Debt Consolidation Credit Counseling In Wisconsin Debt Consolidation Credit Counseling In Wisconsin

Find out more on Debt Consolidation Credit Counseling In Wisconsin Now!

Monday, December 29, 2008

When to Use the Reverse Mortage as a Solution

By Spooni Vanrock

Reverse mortgages are becoming mainstream lately. Perhaps it's Robert Wagner, or maybe its life circumstance creeping up on today's seniors forcing them to use the reverse mortgage.

The reverse mortgage is an exceptable and real financial problem solver if it is used in the right circumstances.

However, it does not come without reasons to choose other options. Many customers ask me, "Is the reverse mortgage okay for me. Am I making the right choice?"

I'm always a little taken back when they ask me this question. I mean, afterall, I make money only when the loan goes through my company. If I weren't an honest guy I may be inclined to promote my best interests.

However, I'm a pretty honest cowboy and I answer back, "How long do you plan on staying in the home?" This is the most important thing to know.

I want to know because short reverse mortgages should be used only in dire emergencies. The cost of getting the loan for a short period is very high due to the closing costs involved.

What I'm looking for is the customer to say, "when I leave it will be with tag on my toe." Now that's my kind of customer! The longer the loan goes on the less the loan costs the customer on an annualized basis.

Regardless of each individual's unique situation the basic rule of thumb is to be in the home at least three years.

Being in the home for any length of time less than that would be prohibitively expensive, and i may suggest other financial alternatives.

Another important thing to consider is weighing income against the financial issue the reverse mortgage may solve.

For instance, some incomes can change to catch up to and solve an economic troublespot. Fixed incomes, on the other hand, usuallly cannot. The duration of the financial issue plays a role as well.

Here is your typical reverse mortgage customer... He plans on staying in the home at 3 years or longer. His income is fixed and can't change to meet his financial needs. The reverse mortgage makes sense for this man.

New Reverse Mortgage Limits - How Much Will You Cash Out?

By Eversemort Vanrock

The big housing bailout bill, signed July 30, also raised FHA national lending limits. In November, lenders began closing loans with the new limits.

The new limits in most parts of the country are $417,000. This is an increase by as much as two times in many of these same areas. So, what does this mean?

Of the multiple factors entering the equation determining the value of the home, or the FHA insuraable loan limit, is of vital concern as the reverse mortgage lender uses this dollar figure and related equity as security for the mortgage.

Remember, the mortgage company uses the home's equity as the security for the loan. It will use the value or the maximum lending limit, whichever is less, as a starting point to determine how much they will allow the borrower to cash out at any given time.

The other vital derminants of the cash out amount are the age of the youngest borrower and interest rates.

Age makes sense right? Let's face it, reverse mortgage lenders are using actuarial tables, just like insurance companies, to determine how long the borrower will live in the house.

Forward lenders today have the serious problem of more being owed than the home is actually worth. Reverse mortgage companies fear the exact same problem on the tail end of these mortgages. Therefore the borrower, who will likely pass on earlier rather than later, will be loaned more money.

Since interest accrues on a reverse mortgage, to be repaid to lender when the home is eventually sold, the lender must be careful it lends conservatively such that all of the equity isn't stripped away prior to sale. This being the case, a bank lends more when rates are lower.

To get a true determination a borrower should contact a licensed reverse mortgage company. People want hard answers, but the reality is there aren't any until all the variables are plugged in.

For a rough guestimate, borrowers aged 90, would receive roughly seventy-five percent of the home's value or loan limits (the lesser of the two). The young sixty two year old would qualify at about fifty percent.

Centennial Credit Card - Review

By Daniel Moskel

The Centennial card is created for individuals with a low credit score. It is issued by the First Premier Bank a member of the FDIC.

It offers easy approval and thus has some fees. These include a one time account set up fee of $29, $48 annual fee, and a one time $95 fee.

You will see these charges on your first monthly bill. They will be charged towards your available credit limit.

Your card will have an initial $250 limit, and a 9.9% APR.

It is issued as a Visa or MasterCard your choice. If you apply online you will have an application response in less than 60 seconds.

When making your monthly on time payments you will create a positive payment history on your credit report.

Additionally your utilization ratio is very important. This is the amount of debt you have compared to your available credit. If you can keep your monthly balance at roughly 30% of you limit it will help the most.

This means you want to keep your monthly balance around $75. After six months you will be eligible for a limit increase.

The First Premier Bank is a member of the Better Business Bureau. They are located in Sioux Falls, South Dakota and have issued cards to over 3 million people.

Your card is accepted everywhere the Visa or MasterCard logo is seen. You can qualify for the card if you are over 18 years old and have a valid social security number.

Recently we have seen a rise in interest rates even with prime lending. Some rates have jumped to an outrageous 30% without cause, meaning the customer did not pay late.

In sum we suggest you explore all your options for credit if you have made some mistakes. It may be more cost effective to get a secured or prepaid card, and take other steps to repair your damaged score.

About the Author:

Useful Hints On Retirement

By Don Pedro

Before someone goes to retirement he needs some planning about his life after retirement. It will make you prepared to cope with the changes associated with retirement.

Undertaking a lot of physical activities can keep a person active in his post retirement life. And this sort of activity helps the person to overcome the boredom of post retirement life.

Professional counselors can help someone great deal to make his preplan for the post retirement life. Its much needed for someone to have a preplan for the retired life because it saves them from mental instability and boredom.

There many things that we love or we loved at a time, but time and odds didn't allow us to do that. Post retirement life can be the perfect time to do those things. How would you like to visit those places that you wanted to visit in the past many times. If you can think positively post retirement period can become as much productive as it was before.

Hobbies can be the best pastimes in your transition period. You can make your own garden for flowers or may be start cultivating vegetables or fruits. This will also give you a sustained supply of money. Once you are economically solvent many other problems or complexes will be gone. Moreover, hobbies will keep you ever fresh and engaged.

Some of the retirees spend rather gloomy days after the retirement mainly because they fail to make proper plans for those days. One should plan map out the to-does for that part of life. This may include volunteering for non government organizations or charities.

Retirement gives you lots of time and the much needed rest. Now you have enough time to look back and take care of those things you missed or lacked throughout the life. You can choose to take some courses in local schools or other institutes that attracts you the most.

Retirement can be a very crucial junction for a person's life, especially if he was used t with a tight schedule before. But some preplanning and counseling with the professionals can make the post retirement life as much productive and enjoyable as it was before.

About the Author:

Basic Guide On Retirement

By Don Pedro

Before someone goes to retirement he needs some planning about his life after retirement. It will make you prepared to cope with the changes associated with retirement.

Everybody wants to keep busy with something after his or her retirement. And its much needed to do so, else the lack of activity can cause boredom and lead to chronic depression. And these sorts of mental changes also involve the people surrounding the retiree.

Best way to cope with the transitory period of life one may counsel with professional coaches. A professional can only find the best solutions for you.

Always take the transition of life from the best point of view. It's the perfect time to do those things that you never got a chance to do in your busy days.

Some people prefer keeping busy with their hobbies like gardening, writing, fishing or site seeing. A hobby is something that can keep the retiree ever fresh. Gardening will not only help the person feel refreshed but it can also be a source of income. A retired person definitely feels more secured and confident and lots of problems are taken care of if he is financially self-sufficient.

Most of the occasion retiree persons suffer because they don't have premade plans and as a result they suddenly find themselves to be in a situation where they aren't used to at all. One can easily avoid these situations by getting involved with social welfare activities.

One can also utilize the endless free time after retirement by learning things that he has interest in. One can go through various courses on different institutes. There's no limit in learning.

The best approach towards retirement is thinking about it before the time comes. Map out the things you would like to do when you will have that much time and it will always keep you busy and full of life.

About the Author:

The Importance of Knowing Your Tax Deduction Limits

By Angela Coates

It is not only good to know the tax deduction limits when you file your tax return, but it's also necessary to know if you want to lower your tax bill. Most people are always looking for ways to lower their income taxes owed to the IRS. They know that the more tax deductions they are able to take, the more tax savings they will have.

While some people are already aware that it is important to know tax deduction limits, some people are still unsure of what tax deductions are. There are many websites that explain what IRS deductions are. Basically, tax deductions are sometimes referred to as tax deductible expenses because they are qualified expenses that the IRS allows taxpayers to subtract from income taxes. That means, the more tax deductions a taxpayer can claim, the less taxes he or she will have to pay.

Most of the time, taxpayers want to claim as many IRS deductions as they can and knowing the tax deduction limits will help them. However, not everyone can claim tax deductions and not every expenses are tax deductible. Therefore, it is important to learn the tax codes to know what are tax deductible and what are not so that you can claim the most IRS tax deductions possible.

Some people think that IRS deductions are the same as tax credits and the tax deduction limits are also the same as tax credit limits. They are not. A tax deduction simply lowers taxable income for a taxpayer whereas a tax credit gives the taxpayer money directly. If there is a choice, taxpayers often prefer tax credits than tax deductions because tax credits save them more money than tax deductions do.

Different IRS deductions have their own tax deduction limits. The standard deduction has the easiest limit because it is set by the IRS for anyone claiming the standard deduction. Most people who do not have outrageous expenses during the year will find it best to just claim the standard deduction which is usually more than their itemized deductions anyway. To claim the standard deduction, just tick the box that says standard deduction on your tax form.

Some taxpayers are not eligible to claim standard deduction so they must claim the itemized deductions and pay attention to the tax deduction limits. The itemized deductions are more complicated than standard deduction because each tax deductible item has its own limit. If you are qualified for both the standard deduction and the itemized deductions, it is important to know the limits so that you can calculate which route is best for your tax return.

The bottom line is that by knowing the tax deduction limits, taxpayers can make an informed decision about whether to claim the standard deduction or to itemize his or her tax deductions if he or she is eligible to claim both. There are many books, IRS publications and websites that will give details of what the tax deduction limits are for different tax deductions.

About the Author:

Remove Tax Lien

By Matt Douglas

With a tax lien on your credit report your score will be dramatically affected. You should take action to erase this mark from your report.

The first step is to have the bureaus validate the lien. You need to send each bureau a dispute letter.

Surprisingly it is not out of the ordinary for incorrect information to be reported on your credit. It is estimated that 1 in 4 people have inaccurate information on their report.

When your letter is received then the bureau will contact the state or federal government and ask them to verify the debt. If it is verified then you will have to negotiate payment to remove it.

If you have a large debt you should speak with a tax attorney or negotiator to help work out some form of repayment. Frequently you can pay a reduced amount, and when paid you can remove it from your report.

These debts are collectible for 10 years. The negative mark will stay on your credit for 7 years once it is paid. If it goes unpaid you could have a lien on your report for a long time.

However once you pay in full, wait three months and dispute the mark again. It has been learned that frequently the government will ignore future validation requests from the bureaus once a lien is paid.

Thus your lien will not be verified and the bureaus will remove it from your report. Additionally if this mark was make in error then send any documentation along with your dispute letter to prove that.

Repayment

The IRS and state government often accept partial payment. To propose this to them you will make an offer in compromise, often called an OIC.

When the government decides to accept your OIC or not they will look at your; ability to repay, your assets, and your income. It can help your cause if you send a letter pleading financial hardship.

It can help to have a tax negotiator though it is not essential.

In sum, take action today and get this lien off your report. It will be hard to be approved for credit with decent terms as long as this mark is on your credit. Don't just wait seven years.

About the Author:

Advice for Remortgaging- What You Shouldn't and Should Do

By Troy Cruz William Engle Dawn Khoury James Nissen Robert Hill Chris Laning Janet Taylor Jack Enders Bruce Gross Rick Bean Keith Wood Ray Johnson Alex Velez Juan Hines Paul Holtz Kenya Rios Peggy Dye Neal Dawes Lucas King David Hebert Karl Howell Jarrod Lucky Ruth Coats Doris Lund Ryan Hudson Henry Bush Lonnie May Arlen Bell Wanda Kuebler Kevin Stiles Nick Horton Jorge Pina Frank Vera Chad Copp Fred Brod Jose Cruz Mark Jones Kelly McMahon Barney Bernard Ailleann Alan

When the interest rates are low, you are going to feel pressure to remortgage your house or other property that you own, and you might ask yourself whether it is the right thing to do. If you do make the decision to remortgage, you can follow these tips of what you should and shouldn't do, which is going to make remortgaging a whole lot easier.

Should: Window shop. When you remortgage, you are taking your current mortgage with your bank and moving it to an entirely new bank. It doesn't count as a remortgage if you don't change banks or mortgage companies. If you want to get a great deal on your remortgage you are going to have to window shop. You are not going to be able to talk to just one bank, you are going to have to go to many different banks and see what each one has to offer.

Should: Figure out your finances before committing. A lot of times people will remortgage their house thinking that they are going to save a lot of money, only to figure out that in the long run they didn't save much money at all. Think of how much the bank fees and mortgage company fees are going to be first and then see whether or not you are going to get a better deal if you just put that money toward your current mortgage and make an extra payment. You may find that that extra payment will save you almost the same amount of money as remortgaging does in the long run. You have to think about the whole picture and not just about short term money saving.

Shouldn't: Don't do what your neighbor does. If your neighbor recently remortgaged his house, it doesn't mean that it is time to do yours too. Just because it was a smart move for them, doesn't mean that you should do the same thing without doing a lot of research and making an independent decision.

Shouldn't: You shouldn't get swept away with silly promotions. Some banks are going to be less than honest with their advertising, saying that they can offer you a really low interest loan, but then the mortgage papers say the interest rate is much higher. If you can't believe a bank could offer such a good rate, then it is probably just a way to get you in the door.

Shouldn't: Don't make rash decisions. Remortgaging doesn't have to be done today; it can be done tomorrow, in three months, three years or whenever you want to. If a bank offers you a special deal for a limited time only you should be certain that remortgaging is what you want to do first, even if it means that you might lose the deal. You want to be certain about your decision because remortgaging takes a lot of time and effort on your part and you want to be satisfied with your decision for the remainder of the mortgage term.

Remortgaging your house is going to be a big step, and there are some things that you definitely should and shouldn't do. If you're considering a remortgage, the best advice you can get is to make sure that you do your research and understand what exactly you are doing and how it is going to affect you in the future. It all depends on your specific situation, so make sure you don't forget to do your research.

About the Author:

Foreclosure Investing: Unknown But Highly Profitable Method

By Tomasheus Privetsky

If you were a real estate investor watching the real estate boom of early 2000s closely, you could have predicted the foreclosure investing opportunities that would become available today in virtually every real estate market in the country.

In the last two years mortgage lenders have been reporting dramatic increases in defaults and foreclosure rates nationwide causing many sub-prime lenders to go under. Many real estate investors turned their attention to buying foreclosures. But what you may have seen is just a tip of the iceberg.

Will You Be Able To Capitalize On This Foreclosure Boom? On the surface it seems easy enough. Get a list of properties in default. Contact homeowners. And get the deal done at a juicy discount, before the bank takes the house. Then you can fix it up and flip it, or keep it as a rental with an instant built-in equity profit. Right? Well, not quite.

You may be able to make a lot of money in foreclosure investing; enough to support yourself and your family, even pay for luxuries. However, foreclosure investments could also turn into a money pit which could take up all of your time and your money.

There are few people who consistently turn a profit on their foreclosure investments. Why is this? They are in a competitive, crowded market and are going about things the wrong way.

How Can You Stand Out in the Competitive Business of Foreclosure Investing? To call foreclosure investment a competitive field is understating things. A lot of news stories have come out about these investments, meaning that many investors have gotten in on the action. Investors send mountains of mail, deluge homeowners with phone calls and some even go so far as to show up at their doors.

Any homeowner who is looking at the possibility of foreclosure is probably being deluged with offers from other investors, along with everything else theyre struggling with. Your mailings will likely be just one of many and it may be destined for the trash! That is, unless you can manage to set yourself apart from the competition; keep reading to find one way to do this.

The Only Ethical Way To Approach Foreclosure Investing. Truth be told, for most people who are behind on mortgage payments and in danger of losing their home - talking to a real estate investor about selling the home is the very last thing on their mind. They often perceive foreclosure investors as sharks taking advantage of their situation.

If you want to get people facing foreclosure to call you, what you need is to offer them the option of staying in their home.

Three-Step Highly Profitable Foreclosure Investing Strategy That Stars With An Offer To Keep Homeowners Facing Foreclosure In Their Home. First, trying to help a family in financial trouble is the ethical thing to do. You'll be preserving the American Dream.

In addition to that, you can make a tidy profit by doing things ethically. You can try to assist the homeowner in negotiating a payment plan with their lender (through the lenders loss mitigation department) and charge a fee for this service. You can get your hands on a nationwide list of contacts at loss mitigation departments easily enough. With so many homeowners struggling to keep their homes, there are tens of thousands of opportunities for you to make money by offering loss mitigation negotiation services.

Last but not least, this is also a highly profitable route to foreclosure investing. In many cases, the loss mitigation process will not work out for the homeowners and you will end up buying their home anyway. And whom will the homeowner turn to when they find that their best option is to sell? You guessed it, the foreclosure investor who tried to help them keep their home. Thats how the cookie crumbles back to foreclosure investing.

About the Author: