Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Selecting The Best Potential Equity Refinancing Package

Regardless of what commercials claim, many home equity loans have transaction charges, point fees, closing costs, and other charges attached. Few lenders offer borrowers option for refinancing; however, the lenders bury the stipulations in the fine print. One advantage of home equity loans is that tax deductions are often available, thus saving a few dollars each year. If you are searching for equity loans and looking to save additional cash, you may want to consider utilizing negotiation skills to find cheaper PMI.

The Personal Mortgage Insurance is often attached to the loans and is often unavoidable unless the borrower pays around 20% of the down payment on the loan. Thus, when you reach the interview stage, you may want to ask your mortgage lender if you can opt out of the PMI offered by the bank and choose your own coverage. Mortgage insurance is essential to protect your investment; thus finding adequate coverage can save you over time.

To learn more about mortgage insurance, you may want to go online and get quotes to find links to various providers. This will help you weigh out the maximum coverage, which may present new savings on your current loan. For example, if you get a PMI with max coverage coverage, the lender may waive a few fees and lower the rates of interest, since the comprehensive coverage provides a measure of security to the lender.

Furthermore, when searching for equity loans, you want to get quotes to be linked to the lenders that offer loans with no upfront fees attached. Make sure you read the fine print and terms to learn more about the no upfront fee loans. Additionally, if you want to save cash, you will need to read more on mortgages to find out how you can negotiate with lenders for better deals.

Monday, February 19, 2007

How To Spot And Avoid Equity Scams

Most lenders on the equity loan marketplace are legitimate lenders; however, a few lenders are taking the less fortunate for a ride. These unscrupulus lenders offer appealing loans, yet fail to tell the borrower about hidden charges or "balloon" charges. Hidden charges are often stripped from loans, since the APR is a supposed security to borrower that weeds out hidden fees.

"Equity Stripping" is one of the leading scams on the loan marketplace. The lenders engaging in "equity stripping" will often present to borrowers (too good to be real) deals, leading them to believe that they are saving money. Thus, once the borrower agrees to the contract, the lender will pose new charges, high interest, and other fees that puts weight on the borrower, until he or she breaks and fails to make payments on the mortgage. The lender then repossesses the home, selling the house for profit while the borrower is standing on the corner, wondering where he will live next.

Thus, the Federal Government has provided information to help borrowers avoid losing. Since equity stripping is becoming a huge industry, the Fed's advise homeowners to watch out for equity stripping, including paying attention to lenders that are offering loans that reach above your wages.

The feds also advise borrowers to stay alert to "loan flipping," which is the process of switching loans regularly and requesting larger amounts of cash on each refinance applied. If a lender is pressuring you to sign an agreement, you will need to find another lender, since pressuring borrowers is a surefire tip that the lender is out to take you for a ride. You will also want to consider PMI, which is personal mortgage insurance, which is a requirement; however, few lenders attempt to charge for additional coverage that is not needed. Thus, homeowners, especially the less fortunate, should adhere to advice and read details of any loan offered thoroughly.

Sunday, February 18, 2007

Home Equity Loans - A Great Source To Explore

Investing in a home of your own is a sound decision and can turn out to be your most valuable asset. It creates equity on your home, which gradually increases as payments are made against the mortgage. For example, if you have a loan of $200000 against your home, and in course of time the balance on the mortgage stands at $140000, the equity on the home is $60000.This will keep growing as continued payments are made against the mortgage. This equity can then be used as collateral for getting a home equity loan.

When money is required for special needs like education, to pay off debts, or for home improvement, a home equity loan might be an excellent way to cover the costs involved. However, it is generally best when you know exactly how much it is going to cost you. It can help you by providing capital in the form of a loan against the accrued value of your equity in your home while allowing you several years to pay it off. The period of repayment can be from 5 to 30 years, though usually it is for 15 years.

On the other hand, Home Equity Lines of Credit may be a better option for taking advantage of your home equity for short term borrowing. This allows access to funds as and when needed, without the necessity of borrowing anything extra. It suits anyone requiring a large sum of money to take care of some immediate expense, like repairs to plumbing in the house, or some other expensive eventuality. You may need the money urgently, if you have the means to pay it off in a shorter period it will allow you access to further credit in the future, if required. However, it should be understood that Home Equity Lines Of Credit are usually close ended, which allow you to use the credit limit for just about 10 years. After which, any debt in the account is amortized and treated like a term debt, which then ends up as regular repayments of principal and interest to retire the debt.

The approval for lending is usually easy as the lender has collateral to cover the loan amount. Moreover, the value of the collateral keeps increasing with the efflux of time. Even then, a bad credit rating would have a negative impact upon the approval of the loan application. A good credit rating, in contrast, would allow qualification for a low rate home equity loan that can give you substantial saving over the life of the loan. Therefore, one of the things lenders look into, and rely heavily upon, is the credit history of the borrower, to determine the appropriate rate of interest.

The most important decision for the borrower in the whole process of getting a loan would be the selection of the best lender. Various lenders have different terms, and a careful selection of a lender who has terms that offer a low fee, low interest rates, along with other incentives, would help save thousands of dollars. Contacting various traditional banks, credit card unions and online companies would be a great way to start. You could also use the Internet to search for information about various home equity lenders available.

Once you've selected a few home equity lenders, it is advisable getting at least three different quotes, which would allow you to compare the different terms and conditions, interest rates and fees each one has on offer. Choosing the best one that suits your needs then becomes pretty straight forward.

So go ahead, explore the possibilities offered by obtaining a Home Equity Loan to take care of your money supply needs.

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Selecting Low Interest Equity Loans

If you are considering taking out an equity loan against your home, there are various questions that are important to ask yourself. The questions can be answered by reviewing your current monthly statement mortgage loan, especially the details, including interest and payment. If you have a bargain loan already, then taking out an equity loan on your home may not be wise; in fact, looking for even better rates, could land you in a financial mess by accepting a loan from a business with questionable practices.

However, if you do decide to take this first step-to consider whether or not you want an equityloan--you will want to consider the associate fees, costs, interest rates, repayments, and equity. You will also want to consider the risks involved in taking out equity loans. The majority of lenders generally base the equity loans are various aspects, including the equit of the home itself. The lender will next consider the loan amount based on "3 times" the borrower's wages. Scores of the lenders will demand an upfront deposit, which may be as much as ten percent of the house price.

Thus, if the homeowner wants an equity loan amount of ninety grand, then the homeowner would need to make around thirty grand per year. Again, the deposit is a percentage of the home amount; therefore for a ninety grand/thirty grand ratio the borrower would need around five grand upfront.

This sounds ludicrous, since you would think paying the first deposit was enough; however, you are applying for a loan against your home, which means you are paying off the first loan and increasing the current amount with another loan. The 100% equity loans do not require a deposit, but instead integrated into the mortgage repayment. If you intend to go this route, you should get multiple quotes from multiple lenders-and then read each quote thoroughly before making a final decision.
Autor: emaccenti