How to Track Mortgage Rates

By Mortgage Wizard

Your mortgage is most likely your largest debt you will have in your life. Securing your mortgage interest rate is one of the most important factors.

As an average consumer it is hard to study the mortgage market in these volatile times and accurately decide when a good time to lock into a new interest rate will be. Rates are changing multiple times a day.

In this unique mortgage market those same factors that affected mortgage rates and could be used as indicators on where they were headed to not always apply anymore.

Over the past two years over 300 mortgage banks (particularly wholesale mortgage banks) have gone out of business because of a lack of liquidity or inability to sell off their loan portfolios or a host of other reasons. The ones that have weathered the storm or are weathering the storm have had to reduce their workforce dramatically to cut costs and operate leaner operations.

Although the reduced workforce has helped some banks stay open it is causing serious service issues when rates are down like right now. The banks are experiencing an increased amount of loan volume and they do not have the staff to handle to the work load. To counteract this lack of staff they are being forced to price themselves out of the market and raise their interest rates artificially high to stop the influx of new business.

The rate increases are causing abrupt swings in the market place as banks raise and lower their mortgage rates to try and control their production and service levels.

The best way to ensure that you are not gambling with your mortgage rate that you will have for years is to make sure you align yourself with a solid mortgage company that can collect your qualifying information upfront and watch the market for you. That way they can capitalize on the sudden drops in rates when the banks have caught up on their loan pipelines for you.

About the Author:

Start your process by watching real time mortgage rates online. If your current rate is higher than today's rateit is time to partner with a trustworthy company to ensure you are getting a great deal.

Federal Retirement Calculator and Other Retirement Planning Tools

By William Blake

There are a lot of variables to consider when planning for your retirement. It is one of the most important things you will ever do and it should be considered very early in life ??" as early as possible. One of the best ways to develop a good plan is to equip yourself with the right planning tools. For example, it is important to know the approximate amount of federal annuity that will be due you upon retirement. How can you determine that information? A federal retirement calculator is just what you need.

The federal retirement calculator can only approximate what will take place. There is no way to definitely foretell the future. However, this useful tool will give you a good guideline by which you can figure what your retirement will be.

This calculator is useful for employers who need to determine certain benefits for their workers such as benefits paid to family members upon the death of the employee or annuities in CSRS, FERS or CSRS-offset retirement.

The federal retirement calculator is not a tool that can be used to estimate all variables of retirement. For example, it would not be helpful in determining life insurance or health insurance during retirement or in calculating the annuity amounts for those who do not work full time. It is best to stay within the perimeters of what the calculator is designed to do.

Other Tools

There are other programs that can help you plan your retirement and also help you throughout your retirement as you try to figure what amount you need to save for the future, how you will draw on your investments as you need them and also as you keep an eye on how your plan is working so that you can be ready for any needed adjustments. Some of the systems of calculating that can help with your planning are the RRSP accumulator, the QuickAnswer retirement calculator, and RRIP calculator, basic retirement calculator and the post retirement calculator.

The standard annuity calculator, annuity calculator for a retirement age range, life expectancy calculator, and couple's life expectancy calculator are all also great tools that can help you plan for retirement.

Being well equipped and planning early is important when it comes to planning for your future. A retirement plan is not something you want to put off. You should start thinking about right now, no matter what your age is. Make good use of the tools available and start developing your retirement plan right away so that you will have the best retirement possible.

About the Author:

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Student Loans Defaulted

By Justin Hutto

A defaulted student loan will put you in a complicated situation. You will likely have to repay the loan and your credit will be ruined.

When your student loan goes into default, your account is turned over to collection agencies and various collection procedures begin. In addition, the government can garnish your social security benefits, your wages, and more.

These debts can be collected upon for life! However you can only have a negative mark on your credit report for a maximum of seven years. This is according to a law that Congress created called the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

If you have a defaulted student loan on your report, more often than not you will be turned away for a new line of credit. You are likely to have to pay interest rates of roughly 25% and place large down payments just to be approved.

There is a possibility that this mark can be removed from your report and a chance that you may be able to remove the debt entirely. To do this, you should dispute the collection marks on your report.

A dispute letter to each bureau containing an explanation as to why the mark is not accurate should be sent. For instance, the mark has been reported for seven years already, account is paid in full, not my account, and the like.

This is the most difficult item on a credit report to negotiate. As a benefit to you, we suggest that you hire a credit repair service to dispute it on your behalf. This will give you a licensed attorney fighting for you which will be knowledgeable of the new laws constantly passed by congress to help protect consumers.

We feel hiring an expert is worth the money since your credit score impacts every aspect of your life. This is a good idea since, compared to the high cost of a low credit score, hiring an expert can be done at very reasonable rates.

Understand that government loans, such as a Stafford loan or the Perkins loan, will be much harder to eliminate from your report. A private loan, such as Sallie Mae, will be easier to remove than a federal loan, but still difficult.

When the bureaus receive your dispute letter they will contact the creator of the negative mark and ask them to verify the debt. They will verify that the account is yours, the dates are correct, and the balance of the account.

Due to the Fair Credit Reporting Act stating that any unverifiable mark on your credit report must be removed, the negative mark must be removed from your credit report if the account can not be verified.

If this mark is in error then send any documentation that you have with your dispute letter to prove it is in error. The bureaus make errors all the time and so do the lenders, but your credit is the one that will suffer. It is estimated that 1 in every 4 people have an error on the report that is costing them money in higher interest rates.

In closing, if you have a defaulted student loan on your credit report, it does not mean you will have a low credit score for the rest of your life. Defaulted student loans are removed from credit reports every day. To do this, we suggest you dispute this mark with the credit bureaus.

About the Author:

For a free credit consultation call 1-866-246-7311. Additionally visit us for more about Defauted Student Loan or to learn how to remove a charge off from your credit.

Lenders Help With Less Than Perfect Credit

By Linda Kay Holt

The market for bad credit loans is growing every day. The economy has forced many with pristine credit records to seek alternative lenders for loans. Bad credit lending has become big business.

This is why you will hardly find any which will allow you to negotiate their interest rates to more affordable rates. Since these private companies are taking so much risk in lending cash to somebody who is supposed to be not eligible for more conventional loans, they are in position to charge more for their loans.

Use caution when applying to the numerous bad credit lenders. Many charge for the right to make an application. For the person who badly needs the loan, these bad credit lenders are their only options. Use caution when applying to the numerous bad credit lenders. It could be absolutely devastating to be in a pit of debt and be scammed. So, a thorough research of the company background should help.

Getting new loans from bad credit lenders is possible. It will require some diligence on your part. Be prepared to provide more documentation than what is typical in a traditional loan process.

Lenders know you have less than perfect credit. They will however want to now why. That will have to be provided in a explanation letter. You may have to write several of these letters.

It is likely that you once had good credit and circumstances change in life. Lenders just want to know, you will pay your bills again. Given proper documentation lenders are more apt to provide a loan.

You will pay more to secure your loan, but a good payment record over time will allow you to refinance at some point in the future to get that lower rate. Do not expect those lower rates you have seen advertised. Those rates are reserved for those with pristine credit.

One year of paying your loans on time is all it takes to restore your credit history and insure that you can qualify for more loans in the future.

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Take the time to so proper research on Bad Credit Lending and check reviews on Bad Credit Lenders

Confront Property Assessments

By JORDON SILVERS

High property tax burdens as a percentage of home values is normally an ever increasing expense to homeowners. Overhaul of state property tax increases, including a possible ballot issue to cut property taxes for homeowners whose home values have dropped, are a hot potatoes issue. It's harder for people to pay property taxes in today economic environment..

Often scare tactics of cuts in service are employed. A governor of NJ threatened to close the beaches and parks, even the casinos if his state sales tax was not passed. He wouldn't look into actual cutting the fat and excesses out of the budget and got his tax increase passed.

Private sector employees routinely work 65 years before they retire. With Federal and State union conditions early retirement is thinkable by many after 20 years service. This practice only increases county and state liabilities by placing an excessive burden on taxpayers

However, homes' values may be argued. The assessed price of a home is based upon an opinion of value traditionally derived from comparable sales. Taxpayers should know they can take action today to save on inequitable property taxes.

The appeals process is always in place for property owners who believe their values are too high. Numerous areas for price adjustment exist when comparing your home to another home's sold data. Changes in square foot data, age of home, location, condition, number of garages are some the area that can be adjusted for

Even in good times normally a higher error rate exists in property tax assessments. The National Taxpayers Union writes that as many as 60% of all homeowners are over-assessed and not in line with their home value. ("How To Fight Property Taxes" 2004 p.1). This fact alone gives one pause to check their property taxes. It also presents and excellent work at home opportunity.

We're seeing a large number of families facing foreclosure and rising property taxes and their home values fall. That doesn't sit right with most people's gut reaction.

There are a few exemptions that may cut inequitable property taxes, but likely nothing as significant as an actual appeal. The property owner will also want to be prepared to respond to any questions that the board of equalization may have about the property. Be sure to use a reliable guide in the form of trusted how-to property adjustment self-help compendium.

About the Author:

If youve ever been to traffic court, you know you'll have to come up with quite convincing bottom line certainty to win your case. The world of property taxes and appeals are similar. Be sure to get reliable advice, dollar amount adjustment guidelines as well as tactics and dont settle for cheap advice. Click: property tax help

Getting Stated Income Credit

By Pat Johnson

If you own your own business, are self employed or get most of your income from commissioned sales, then you have probably run into trouble when applying for credit. Specifically when you are looking for mortgage refinance options you have difficulty being approved because you can't prove your income by traditional means. Financial institutions are beginning to realize this problem and are coming out with unique solutions called stated income loans and lines of credit.

A stated income HELOC doesn't require that you supply the usual paperwork that states how much money you make a year. You advise him or her what your annual income is and they use that number at face value. Then when you are approved you can access the equity you have in your home via a lone of credit.

Small business owners are able to reduce their taxable income by claiming legitimate business expenses. This presents a problem when it comes to qualifying for loans and mortgages as their taxable income often falls below what is required to be approved for additional credit. The stated income lending products resolve this.

In order to be approved for this type of loan you need to have very good credit and a very high credit score. The lender looks for this because they do not request you to bring in pay stubs or W2s. They increase their risk when they don't verify income, so they look to shore this up in other areas.

Interest rates and fees on stated income loans are often greater than on usual loans. This helps to offset some of the increased risk the lender takes as well. All in all, however they are by no means excessive.

Some financial institutions will also put criteria on how long the applicant needs to have been in business. The may also include other factors such as payment shock, where the new payment can not be more than fifteen percent of your existing shelter payment. Essentially, because they are opening themselves up to additional risk by not verifying income, they endeavor to ensure that you are as strong as possible in all other areas of the approval criteria.

You can meet with a broker or search online for a mortgage lender that offers stated income products. It is encouraging to know that the financial institutions are taking the unique needs of the small business owner seriously. You might just have to work a little to search them out.

About the Author:

If you are self employed, get more details on the home equity line of credit stated income at Pat's mortgage blog.

Facts about a home equity loan

By Doc Schmyz

Home equity loans are a great source of cash. However, before you plunge right into the process of drawing out a loan out of the equity of your property; you should take a look at the fine print and what it means to you.

Are you debating on getting a home equity loan? Home equity loans might be an easy to acquire type of loan, but somehow even a seemingly great deal might turn out to be bad if the process of getting one is not done right.[I:0:J]

Lets take a look at the following areas and terms for the loan process.

Points

If you are charged 1 point, this would mean 1 percent of the loan. And so 1 percent of a 100,000 dollar loan is an up front charge of 1000 dollars. Do not worry, there are lenders that do not charge points.How are you affected by this? Most lenders charge a part of the loan for commissions for themselves and for their sub-agents. Actually such points vary from little to exorbitant; it all depends on the company.

Loan interest rate terms

It it a fixed or variable loan. If it is a fixed loan, then you do not have to worry about external forces such as economic situations directly affecting your interest rate. But on the other hand, if you have variable type of loan, you may actually have an initial good interest rate. Interest rates that go up naturally makes your monthly payments go up too in the process. So what do you want " a home equity loan with interest rate that stays the same all throughout the duration of the loan, or one with the possibility of going up anytime? Understand that more often then not, a variable loan starts out one or two percent lower then a fixed rate. The big question is where does it stop once it starts to adjust?

Pre Payment penalties

Simply put pre payment penalties are a fee that the lender places on you in the event you decide to pay of your loan early. These "pre-pays" can cost several thousand dollars in some cases.

Late payment fees

In some cases, while you may have a low interest rate, you may have a clause in the contract for the loan that will increase your interest if your late on a payment. In most cases this can add up to several thousands extra over the life of the loan.

Insurance

One thing you want to check for is if the home equity loan that you are prospecting has insurance costs hidden somewhere, a cost that you definitely do not want. Whenever you get a loan, you can take in corresponding credit insurance. You can have credit life insurance, which takes care of your loan in the event that you die. However, if in the case of home equity loan, if you feel that insurance is just added cost, then by all means avoid the lender that requires you to pay for them.

About the Author:

Doc Schmyz has done real estate deals all over the US and Mexico. His free website shares Real estate investing information for all over the US. Find Real estate investing information by state