How To Borrow Money Safely - Get It Right

How To Borrow Money Safely - Get It Right
Don't ever borrow more money than you need and always make
sure you will have the means to pay it back. Shopping
around for the best possible interest rates will save you
often a large amount of money in the long term. Do your
sums, it's really not that difficult, if unsure always ask
for the final total cost of your loan, to include insurance
protection etc. It's easy for a £1,000.00 loan to end up
costing you over double if you don't check. Always take the
time to read ALL of the small print.

Borrow against the equity of your house. Home loan interest
rates are often the cheapest source of money, so it makes
sense to use the equity to buy essentials like a new car,
extension etc. Avoid borrowing if you have funds available
else where, but feel you'd rather leave them along for a
rainy day (if you need to borrow, then today is that rainy
day). You will save interest as the interest you will be
receiving on your savings will be far less than what you
will be charged for borrowing. Should at a later date a
real emergency arise, then you can then borrow or use a
credit card.

Sadly unsecured loans will be more expensive, likewise if
you have a bad cedit history or earning a low wage. Under
these circumstances it's vital to shop around. Not all
companies are loan sharks and there are reasonable offers
to be found. Dependant on the amount to need to raise and
how soon, it's also worth considering selling a few items
that you no longer require or could manage without. eBay
has to be the quickest and simplest method of obtaining the
best price for an item. It's also extremely useful for
finding the current value of an item and just what people
are willing to pay, with the knowledge you could then
decide to sell via your local newspaper.

It's usually cheaper to borrow from a bank than a credit
company, but still shop around. It's not necessary to hold
an account with a bank to be able to borrow from them. If
you are looking to re mortgage, then it's worth employing a
mortgage broker. There will usually be a small charge, but
they will have access to all the different offers
available. Just a point here it's essential you check that
the broker is an independent, and does not receive a
commission or fee from money lenders, which in turn could
cloud his judgment on who he advises you borrow with.

A simple Golden Rule - 'Delay any decision for 24hrs' take
your time and do some homework.

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Investment Club Software: Keeping Your Club Organized

Investment Club Software: Keeping Your Club Organized
All investment clubs must keep proper financial records.
The club treasurer is responsible for keeping the books
organized and accurate. However, this can be a rather
complicated and time consuming task when there are many
members in the club. That's why investment club software
is an essential tool that every club should have.

There are three main types of investment club software
available - accounting, tax, and investing. Some software
packages combine all three functions. Accounting club
software makes it easy to manage member contributions and
withdrawals, buying and selling of shares, distribution of
dividend income and preparing tax returns. Since all club
financial information is in one place, members can easily
be updated on the club's investments and their individual
shareholdings. Specific reports and graphs can also be
generated and printed.

As most investment clubs are formed as partnerships, they
must file an annual tax return irrespective of whether they
make a profit or not. Keeping financial records with a club
accounting software ensures accurate reporting for tax
purposes. Investment club tax software enables the
treasurer to simply print federal tax forms for the club
and for each member. Once the forms have been reviewed and
signed, they can be sent off. There's no need to fill in
tax forms by hand, which can be tedious and difficult if
the treasurer does not understand tax law. Investment club
tax software is updated every year for changes in IRS tax
forms so clubs can be assured that they are filing the
correct forms.

Investing software is an essential tool for investment
clubs and investors. It helps to analyze stocks, markets,
company's fundamentals, graphs and charts so you can make
an informed decision about which stocks to invest. If you
are a novice investor, investing software takes the mystery
out of investing. It teaches how to invest by introducing
time-tested methodologies that enable individuals and clubs
to assess stocks right away. This type of software can
provide interactions through the internet to give current
market information as well as trends.

The 3 types of investment club software can be purchased
individually or as a package. It may be cheaper to buy as a
package. Then again, choose a software or package that is
flexible and easy to use.

The benefits of investment club software far outweigh its
cost. It saves time, frustrations and reduces human errors
arising from making computations and entries by hand. It
also eliminates the need to hire an accountant or tax
professional, thus saving money for the club. Best of all,
it keeps the club's books organized.

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Investment clubs have been growing tremendously in recent
years. Many people who feared about investing on their own
have reaped the rewards by joining or starting an
investment club. Learn more about investment clubs and at
http://www.aboutinvestmentclub.com/art-soft

Why New Home Sales Predictions Were Wrong

Why New Home Sales Predictions Were Wrong
This last spring new-home sales jumped 16 percent -- the
biggest percentage increase since 1993 -- but despite the
positive news, sales and construction activity may not have
hit bottom yet because the U.S. Census Bureau reported new
single-family home sales rose from a seasonally adjusted
annual rate of 844,000 in March to 981,000 in April.

This data flies in the face of predictions of doom and the
lowering of prices around the country. It seems that this
cycle will seem more like a dip than a wave because the
information on prices flew around the market via the
Internet, causing people to adjust their behavior and
modify their listings.

Here is another way of looking at things. Any time
inventory disappears, homes that come on a healthy market
disappear fast, which takes down the average listing time.
This causes people to put inventory back on the market at
increased prices. Inventory disappears when the average
time on listing goes higher than around 60-70 days. Through
a price slump, people keep watching the correct indicators
to wait for the inventory to bottom out.

Realty Trac released its May 2007 U.S. Foreclosure Market
Report on June 12, showing a total of 176,137 foreclosure
filings - default notices, auction sale notices and bank
repossessions - during the month of May, were up 19 percent
from the previous month and up nearly 90 percent from May
2006. Home sales prices were falling, with a saturated
supply of for sale signs. All this pushes new homes prices
down.

Ultimately it is the responsibility of the broker or loan
officer to determine if the borrower can indeed make the
monthly payments. The problem with many of these default
loans is that loan officers encouraged people to exaggerate
their ability to pay while the lenders abetted the deal by
allowing these highly suspect loans to be funded.
Investors, companies and people who buy the loans from
lenders, also suspended disbelief, that overleveraged
people with weak credit histories deserve a loan, and
bought the collateralized debt obligations that the loans
are based on. Many loans are packaged into large CDO
packages designed to spread the risk and allow single large
transactions instead of hundreds or thousands of single
loan purchases.

Mortgage brokers and banks typically start their interviews
with those seeking a home mortgage lender by asking about
the person's credit in general, then working their way to
the critical question: What is your Social Security Number
(SSN)? They need to do it this way because the rate sheets
are divided between credit and collateral. Almost all
mortgage brokers take into account three things when
looking at credit: credit which is the probability that the
borrower will pay; collateral which is the value of the
property which ultimately acts as a guarantee of last
resort for most loans; and capacity to pay the monthly
payments.

However there are new companies such as Dogtor Paco, Inc.
doing what's is known as the frictionless loan, which
starts off with mortgage quotes and moves quickly to the
loan application and an electronic submission. The
conditional letter of approval (CLA) details the steps to
close the loan. If the initial submission is denied,
Dogtor Paco will help users select and resubmit to
alternative banks that will do the loan. The goal here is
to lock the loan transaction to processing within two hours
after the start of the loan application.

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Dogtor Paco, Inc. (http://www.dogtorpaco.com ) is a
patent-pending online lending services engine where real
estate agents, brokers and lending professionals can
facilitate the approval and processing of loans for
customers faster. Dogtor Paco's powerful on-demand mortgage
payment calculator provides good faith estimate (GFE)
quotes with full disclosure including monthly payments and
all closing costs. Dogtor Paco uses instantaneous rates to
calculate closing costs and monthly payments for a
particular property. The powerful Loan Organizer' tells
licensed subscribers how much they will make by submitting
a client's application electronically through Dogtor Paco's
engine where the loan will be completed quickly and
frictionlessly.

The Differences Between Motivated Sellers and Real Estate Investors Online

The Differences Between Motivated Sellers and Real Estate Investors Online
Joe and Suzy both have similar houses to sell in a hurry.
They both know that the internet is a great way to move
property quickly, and they both logged online yesterday
evening to see what kind of help they could find there.
They even both found the same website - Bob the Real Estate
Investor's Fantasy Property Solutions page.

This morning, Joe awoke with a light heart because he felt
confident that Bob would be able to sell his house for him
quickly and enable him to walk away with almost $10,000.
Suzy, on the other hand, awoke in despair, certain that
she'd never be able to get her property off her hands
without losing everything in the process. 3 weeks later,
Joe got his $10,000 check at closing and Suzy went into
foreclosure.

Joe and Suzy have nearly identical houses and were in
nearly identical situations, so why did they get such
different results? Bob the Real Estate Investor could have
helped Suzy just like he helped Joe, but he never got the
chance, because Suzy never even contacted him. It was a
lose-lose situation, because Bob would have made a profit
on Suzy's property, and Suzy wouldn't have lost her home to
foreclosure. Instead, Bob lost a valuable property deal and
Suzy lost the house, her credit and probably a lot of her
self respect.

The key to this situation is Bob's Fantasy Property
Solutions webpage. Bob is a real estate investor, and his
webpage reflects this:

•He's very straightforward about what he does: He assigns
contracts on properties to other investors for a fee. His
website asks that any interested investors who are in a
position to purchase distressed properties contact him
immediately.

•He does not explain where he gets the properties from,
just that he sells distressed properties. He assumes that
investors won't care that much about the source of the
deals as long as they can make a profit.

•He doesn't define the word "distressed," and it is not
easy to find his contact information on the page. In fact,
Joe had to sign up for an email newsletter, then reply to
the "noreply" address in order to get in contact with Bob.

Because Joe was patient and persistent, he was able to
contact Bob, find out that his property met Bob's criteria,
and even get contract negotiations underway. However, Suzy
was in a very different boat: she was frantic with worry
because foreclosure was closing in, and Bob's website
didn't calm her worries at all. She thought about calling
him to ask him personally for help, but couldn't find a
phone number or even an email address. Plus, she didn't
know exactly what "distressed" meant anyway, and figured
that she was long past that point. Suzy surfed away from
Bob's page after just a few minutes, and 3 weeks later she
lost everything.

Even when they have the exact same situation on their
hands, motivated sellers and real estate investors have
very different wants and needs, and they need very
different websites to achieve the exact same results! Many
investors who advertise their services online do not
realize this, and assume that one website will serve to
catch all their business. In fact, you must always factor
in the mindset of your viewer when you design your
websites, and make sure that you address their
psychological requirements as well as their logical ones.

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Carole VanSickle is a freelance research reporter based in
the southeastern US. She has taught lay audiences
everything from molecular biology to real estate investing
and internet marketing. Learn more about using the internet
to flip real estate and how to explain things in order to
get your point (and your way) most effectively by visiting
http://blog.cv-investing.com .

What are the 5 Laws of Money?

What are the 5 Laws of Money?
In Physics, there are certain laws which stay true
regardless of time, one example is the Law of Gravity. When
it comes to personal finance, there are also certain laws.

In fact, there are 5 Laws of Money which I like to share
with you:

1. Money comes gladly and in increasing quantity to any
person who saves at least 10% of his/her earnings (first
step to Financial Freedom).

There are only 3 Cashflow Scenarios:

a. You spend more than you earn: This person has negative
cashflows and is likely to end up owing other people money.

b. You spend all that you earn: whether this person is
earning S$2,000 a month or S$200,000 a month, he/she is
just getting by and not getting ahead.

c. You spend less than you earn (eg. save 10% of your
earnings). As time goes by, this person will automatically
get richer and richer.

The question is which cashflow scenario do you want to
CHOOSE for yourself?

2. Money can work for you, if you become the "wise owner"
of money and make money work for you. (note: you're the
Master, money is the slave, while many people are guilty of
being slaves to money).

Money is just a tool. We should Love people, use money. The
sad thing is there are people who Love money and use people
instead.

3. Money will be safe and grow if you invest it wisely or
if you invest under the advice of people who are wise in
money. ie. investment knowledge is key to making money
grow. You can either acquire investment knowledge yourself
or you can invest money under the advice of people who have
investment knowledge.

4. Money will slip away from the man who invests it in
businesses or investments with which he is not familiar
with. You should ask the opinion of those who are wise in
money, they might be able to offer you information or
advice that can prevent you from losing money.

5. Money flees the man who falls into scams created by
tricksters and conmen, who promise "impossible earnings".
One common weakness of human beings is "greed". Greed can
make a person who is usually alert and smart "stupid".
Greed can blind a man and is the main reason why financial
scams continue to exist whether in ancient times or in the
modern day.

Thus, if you abide by the 5 laws of money, you will
definitely get ahead financially and be able to accumulate
wealth.

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Dennis has 15 years of bank lending experience. He founded
http://www.HousingLoanSG.com - a Leading Mortgage
Consultancy Portal in Singapore. He is often quoted in
newspapers for comments on Housing Loans. Please send your
comments to dennis@housingloansg.com or call him at +65
6737 8801

Credit Repayment Times Are Extending

While overall borrowing in the UK may be on the up, people
are succeeding in better managing their loans and other
finances, one commentator has suggested.

Loans firm Picture Financial has suggested that credit
levels are on the increase but states that as consumers
borrow more they are getting savvier about which loans or
other products they choose. Julia Dallimore, marketing
director at the company, remarks: "Our UK credit levels may
seem high but with the vast majority of this taken up by
mortgages and other secured lending we are increasingly
spreading our credit repayments over longer periods to
better manage our monthly finances."

The firm was reacting to research released today by
business advisory company Grant Thornton which has
contended that consumer borrowing has outstripped the
national gross domestic product for the first time. It was
announced that British consumers currently hold debts
consisting of loans, mortgages and borrowing on credit
cards amounting to 1,345 billion pounds, for the first time
exceeding the overall production of the British economy
believed to be 1,330 billion pounds. "The research issued
today highlights that we are a nation of significant credit
users, however, many of us use our borrowing as an
acceptable means of maintaining our standard of living," Ms
Dallimore stated.

However, Picture Financial adds a note of warning - while
people may be beginning to approach their finances from a
better informed position, repeated increases in the
interest base rate will continue to put pressure on
household budgets. The firm believes that those consumers
who have borrowed from a number of different sources and
are struggling to balance repayments on their loans might
benefit from debt consolidation as a way of restructuring
their credit. "It is important for people to ensure that
they review their credit arrangements and, if necessary,
restructure their borrowing to allow themselves greater
financial freedom each month," Ms Dallimore explains. "This
can mean taking the time out to seek independent advice,
switching to credit providers with more favourable rates or
consolidating all borrowing into one place."

The company asserts that gaining a thorough understanding
of your outgoings and monthly finances can be useful in
ascertaining whether repayments can be comfortably covered.
The advice follows recent statements from the UK Insolvency
Helpline which urged consumers struggling with debt to
write a budget. Calculating the difference between income
and living costs can give a good indicator of how much
could be considered spare income and how much is available
for paying off loans.

Ian Boden-Smyth, spokesperson for the lawyer and
accountancy network, also recommended any consumers
experiencing problems or foreseeing future difficulties to
get advice from professionals who can help to draw up a
budget as well as provide guidance.

Recently, Picture Financial published research which
suggested that despite worries about their ability to
control their finances, millions remain unhappy about the
prospect of discussing their financial situation. The firm
found that Britons were more comfortable discussing sex,
current affairs and religion than broaching the subject of
financial difficulty.

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Abbi Rouse writes for All About Loans where visitors can
apply online for cheap loans. We also specialise in bad
credit loans, and debt consolidation loans. Vist Today:
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