Refinance NOW?before it's too lateIf 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 ? per cent, but a reality check quickly reveals that you, personally, have probably never seen 2 ? per cent interest on anything in your lifetime. Take a look at your credit card statements. Are you paying 2 ? per cent on your credit? What about your home mortgage? Without getting technical, there's little correlation between the federal funds rate and home mortgage rates except the direction in which they travel, and right now that direction is headed to the sky. You've already missed the opportunity of a lifetime to lock in the lowest rates you'll see for the foreseeable future, but you have a little more time to get your hands on relatively cheap money.
The window of opportunity is rapidly closing, so if you're going to refinance, you must do it as soon as possible.Things you may not know about refinancing:A small rate cut can pay off handsomely in smaller monthly mortgage payments.Smaller monthly mortgage payments will decrease your tax deduction, because you will no longer be paying as much interest as you've been paying. Factor this in, because it's the total savings that matters.You can and should ask to have fees waived or reduced: application fees, origination fees, appraisal fees, legal fees, points, and closing costs.If you don't have cash on hand to pay fees, you can get them tacked on to the mortgage, paying nothing out of pocket for your refinanced home mortgage.If you refinance and shorten the term of a home mortgage, you will pay a higher monthly payment, but you'll save a significant amount of money over the term of the mortgage in addition to paying off your home and building equity faster.Standard mortgage terms run 15 years or 30 years. If you'd prefer a term somewhere in between the standard terms, ask for a custom loan and designate a term that works better for you. Find a term that strikes a balance between a term shorter than 30 years and monthly payments lower than those of a 15-year mortgage. If you cannot get a custom term, settle for a 30-year mortgage and pay more than the monthly payment to pay off the loan sooner.
You must also negotiate no pre-payment penalty.Where to go from here1. Review your credit record with each of the three credit bureaus: Equifax, TransUnion and Experian. Mistakes are common in credit reports, and you may be surprised at what you find: accounts that do not belong to you, balances that do not match your statements, an identity mistake or worse. Correct any bad information.2. Compare mortgage rates and fees online among several finance companies.
3. Use a good mortgage calculator. Using refinance calculators is the only way to determine which loan is the better all-around deal.Work fast, but negotiate hard to make a deal that works for you. The loan company wants your business as badly as you want a better rate..
M J Plaster is a successful author who provides information on http://www.home-loans-4u.net/ and http://www.home-loans-4u.net/home-equity-loans.html. M J Plaster has been a commercial freelance writer for almost two decades, most recently specializing in home and garden, the low-carb lifestyle, investing, and anything that defines la dolce vita.Global Mortgage Loans & Purchases Shows Homeowners how Mortgages can be Energy Efficient
Atlanta, GA (ContentDesk via ContentDesk Direct) August 9, 2006 Due to spiraling energy costs of traditional fossil fuel resources, more and more people are exploring Alternative Energy Solutions to not only save money but also promote the conservation of our environment.
To that end, Global Mortgage Loans & Purchases (www.youronlineapproval.net) is offering a new product to its clients known as an Energy Efficient Mortgage.An Energy Efficient Mortgage means comfort AND savings.
When you are buying, selling, refinancing, or remodeling your home, you can increase your comfort and decrease your monthly expenses by using an Energy Efficient Mortgage (EEM). It is easy to use, federally recognized, and can be applied to most home financing. EEMs provide the borrower with special benefits when they either purchase a home that is energy efficient or install energy-saving...
Buy to Let Mortgages
Finding the right buy to let mortgage is crucial to your success as a property investor. Unlike other forms of property investment, a lot of the capital you invest into a buy to let investment property is likely to be borrowed. Over the last few years, the buy to let mortgage market has boomed, with more and more lenders bringing out products making borrowing money to invest in this way even simpler than before. There are a number of different buy to let mortgage products available from fixed rates, discounted variable rates, base rate trackers to name a few. It is worth remembering that different products may be suitable for different investment properties.However it is very important that you get the correct guidance with your finance.
Questions that are worth considering when finding a suitable buy to let mortgage:1. Do they have access to lots of different buy to let products in the market place?2. Do they have the ability to create a long term investment property strategy...
Buy to Let Mortgages
Home Loans and Mortgages ? Beware of New ?Mortgage Elimination? Scam
The booming real estate market has allowed many Americans to become "equity rich." They may not have a lot of cash on hand, but they might have equity in their homes worth several hundred thousand dollars or more. Unfortunately, this increase in home wealth has spawned an equally booming business in equity theft, as more and more thieves find increasingly clever ways to con homeowners out of their equity, their homes, or both. One clever new scam involves companies that promise to completely "eliminate" a homeowner's mortgage. For a fee of a few thousand dollars, these companies claim that a homeowner can have a free and clear title to their home without paying off the remaining debt. How does this scam work? This scam is a bit more complicated than other scams that often use simple forgery of identity theft.
In this "mortgage elimination" scam, the homeowner places his home in a trust with the mortgage elimination company as the trustee. The trustee files a long, tedious, frivolous,...
Home Loans and Mortgages ? Beware of New ?Mortgage Elimination? Scam