Archive for February, 2010
Mortgage Refinance Rates and 4 Determining Factors
Are you looking to refinance? Want to save money every month? Interest rates are probably lower than when you bought your home, but do you qualify for them? Here are 4 things which have the biggest impact on the mortgage rate you receive:
-Your Credit Rating
Your personal credit score play a huge role in determining your mortgage rates. Credit scores affect your chance of being approved or denied a refinancing, the terms and conditions of the loan, and the interest rate.
Request a free credit report from each of the major 3 reporting agencies every year. Carefully take your time and review every line of these reports for inaccuracies and discrepancies. For example, if a bankruptcy is showing on your rating, yet is over 7 years old, that information should not be coming up in your report. This would be a great example of why knowing and being familiar with your credit report is very important.
Payment history is the biggest factor in determining a credit score. Homeowners who have been making regular, on time, payments, should only have positive gains in their credit rating. Some other things which may be accounted for are how much you owe in debts, how many credit inquiries on your file, your income, and how long your credit history goes back for.
-Your Mortgage Payment History
Refinancing a mortgage with a bad credit score is not impossible, or even as hard, as it seems. Typically, homeowners, regardless of credit, can save money through mortgage refinancing if they have been able to pay every home loan payment on time and in full. Your chances are even better if you have made payments which are more than the minimum required, or earlier than the due date. Mortgage lenders and banks will see that when it comes to your home, you are perfect on payments, and are much less of a risk. This can help you get the approval you need, for mortgage refinancing at good interest rates, even with less than desirable credit.
-The Amount Due on your Current Mortgage
The balance remaining on your existing mortgage, plays a role in determining your mortgage rates. Say you are over 50% paid on your mortgage, with full and on time payment history, you are nearly guaranteed a refinancing opportunity into a lower, money saving, interest rate. Homeowners wishing to refinance a newer home loan will face more questions and scrutiny from mortgage lenders and banks. They will wish to know everything about your current finances, potential plans, and want copies of as many financial documents as possible. This is understandable as the mortgage lender or bank will be facing more financial loss by taking on newer home loans for refinancing.
-The Mortgage Lender
The mortgage lender probably is the second biggest factor in determining your mortgage interest rates. Some of the bigger mortgage lenders and banks have the size, resources, and experience needed to obtain the lowest mortgage rates possible. The big lenders can afford to take on a little more risk, and negotiate a little on the terms, rates, and conditions of the home loan refinancing. Although, without a decent credit history, getting approved for refinancing from the larger companies can be harder, especially for new home loans with little to lose. Smaller companies on the other hand tend to take less chances with their limited funding, and offer extremely competitive rates to qualified homeowners. Your personal situation will determine the best lender for you.
At my site I will teach you how to properly refinance or modify a home mortgage saving you thousands of dollars, or even your home. A lot of Greedy Mortgage Lenders will try to suck you dry if you let them. Learn the right way to refinance or modify your home loan at my site: http://www.refinancingcondo.com
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Are You Considering Re-Financing?
Homeowners who are considering re-financing their home may have a wealth of options available to them. However, these same homeowners may find themselves feeling overwhelmed by this wealth of options. This process doesn’t have to be so difficult though. Homeowners can greatly assist themselves in the process by taking a few simple steps. First the homeowner should determine his refinancing goals. Next the homeowner should consult with a re-financing expert and finally the homeowner should be aware that re-financing is not always the best solution.
Determine Your Goals for Re-Financing
The first step in any re-financing process should be for the homeowner to determine his goals and why he is considering re-financing. There are many different answers to this question and none of the answers are necessarily right or wrong. The most important thing is that the homeowner is making a decision which helps him achieve his financial goals. While there are no right or wrong answer to why re-financing should be considered there are, however, certain reasons for re-financing which are very common. These reasons include:
* Reducing monthly mortgage payments
* Consolidating existing debts
* Reducing the amount of interest paid over the course of the loan
* Repaying the loan quicker
* Gaining equity quicker
Although the reasons listed above are not the only reason homeowners might consider re-financing, they are some of the most popular reasons. They are included in this article for the purpose of getting the reader thinking. The reader may find their mortgage re-financing strategy fits into one of the above goals or they may have a completely different reason for wanting to re-finance. The reason for wanting to re-finance is not as important as determining this reason. This is because a homeowner, or even a financial advisor, will have a difficult time determining the best re-financing option for a homeowner if he does not know the goals of the homeowner.
Consult with a Re-Financing Expert
Once a homeowner has figured out why they want to re-finance, the homeowner should consider meeting with a re-financing expert to determine the best refinancing strategy. This will likely be a strategy which is financially sound but is also still geared to meeting the needs of the homeowner.
Homeowners who feel as though they are particularly well versed in the subject of re-financing might consider skipping the option of consulting with a re-financing expert. However, this is not recommended because even the most educated homeowner may not be aware of the newest re-financing options being offered by lenders.
While not understanding all the options may not seem like a big deal, it can have a significant impact. Homeowners may not even be aware of mistakes they are making but they may here of friends who re-financed under similar conditions and receive more favorable terms. Hearing these scenarios can be quite disheartening for some homeowners especially if they could have saved considerably more while re-financing.
Consider Not Re-Financing as a Viable Option
Homeowners who are considering re-financing may realize the importance of evaluating a number of different re-financing options to determine which option is best but these same homeowners may not realize they should also carefully consider not re-financing as an option. This is often referred to as the “do nothing” option because it refers to the conditions which will exist if the homeowner does not make a change in their mortgage situation.
For each re-financing option considered, the homeowner should determine the estimated monthly payment, amount of interest paid during the course of the loan, year in which the loan will be fully repaid and the amount of time the homeowner will have to remain in the home to recoup closing costs associated with re-financing. Homeowners should also determine these values for the current mortgage. This can be very helpful for comparison purposes. Homeowners can compare these results and often the best option is quite clear from these numeric calculations. However, if the analysis does not yield a clear cut answer, the homeowner may have to evaluate secondary characteristics to make the best possible decision.
Government-Backed Lender Fannie Mae Lost $75 Billion Last Year, Wants … – ABC News Blogs
ABC News’ Matthew Jaffe reports: Government-backed mortgage lender Fannie Mae today asked for $15.3 billion in federal support after losing nearly $75 billion last year, according to a company statement released Friday. In the final three months of …
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Lenders back off on evictions – Los Angeles Times
It’s been 16 months since Eugene and Patricia Harrison last paid the mortgage on their Perris home. Eleven months since the notice got slapped on their front door, warning that it would be sold at auction. A terse letter from a lawyer came eight …
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Help for Homeowners in the Hardest Hit States
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President Obama announces $1.5 billion in funding to help homeowners in states hardest hit by the housing crisis in a town hall meeting at Green Valley High School in Henderson, NV. February 19, 2010.
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Mortgage Industry Gets ‘Spring’ Pop
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We break down why the mortgage industry is poised for a comeback.
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Bringing a Mobile Billboard Message to Your Audience
We all have seen billboards along the highway. These huge signs are designed to both inform and sell. Sometimes they direct traffic to a gas station or restaurant travelers were wanting to visit anyway. Other signs promote a product or service enticing motorists to interrupt their travel to visit them. Obviously, billboards are a huge success for their number only increases and rarely are any seen empty. Some have taken these billboards into the air and flown them over the populous as aerial billboards. This is effective and certainly has its place.
Though all billboards are effective, highway and aerial have a few disadvantages. In response, companies are now providing mobile billboard advertising. They take the billboard from the side of the road and move it into the populous so more people will see it. Basically a huge ad is posted on the side of a truck or trailer and then driven into a populated area so more people can see it.
The first advantage of this method is that it attracts passive attention. Aerial billboards are a novelty and capture the attention of people for a brief time as a result. Mobile billboards are just ‘there.’ People tend to read what is before them if it is presented in an attractive way. Because they read it slowly and perhaps repeatedly, the message will more likely get through. Mobile billboards are not dependent on the weather either. Inclement weather can cancel the flight of an aerial billboard, but the ad on the side of a truck will be there, rain or shine.
Mobile billboards are at the eye level of the populous. They do not demand someone to look up and read the quickly disappearing message. The message is right before them as they drive or walk by. But unlike highway billboards, mobile billboards can be stationed right in front of a store or service center inviting people to come in.
Another advantage mobile billboards have over both of the other types of billboards mentioned is that the time limit for reading it is greatly increased. Viewers have about 17 seconds to read the average aerial billboard. This would probably be true of a highway billboard as well. In traffic mobile billboards could be read over and over. There is no time limit to read a mobile billboard ad when it is parked by the road or in a parking area.
This means the message can be more detailed and specific. More information can be included because, though the type is smaller, the prospective clients are closer and have more time to read the details, even to jot down an address, phone number, or webpage address.
Mobile billboards also move to the people instead of waiting for a few people to trickle by. This is also true of aerial billboards. Obviously the more people who read the message, the more likely it will be read by people who will be benefited by the message. Think of stationing your ad in a prominent place in the parking lot of a major football, baseball, or car racing stadium. Think how many people could read your ad before the parking lot is once again emptied that same day!
Billboards have been around for a long time. Moving billboards to the people in an unobtrusive way is a recent creative idea. It is no more visually pollutant than any truck with their name or logo on the side. It is just that you, the advertiser, don’t need to buy a truck you don’t need to move your message where the people will see it.
Whether you’re interested in truckside advertising or flying your messages over crowds through aerial advertising, AirSign can handle your needs. Leading the industry since 1996, they excel at customer service in campaigns large and small. Visit their website today for a free quote.
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