Archive for January, 2008

I Need Help Paying Off My Student Loans!

Try To Look At The Big Picture

The best thing you can do is to have a plan. If you have a plan before going into college you will be ahead of the game. However, most students do not do this for so many unknown variables. Even so, after graduating it’s even more important to begin a very solid plan and to stay with it.

There are practical ways to ease the pain, starting with choosing an affordable education and borrowing at the lowest rate, usually with government sponsored loans for students and PLUS loans for parents.

Student loans are a necessity for most students, but like any loan, they should only be used as a last resort. When it comes time to pay them back, you should concentrate on other high-interest debt first, and then concentrate on student loans.

Always make the monthly minimum payment; yet realize that the interest rate on student loans is usually low, so they are not as important at the moment as other debt. In fact, student loans at first are more of an annoyance than anything else.

With ten-year terms, they seem like they will never go away. Yet with a little determination and planning, you will be able to pay them off at least three years or more ahead of schedule. It just takes discipline and patience.

Taking Your Student Loan Off The Front Burner

If you have bills to repay with high interest before tackling your student loans here are a few suggestions.

Postpone repayment: You are entitled to a deferment if you go back to grad school, can’t find a full-time job or experience economic hardship.

Lower your payments: Struggling on an entry-level salary? You can lower payments by stretching out the loan term. You’ll pay more interest over the long run, but this move could get you over a hump. You can bump up payment later.

Borrow smart if you go back to grad school: Graduate and professional students can also use low-cost Stafford loans. Need more money? You can borrow up to the full cost of attendance with PLUS loans, now available at a rate of 8.5 percent.

Consider consolidating your loans: You won’t necessarily get a lower rate, but you’ll get the convenience of a single payment plus other perks.

Get someone else to pay: Join AmeriCorps and/or Teach for America programs which help you with grants to pay off your loans.

As stated earlier, credit cards and other high-interest debt should be eliminated before you decide to tackle your student loans. You can then fully concentrate on your student debt. What I did was paid off my car and then took that payment of $295 and used it monthly to pay down my lower interest student liability.

As your higher interest debts are paid off you go on autopilot and begin to send in double payments on your student loans. This will decrease the life of the loan and save you a lot of interest money.

Once again, you must establish a plan. If not, the money will seem to slip through your fingers so easily without knowing how or where it went.

What If I Am Having Trouble Getting A Personal Loan?

Trouble With A Personal Loan?

First of all you can always get a guaranteed online personal loans. The question is, what are you willing to live with, provide or gamble with in order to acquire this personal loan?

There are all kinds of fraudulent loan services out there that try to pull you in with their sweet promises of guaranteed loans even if you have bad credit, or if you have been turned down in the past.

Many don’t tell you, or try not to tell you that they will charge you an arm and a leg in interest on your loan. Basically, anyone who offers a loan for people with poor credit could be looking for those people with economic problems so the lender can charge higher interest rates and excessive fees.

If you have credit problems, lending a little time of searching beforehand can help you get approved, and can save you a lot of money in interest charges. It really doesn’t take that much longer to find out what the lender wants and then you take care of the problem beforehand.

Tips For Loan Success

Try to get your debt to available credit card ration under 50 percent. If you have several credit card payments, try to take one of your cards and pay it off, even if you have to make a smaller payment on the other card.

Just be sure to make at least all of the monthly minimum payments to keep everything current. Also, a good point is not to cancel a credit card after you pay it off. Keep it active and charge a little here and there and pay it off each month. By doing so this will increase your credit score.

The next tip is regarding your credit score. Before applying for any type of loan, ask the lender what credit bureau they use. For example, if you are buying a car, find out what lenders the dealer uses and what credit bureaus.

The same would apply for a personal loan from a bank or credit union; ask the institution which credit bureau they use. Then ask the question, “What’s the lowest score they will accept.”

Then get a copy of your credit report, also ask for your score at the same time and make sure everything is correct. If the score is above the lender’s criteria, then go ahead and apply. If the score is below, check for errors and then work on correcting them.

And suppose that you have a low credit score due to problems you may have had in the past. Talk to the lender and see if they would do “hard cases.” If not, don’t apply and continue to look for another lender.

If you talk to a handful of lenders, chances are that someone will find a way to help you. At least you will now know why you are having such a difficult time in obtaining a personal loan and will be able to start working on your credit status to improve it.

How Difficult Is It To Get A Small Business Loan?

So You Want A Small Business Loan!

Let’s say that you are excited, that you have the ideas, the desire and the plan ready to go for your new business. All that you need at this point is some money. Working with banks on small business loans can be easy or difficult. It really depends on how prepared you are.

Put yourself on the other side of the desk of the person you are about to ask for assistance. If someone asked you for a small business loan, you’d want to know exactly why he or she wanted the money and what the chances were that he or she would repay the loan in full and on time.

Putting Together A Plan

First, you will need to prove that you are worth the money that you are asking for. Your personal credit history is relevant, especially if your business does not have a long operating history.

Next, bring financial statements for your business. You’ll need to show your business’s financial health. They will need to know how much it’s worth and how much money you are moving.

You will need a credit rating report. You establish a credit rating by buying things on credit and paying back the money you owe. Your loan repayment history plays a big part in establishing your rating. The lender can check themselves, but if you have one already it will serve as a sign of preparedness on your part.

Last of all, include bios of you and your partners, your track record, your strategies and advantages and why it would be advantageous for them to loan the money to you.

Where To Obtain A Small Business Loan

You have prepared your documentation and now it’s time to walk in and discuss money. Since you’ll have to share all of your personal and business financial information anyway, do it with somebody who already has this information.

Start with institutions that you already do business with. These places know your history and financial behavior and are more likely to give small business loans to those who have already demonstrated responsibly.

A large part of the bank’s risk is uncertainty regarding loan repayment. If they can reduce uncertainty about you, you’re in a better position. If you have your mortgage with a bank, I would start with that institution first to ask about a small business loan.

If you choose not to use your existing relationships, go to somebody who wants the business. Search the business section of your newspaper for financing offers. These banks are looking for small business loans and the process may be easier with them.

Credit unions are another choice. Because these institutions are smaller, you may be able to talk directly with higher-level decision makers to plead your case.

A word of caution is to be wary of loans against your house. A lender will often ask for your home as collateral and promise to streamline the loan even without a plan forecast. This is not in your best interest and I would strongly suggest to keep on looking in another direction!

What To Look For In Low Interest Credit Cards

January Is Here So Watch Your Mail For The Credit Card Offers

Many credit card offers could be dropping into your mailboxes in the coming weeks. January is a busy month when it comes to applications sent out by credit card issuers. It’s not surprising, given that many people who used their credit cards heavily in December may be in need for a new one.

This is a time that many households get their credit card bill and realize how much they spent during the holidays. They look for a new credit card to transfer the balance or because they are close to the limit on their current card.

No matter what card is chosen, you should read the fine print and educate yourself about everything it has to offer such as late fees, minimum payment requirements, cash advance fees, interest rates, rewards, minimum purchases per billing period, etc.

These offers usually come with a sales letter screaming “transfer a balance for the last time”, “lowest interest rate for life”, or “long-term low rate deals with 0 annual fees” and on and on.

Clarify The Deal

Don’t celebrate right away. Just because the letter says you have a $30,000 credit line at 3.99 percent doesn’t mean you do. Card-issuer letters do not always deliver what they promise. And it will say preapproved, but then they will give you a higher interest rate or a lower balance.

What you must do is to learn to read all of the print like a third-grader. And don’t try to read too much into it. You’ll probably need a good credit score to get those permanent-rate deals. People who have had poor payment history or who have been card jumpers will not be rewarded with great deals for they feel they will not be staying with them long.

Be On-time With Your Payment

If you receive a great offer, all of this can change if you do not pay your bill on time. Also, if you are late with a payment only by one day the credit card company can also increase your interest rate if that is on your contract.

Due to many clauses, it has been written in that the interest rate was a permanent 2.9 percent (I mean that was for eternity!) unless your payment is late. And if or when it is it jumps to 29.9 percent. The greatest sin in debt repayment is being late.

This is a huge factor that affects your credit score for a very long time also.

You Have The Right To Ask

You can call your existing creditor and tell them that you have a 4.99 percent offer from someone else and would like something better from them. Card companies are dangling interest rates for two reasons, to get new business and to keep what they have.

It costs approximately $200 in marketing dollars to get a good customer. They pay a lot of money to find someone profitable and they do not want to lose one. So remember that you as the consumer have the bargaining power. And the better the customer, the more power you have.

What Is A Short Sale On Your Mortgage Loan?

What Is A Short Sale?

The real estate market has hit on some tough times. You may find yourself among the millions of homeowners whose homes have become more worrisome than happy. The short sale of a house is a good method that can help people who are unable to make their monthly payments and need a way out.

A short sale is an agreement by a lender to take less than the principal owed as payment on a loan. The advantage to the lender is that by doing this they can avoid the expense of a foreclosure. Also, the lender really does not want your home, he wants your money.

When a borrower is in default on a mortgage they not only owe the back payments but also may owe late fees, property inspection fees, attorney fees, etc. This can add up quickly to eat up all the equity the borrower had in the property.

With a foreclosure, the lender can lose up to 40 percent of the mortgage amount because of the extra costs involved with foreclosing on property: attorney fees, court costs, lost interest, eviction costs, property maintenance costs, and selling costs. It is sometimes in the best interest also for the lender to accept the short sale.

How A Short Sale Works

In order to be eligible for a short sale a borrower must prove that they are unable to pay their loan and that a foreclosure is pending. The borrower must find a buyer for their house at a price, which is comparable to the market in the area.

Then they must write an explanation of the situation. Financial information will be requested. Finally if the deal is accepted the lender will write off the unpaid debt. The borrower can later be taxed on the amount as income if no proof of insolvency is provided.

The information required may include:

  • W-2s and pay check stubs
  • Bank statements
  • Hardship letter – this letter will describe the reasons the borrower is in the
  • Financial position they are in with all necessary backup proof
  • Fair market value for the property
  • Listing agreement and purchase agreement
  • Preliminary proceeds sheet from the sale of the property

When the lender reviews all of this they may or may not approve the short sale. If they do not approve, they will proceed with the foreclosure. If they do agree to the short sale you will close on the sale of your property and the lender will take the loss.

The borrower is still not off the hook. The lender has the options to try to collect the shortage and may require the borrower to sign a note to repay the shortage. They may also file a collection for the amount of the shortage.

This is something that an attorney with expertise in this area of real estate needs to be consulted. Also, the IRS may come after the borrowers for income taxes on the amount of the shortage. If the shortage was forgiven, the lender will report the shortage as income to the IRS and the IRS will collect taxes on this amount.

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