Showing posts with label home loans. Show all posts
Showing posts with label home loans. Show all posts

Saturday, January 3, 2009

Bring Order To Your Finances With A Personal Debt Consolidation Loan

And troubles begin. And then debt piles up. Even you. And, given the ease of so much available money, anyone can get carried away and go on a spending binge.

Look at all the cash you can easily borrow and spend - there are credit cards for the asking, personal loans, home loans, you ask for it and the money is bang on the table. There comes a time in your life when you will find that you are caught neck deep in debt.


And, if you can't pay back your loans comfortably, your credit ratings will be downgraded and when that happens, no one will be willing to lend money to you at a lower rate of interest. And there 's a high chance of anyone with multiple loans getting into a situation where he cannot pay back his loans. Once money has been spent, the payback clock starts ticking and if you have taken multiple loans, then you will naturally have to pay multiple installments.

And that is where personal debt consolidation loans come in. They get rid of your burden by giving you a low interest loan that sets you free from your debt trap and helps you get a grip on your finances.

Personal debt consolidation loans are loans that consolidate all your high interest debts (credit card, personal loans, etc.) and give you a loan - at a lower rate of interest - to pay them off, thereby reducing your monthly cash outflow and leaving you with enough cash for running your house.

Advantages of personal debt consolidation loans

1. These loans put your mind at ease because they replace a higher outflow with a lower, more manageable one.

2. They simplify your debt by reducing the number of bills you have to pay every month to just one.

3. These loans are given for a longer period of time and hence the payouts are small and in tune with what you earn every month.

4. If your personal debt consolidation loan is secured by your home, then the rate of interest is much lower than an unsecured consolidation loan.

5. They help you rebuild your credit history, if you pay their installments in time.

6. The biggest advantage of these loans is that they kind of get you out of a mess: out of a hole you have dug for yourself. And that 's worth a lot in both monetary and non-monetary terms.

Sure, a personal debt consolidation loan will help you reduce your debt and make life hassle-free (financially), but you need discipline and commitment when it comes to paying back the loan - you just cannot afford to go back to your old ways of being a spendthrift.

So, if you are stuck in debt, go right ahead and take a personal debt consolidation loan and get rid of all the financial irritants that are causing you a pain in the neck. If you already have a financial advisor, then it would help things if you could take his opinion about the loan you are planning to take. There are a whole lot of companies who offer personal debt consolidation loans and it is up to you to choose the loan that is right for you.


Friday, November 28, 2008

Basic Home Loan Terms Explained

Though some or all of these terms may seem somewhat foreign to you, do not get overwhelmed, there are simple explanations for each and every one of them. ARMS, points, interest rates, good faith estimates, pay-downs, lock-in dates, so on and so forth. They are inundated with information riddled with terms of art. The wonderful world of home buying can sometimes overwhelm the first time home buyer.

So a mortgage is a loan against property that is secured with a lien against it. This "mortgage" is basically a lien against the property until such time that loan is satisfied. Mortgages are simply a loan against property that is secured with a "mortgage". Typically all home loans fall into two basic categories: mortgages and home equity loans.

Let us start with the different types of loans there are.


A home equity loan is a loan that is also secured with a lien against the property. The home equity loan lien is secondary to the first mortgage on the home. This type of loan is based on the amount of equity in the house. Equity is the difference in dollars between the value of the home and the amount owed on it. Equity can be a positive number (the house is worth more than what is owed) or can be a negative number (negative equity) which means that there is more owed on the house than the house is worth.

A lien is simply a legal term that indicates that someone other than the homeowner has a legal right and interest in the property. So, if the property is ever sold, all liens need to be satisfied - any money owed to anyone with a lien must be paid, otherwise the new owner may become obligated to pay the amount owed. A lien is against property, not a person. Typically in all real estate transactions there will be a title search that will reveal any liens against the property. This title search is basically an examination over anyone and anything that may have some legal interest, obligation or right to the property.

If there are multiple home loans on a property the order they are paid in is the oldest to the newest. This is only a factor if the property is being sold for below what is owed. This is either through a "short sale" where the house is being sold by the homeowner for below the amount that is owed in the house. They will need approval from all lien holders in order to do this. This is also an issue if a house falls into foreclosure.

Within these two types of loans you will want to know the difference between a fixed-rate mortgage and a variable rate mortgage. A variable or adjustable rate mortgage is an ARM. Fixed-rate mortgages have the same interest rate from the first day of the loan to the last day of the loan unless it is refinanced. A fixed rate or variable rate loan will generally start off for a period of time at a specified rate and then after that period ends, if the loan has not been paid off or refinanced then the rate becomes adjustable based on specific conditions set forth in advance - typically tied to the federal interest rate. An ARM loan will have typically a 3 or 5 year period during which the rate is lower than the going rate. This is used to entice would-be borrowers or help borrowers have lower payments for the initial period.

"Points" are often discussed in connection with loan packages and interest rates. You can "pay down" an interest rate by paying points for example. What this means is you can pay for a lower interest rate if you pay a specified number of points. Points are simply one percent of the loan amount. So a $100,000 loan equates to $1000 for every point.

Another term you will often here is PMI, private mortgage insurance. PMI is insurance for your lender when the amount you borrow is more than 80% of the value of the property. In these cases the borrower needs to pay for this insurance policy. The calculation for your monthly PMI payment is 0.5% of your loan amount divided by twelve.

Tied to the calculation of PMI, as well as many other factors of the loan is an appraisal. An appraisal is a determination by a real estate professional of what the value of the property is. They will evaluate the property and similar properties in the area. They will consider market trends, recent sales and other factors to give an estimate on what the property is worth and would sell for.

Typically your lender will have a cushion in the escrow account of 2 - 3 months in case you fall behind in your payments. Your lender then makes your required tax payments. Your lender will collect 1/12 of your yearly taxes every month in order to be assured that your taxes are paid. Escrow is money that is being held typically to pay taxes.

Another potential add-on to your monthly payments is escrow payments.


The more you know the better off you will be. During the home loan process, however, you should never feel embarrassed or ashamed to ask what a term means. Though there are many more terms you may encounter these are the most often used, misunderstood terms.


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