARMs or interest-only loans. These types of loans let borrowers qualify for more expensive homes - but beware as rates (and payments) climb.
If you can barely afford the payment on your ARM or interest-only mortgage, you are asking for trouble in a few years when the teaser period expires and your loan re-sets to a fixed rate. Be sure you have extra cushion in your budget with these loans.3.???Dont jump to refinance your home to pay off credit card debt. Many people faced with large credit card debt or other unsecured debts consider refinancing their homes. But this strategy only moves the debt, securing it with your home. That puts your home is at risk of foreclosure if you are unable to pay.
If you are not confident that you can keep up with your home loan payments, consider debt resolution or another debt relief option. We cant emphasize enough that people must educate themselves about what they're getting into with a mortgage, Stroh added. Overall debt problems will continue to escalate unless people rein in their spending to live within their means. Unfortunately, for some people, that may mean losing their home to resolve their financial situation. How to avoid foreclosure - if its already on its way:1.???Enter into a forbearance agreement. For a temporary hardship, lenders might grant a forbearance agreement to lower - or eliminate - payments for a limited time.
2.???Consider loan modification. A loan modification seeks a permanent change to the loan, such as lowering the payment and extending the loans term, or incorporating any delinquencies into future payments.3.???Obtain a deed in lieu of foreclosure. A deed in lieu essentially allows the borrower to return the title or deed of the property - giving the home back - to the mortgage holder to avoid foreclosure. 4.???Sell the home. Selling your home may not be ideal, but it is a way to avoid foreclosure proceedings on your house and pay back your lender.5.???Refinance the loan.
It may be possible to refinance your mortgage for a lower interest rate and/or lower monthly payment (this is much different than refinancing to take cash out to pay off credit cards). However, if you already have had late payments on your mortgage, the interest rate offered to you may be too high to lower your monthly payment. Educate yourself on current rates by checking online rate comparison sites and using online calculators to determine the real costs of refinancing. These tools are available on a number of Web sites, including http://www.bills.com/calculators/. 6.???Be cautious.
Be wary of so-called equity skimmers. If your house is facing foreclosure, you will probably receive numerous solicitations from companies looking to help you prevent foreclosure by offering to sell your home for you or by taking ownership of your home. In most cases, these solicitations are scams trying to take advantage of people in difficult situations. The perpetrators aim to snatch the equity you have built up in your home.In many states, foreclosure rates have already started to increase, especially impacting the segment of the population that carries adjustable-rate mortgage loans, whose payments climb upward with every interest-rate increase. However, homeowners can make choices - ideally, before they purchase a home, but even after problems arise - that will help them keep a home, or at least minimize the damage a foreclosure could have on their futures.
Based in San Mateo, Calif., Bills.com is a free one-stop online portal where consumers can educate themselves about complex personal finance issues and save money by choosing the best-value products from a network of qualified service providers. Since 2002, Bills.coms partner company, Freedom Financial Network, has provided consumer debt resolution services, serving more than 7,500 customers nationwide and managing more than $250 million in consumer debt. The companys co-founders, Andrew Housser and Brad Stroh, were recently named Northern California finalists in Ernst & Youngs 2006 Entrepreneur of the Year Awards..
LandsofAmerica.com, LLC. has Partnered With the Three Largest Farm Credit Associations in Arkansas
(ContentDesk) August 5, 2006 -- LandsofAmerica.com, LLC. has partnered with the three largest Farm Credit Associations in Arkansas, AgHeritage Farm Credit Services, Farm Credit MidSouth, and Farm Credit Services of Western Arkansas, to form a strategic alliance with www.LandsofArkansas.com.
The partnership has enabled these associations to embed over 10,000 farms, ranches, timberland and recreational properties for sale into their websites.
Now visitors browsing the associations' websites can search the largest database of rural land listings in the United States.
The majority of the properties on LandsofAmerica.com are advertised by Rural Land Brokers.
This makes the partnership even more beneficial to the associations because Rural Land Brokers are the key to driving real estate financing business to the associations.
By advertising the Rural Land Brokers properties on the associations'...
Payday loans > LandsofAmerica.com, LLC. has Partnered With the Three Largest Farm Credit Associations in Arkansas
All You Need To Know About Bad Credit Auto Loans
Guess which sector is making the most strides forward in the current market? The unchallenged answer to that question is the automobile sector, with so many new and improved models being launched for the consumers every so often. The reasons for this are quite a few the main ones being the automobile organizations trying to out do each other and also the increase in demand for the autos. This is because of many organizations providing many loans to the consumers. This now includes the bad credit auto loans.
Autos now are not only the thing that only rich and opulent people can afford. With the arrival of bad credit auto loans the people who have bad credit history can also dream of the autos which serve different purpose to different people.
Bad credit auto loans are loans which are specifically designed to meet the requirement of people who have a history of bad credit.
People with bad credit history include:
? CCJ's (county court...
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Building your Credit to get a Mortgage
You are thinking about purchasing real estate. However, you are not sure if your credit is good enough to get a mortgage. There are things that you can do to build your credit so that it is worthy of any mortgage that may interest you.
Your credit report tells banks almost everything about you. It has information about where you currently live and other places you have lived in the past, information about how you have paid all of your bills, your criminal background and history, if you've been sued, if you've filed for bankruptcy, and your previous and past employers. It is a true picture of who you really are.
Insurance companies, creditors, employers and other businesses purchase this information from a credit reporting agency before they will loan you money, issue a credit card, or offer you employment. Your credit is very important and will affect your ability to obtain a mortgage. No one is perfect and neither is their credit. However, there are things that you can...
Building your Credit to get a Mortgage
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Third Partner Joins Destiny Lending LLC; Tom Richmond joins Loveland mortgage company's staff
Loveland, Colorado (ContentDesk) August 11, 2005 -- Destiny Lending LLC, 4200 N. Garfield Avenue in Loveland, has added Tom Richmond as a new partner. The company provides full-service lending to those interested in purchasing new construction, an existing home, investment property or re-financing a home where they currently reside."Tom's real estate experience is unmatched, which will help everyone here do a better job when it comes to serving our clients," notes Shawn Beard, founder of Destiny Lending. "We're glad to have him working alongside us."Tom comes to Destiny Lending with more than 30 years of experience as a real estate broker in Colorado. That expertise gives him a superior understanding of property values, and the needs and concerns clients have when it comes to realizing their dream of owning a home.
In his role with the company, Tom has the latitude to meet or beat rates offered by any other lender, and he offers his clients a cash credit toward their closing costs.Tom...
Third Partner Joins Destiny Lending LLC; Tom Richmond joins Loveland mortgage company's staff
Payday loans > Third Partner Joins Destiny Lending LLC; Tom Richmond joins Loveland mortgage company's staff
Debt consolidation mortgage - decode its apparent complexity
Someone great once said that ?if it isn't the sheriff, it is the finance company'. Do you feel the same? Has the piling up of bills forced you to take several loans? Do you live in constant dread that someone would soon come to claim his money. The problem is that you don't ever seem to have the money. All you earn goes in paying the interest rate on various loans while the loan amount remains intact. There begins the vicious circle.
So is there a way out? Definitely, there was never a problem invented that didn't have a solution. This is the charm of human mind. The solution for spiraling loans is a debt consolidation loan.Debt consolidation mortgage seems like a heavy term. It both perplexes and intrigues a loan recipient. However, I can assure you that a few handy tips on debt consolidation mortgage and you will be yourself giving advice on this subject.
Debt consolidation is the first logical step towards being debt free.Debt consolidation fuses your various loans like...
Debt consolidation mortgage - decode its apparent complexity
Payday loans > Debt consolidation mortgage - decode its apparent complexity