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Archive for May, 2010

Must-Read Tips For A Solid Home Mortgage

May 28

Posted by ArtQ in Finance, Mortgage, Real Estate | No Comments

The process of getting a home mortgage can be a daunting experience. You are thinking about taking out the biggest loan in your life. This will probably put a personal strain on you. You also have to get the paperwork ready in order to complete the process. In order to get through this process successfully, look out for common mistakes home buyers make.

1.) Ignoring your credit score. Most prospective home owners leave getting approved for a mortgage up to luck. Well, you can take control of your luck by understanding your credit score. Request a copy of your credit report at least several months before you consider buying a home. This will give you enough time to dispute any mistakes on the report, and fix any legitimate errors (like paying off a utility bill that you didn’t when you moved out of your last apartment).

3.) Ignoring the possibility of state run grant programs. There are several governmental programs available for home buyers. These programs are in place to help first-time home buyers, sometimes with limited income, with expenses related to closing and down-payment costs.

3.) Not getting a pre-approval from a lender. Most home buyers will confuse a pre-approval with a pre-qualification. When you are pre-approved for a loan, this means you have already gone through the process of applying and have filed all of the accurate paperwork and have been approved. This means you already have a loan lined up for the purchase of a house. On the other hand, a pre-qualification is only a prediction a lender makes on how much you may be approved for based on your credit to income levels.

4.) Buying beyond your financial means. Even if a lender offers you much more than you can afford, it doesn’t mean you have to take it. Make sure you have sifted through your finances, and have figured out what you can afford and what you can’t. Surprises are always popping up as a home owner, and when you stretch your budget almost near breaking point, you will not have enough money to cover these surprises. Make sure you can comfortably make the mortgage payments.

5.) Not shopping for the best rates. Make sure you know what kind of interest rates you qualify for based on your credit score. Shop more than one lender. If you avoid shopping around you may end up paying much more on your overall mortgage.

6.) Paying too much for non-essential fees. Many lenders will tag on fees whenever possible. Make sure you go over the fees your lender is charging you. Make sure they are fair, and that you are not getting charged for non-essential services.

7.) Being unprepared for closing costs. Many times closing costs are a hidden expense that first-time home buyers may overlook. This is a particular amount of money you have to pay when you actually close the deal on the home. You will be responsible for lawyer’s fees, taxes, title insurance among others. Make sure you are prepared for this major expense.

8.) Spending all of your money on the buying the house. Usually, people scrape up all they can in order to obtain the home mortgage, find the house and move in that nothing is left over. As a home owner, you must always have some money put aside for unexpected surprises. These surprises may include plumbing issues, a damaged water heater, etc. You are your own landlord, responsible for taking care of these issues.

Learn more about refinance home loans. You should also check out help for first time home buyers information and Underwater Mortgage Programs as well.

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How To Find A Trading Mentor

May 28

Posted by ArtQ in Finance | No Comments

There are a lot of people on the internet selling trading systems these days. In fact it is becoming increasing difficult to seperate the good from the bad.

The marketing done by some of these sellers is top notch. They say they can teach you how to day trade and trade for a living.

Understand that more people lose money day trading than not.

Some are very good trader/trainers and many. are just trying to sell something they read in a trading book.

So just how do you seperate the two?

First, is to actually speak to the trainer. This may sound strange but many of those selling trading systems or methods are impossible to get on the phone. If this is the case, move on and look somewhere else.

When you do actually speak to the person or persons doing the training the first question to ask is “Do you trade for a living or do you just train?” You will be amazed at some of the song and dance responses you will get~” You will be stunned at some of the song and dance answers you will get~” You may be amazed at some of the song and dance answers you will get~” You will be amazed at the song and dance answers you will get~” You may be amazed at the song and dance answers you will get~” You will be amazed at some of the song and dance responses you will get~” You will be amazed at some of the crazy answers you will get~” You will be amazed at some of the crazy responses you will get~” You will be amazed at some of the song and dance answers you may get~” You will be amazed at some of the song and dance answers you may hear~” You will be stunned at some of the song and dance answers you may}.

Secondly, if they say yes, you will want to ask “Is the method or system you are selling EXACTLY what you are doing?”

Those two questions alone will save you aggravation and thousands of dollars. There are so many people that have spent huge amounts of hard earned money on systems, and even more that have lost bundles trying to trade these programs.

Some other things to ask for are trading history, and for references that you can talk to. Don’t trust wriiten references as anyone could make these up.

Trading or day trading can be a very lucrative career for those that take the time to learn to trade correctly.

The age old adage “A little knowledge is dangerous” is so true when it comes to day trading. Reading trading books is a good idea but being trained by an actual trader will put a serious dent in the learning curve.

Remember seeking training is a wise idea but find the right training is the key to success.

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A Strategic Business Plan Gives Your Small Business The Base That It Needs

May 28

Posted by ArtQ in Finance | No Comments

Many small business owners have a vision for their company’s future, but fail to properly plan for that goal.  Business plans are important, and used for many things.  Most people think of business plans as being used only to obtain financing from banks or angel investors.  While business plans are definitely critical to obtain financing, that is not the only role they play for the small business owner. 

Quite a few business owners have really good ideas, but have difficulty seeing those dreams through to completion.  In short, that is the role of a business plan.  The step by step process of creating a quality business plan addresses all of the critical areas you need to achieve your goals.

Keep in mind that good business planning does not involve coming up with a good logo, website, social networking strategy or any other tool that you will use later to implement your business plan.  The first steps before all that is to answer the foundational questions about your business that you need to create a strong plan. 

For example, when creating the marketing portion of your business plan, you should not at the onset plan what advertising venues you will use or the look of your ad.  Before that, you should strive to discover what you actually want to achieve through your marketing efforts.  Ask yourself fundamental questions about your customers: what customers do you want to attract?  Where have you found them in the past?  How can you reach them?  What are their likes and dislikes? What specific products or services will you offer to them? 

Until the core questions have been answered, in essence the “what” questions, it doesn’t make any sense to think about or implement any of the “how” answers.  After you have the “what” clear in your head, the “how” you will achieve that objective becomes much more simple to identify.  

Building your business can be compared to building a pyramid.  Spend more time on the base, or core questions to build a strong foundation.  A solid base you can count on to achieve business success is to take the time to prepare a good business plan. 

Be sure to visit SmallBusinessAccountingBackroom.com to get many more resources to help your small business succeed, including information and resources on business planning, financing, sales and marketing.

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Inadequate Insulation Could Be Causing Your Heating Oil Bills To Be Too High

May 28

Posted by ArtQ in Finance | No Comments

 

With the really cold weather that we had this winter many of us may now be thinking about how we could be reducing the amount of heating oil we have to use. The really cold weather meant that we had to have our heating on for longer periods leaving many of us with bills we really weren’t expecting. And if next winter is anything like this one, we can expect more of the same.

 

When the weather is colder, we find that there is much higher demand for oil and this inevitably pushes prices up. So knowing some ways to reduce the amount of oil you have to use would be very helpful. And believe it or not, there are things that you can do which will help you to use less heating oil when it comes to heating your home.

 

Inadequate insulation in homes can result in much of the heat being lost. As heat rises, you may find that there is a lot of heat lost through the roof of your home if you do not have proper insulation. Homes can take quite a bit of time to heat up if the warm air inside is being met by cold air which is coming in from outside through your attic because of poor insulation. If you want to ensure that your home is heated up quickly and that the heat is kept inside, you should make sure that you have adequate insulation

 

You could look at installing a radiant barrier in your attic. Heat in the home is reflected back inside when you have a radiant barrier installed. Radiant barriers work in two ways by keeping warm air inside and by preventing cold air from entering the home. And this will work to enable you to reduce the amount of time your heating system is on as your home will heat up much quicker and it will stay warmer for longer as heat is trapped inside. And this will mean that your heating bills are reduced.

 

Heating ones home in the cold months of winter can cost a fair packet. Gas and electricity are very expensive today, with no signs of prices coming down. Savvy people are changing over to oil as a home fuel though. And when this happens they have to ensure the tanks re always full of the cheapest heating oil to make sure they don’t run dry in the cold weather. Heating oil supplierscan ensure everybody’s tanks remain full. Heating oil suppliers are found countrywide and can, as an example, supply heating oil Runcorn.

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Identifying Short Sale Frauds

May 5

Posted by ArtQ in Real Estate | No Comments

Short Sale Fraud – Freddie Mac Drops A Huge Bomb On Real Estate Investors

Short Sale Fraud – The newest problem in real estate is not yet a law or an official policy, but it is definitely going to create issues in the market. The news from Freddie Mac on short sales could cause serious legal and practical issues for real estate investors.

The organization posted a new educational article on April 16, 2010 titled “Emerging Fraud Trends: Short Payoff Fraud.” The article described a new trend in short sale fraud that happens when a short sale buyer flips a newly acquired property to another buyer and “pockets the difference.” This is a serious yellow flag for short sale investors who make their living negotiating good short sale deals with banks, then selling their new properties to other buyers for a profit.

The rest of the article detailed scenarios and red flags for “short payoff” fraud. The scenario revolved around a short sale facilitator who set up a deal with a lender to purchase a home worth 80K for 70K while the lender took a 30K loss. The facilitator does not disclose that he already has an outstanding offer for $95,000 from a second end-buyer. The second the facilitator puts his profits in his pocket, Freddie Mac considers him guilty of fraud because his negotiations caused Freddie Mac to ultimately take a “larger than necessary” loss on the sale of the property.

The writer encourages everyone involved in short payoffs to look out for short payoff flags. Freddie Mac considers entities buying property, borrowers who are suddenly in default and borrowers who have not reneged on all of their loans to be red flags for short payoff fraud. The article also tells readers to keep an eye out for resale options in their purchase agreement.

Buyers, sellers and lenders all are encouraged to report short sale fraud the second they become aware of or suspect a second purchase contract for a higher price. It may not be considered breaking the law, but it certainly looks like Freddie Mac wants to make short sales as difficult as possible for real estate investors.

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