The key difference between secured and unsecured loans

The key difference between secured and unsecured loans
Secured loans are a form of borrowing that is available to
property owners or mortgage holders only. Sometimes
referred to as ‘homeowner loans’ (for example
Asda Finance), they rely on the fact that the borrower has
some form of collateral from which to recoup losses if
payments are unable to be met.

This system provides security for the lender; in the event
that a borrower cannot meet the repayments required, the
lender can enforce the sale of the homeowner’s house
to cover the cost of the original loan.

Unsecured loans are also known as personal loans. This
means that money is made available for any purpose the
borrower requires; buying a car, home improvements or
settling credit card debts, for example. The repayments are
made over a fixed period of time at a fixed interest rate.
These differ from secured loans in that there is no
automatic link to the borrower’s property. The lender
can, in certain circumstances, obtain a Court Charging
Order while can lead to a Repossession Order – but
this is unlikely and the process is much harder to
undertake.

Secured loans are useful for homeowners with or without a
positive credit score, as the increase in house prices
allows them to release that equity. Homeowners without a
positive credit score can still undertake homeowner loans,
as the security involved for the lenders makes them more
likely to lend. There is also the potential to borrow
larger sums of money: the most you can borrow using an
unsecured loan is £25,000 whereas secured loans offer
up to £100,000.

Competition for custom with both types of loan is fierce
between financial institutions, such as banks and building
societies. However, supermarket chains have now entered the
fray and increased the competition even further: Asda
Finance and Alliance & Leicester have both implemented
competitive loan policies for both unsecured and secured
loans.

With the plethora of offers and deals available, the tricky
part for the consumer is to decide which one to apply for.
Martin Lewis of money-saving-expert.com suggests a
financial re-shuffle before applying, to make sure that you
are not overstretched when it comes to repayments.

The simplest way to find a good deal for secured loans is
to begin with your mortgage lender. Many of these offer
preferential rates for their customers and, while it may
not be the cheapest, it is a useful figure to compare
others against.

The next step is to use a price comparison website. Sites
like Motley Fool or MoneySupermarket are free and easy to
use to compare secured and unsecured. They are independent
third parties that have no vested interest in
‘pushing’ a certain product. You will be
required to enter a few details into their ‘loan
calculator’ or ‘loan comparator’ to allow
them to search the internet and compare the best deals for
your situation.

These comparator websites also have the facility to scour
the banks, building societies and supermarkets for the best
deals for unsecured loans which, although offer smaller
sums over smaller periods of time, can still be as
effective according to your circumstances.

----------------------------------------------------
Asda offer competetive deals on both secured and unsecured
loans. Find out more by visiting
http://www.asdafinance.com/loans.html .

New Build apartments and Buying Off Plan in France

New Build apartments and Buying Off Plan in France
There are in fact a number of promising advantages about
buying new build property, not least because everything is
usually up to a very high technical standard and you know
that everything is going to work with the peace of mind
that no expensive refurbishment bills will crop up for a
number of years. When a new property is built it must come
with a building insurance certificate (assurance
dommage-ouvrage) which means that any structural defects in
the first 10 years are covered and paid for by the
insurance company. If you like the idea of a brand new
property where you can choose the decor before it is built
and don't mind waiting a year or more for the property to
be built then buying off-plan could be the way to go. It is
also not uncommon for properties to be worth more than you
paid for them once they have been completed and ease of
rental makes them a good investment. For guaranteed rental
schemes the "leaseback" option is also proving to be very
popular amongst investors and can be found within our
portfolio.

The off-plan home

The building of new property in France is highly regulated
and must conform to a high level of criteria and the
contracts are very much in favour of protecting the buyer's
interests, making it a very safe and enjoyable way to buy
your new apartment or house. Often buying in such a
development is fairly hassle free and there is always a
management company in charge of the day to day running of
the development from minor repairs to mowing the lawns and
cleaning the swimming pool. These apartments or houses are
usually very easy to rent out as they come ready to move in
to and are generally very appealing to holiday makers.
These developments are usually in very good locations with
good views and if on the coast then generally not too far
from the beach. The other added bonus is that quite often,
if it is a new build holiday apartment on the coast, the
type of people buying are likely to be in a similar
position to you in that they are looking for a holiday home
for a few weeks a year with it being rented out for the
rest. Hence it can be a good way to make friends who you
can visit when down there. You do however have to pay VAT
on the property which will be included in the sales price
but this means that you will only have to pay about 3%
notaire fees rather than the typical 7-8%

Payment schedule

As iterated before the buyer is well protected within the
contract for these types of sales and will only pay when
certain stages are complete. It is common to only pay a 5%
deposit on signing the preliminary contract unlike the
usual 10%, with the remaining stage payments following as
stipulated in the contract which normally progresses as
follows- After the deposit, the first payment of 25% is
usually paid once the foundations have been laid at which
time you will have to sign the "acte authentique" making
you the legal owner of the property and pay the notaire
fees of about 3%. Further payments will follow as each
stage is completed until 95% has been paid. You will then
be able to view the property once completed and pay the
remaining 5%. Properties are generally sold six months or
so before construction begins possibly with the remaining
few being sold during construction so there is usually a
good 18 month wait. This is of course subject to delays
either through weather or delivery problems but once the
foundations are laid and the "acte authentique" (final
contract) signed then you will be given a specific quarter
in which it shall be finished.

How apartment blocks are run

On purchasing an apartment in France regardless of whether
it is on the Riviera or Paris there are certain rules which
govern the way that they are run which do not change from
region to region. When you buy an apartment you own part of
a communal freehold and you agree to pay your share of the
upkeep of the building which may include repairing the
walls or roofs or laying new carpet in the stairs and
shared corridors etc. Therefore if you are not buying a new
apartment you should check in what state of repair
expensive items such as roofs are in by sending in a
surveyor. The costs of any communal repairs or decisions
on anything to do with the apartment block are discussed by
the co-owners (coproprietaires) in an annual meeting and
votes are taken to pass particular agendas. These agendas
could also include what management company they employ to
run the apartment block from day to day.

----------------------------------------------------
Nick Dowlatshahi is an expert on the French property market
and managing Director of Leapfrog Properties. Leapfrog
Properties is a French Property agency which specialises in
property sales across France.
http://www.leapfrog-properties.com

Applying for Private Student Loans - Pros and Cons

Applying for Private Student Loans - Pros and Cons
Majority of Federal student loan programs provide
substantial amount of financial aid without credit checks.
The most preferred loan program is the unsubsidized loan,
which accrues interest while the student is in school and
making satisfactory progress. However unsubsidized loan
programs are need based that carries few other criteria and
hence it may be tough to qualify for. In most of the cases,
even after qualifying, unsubsidized loans cover part of the
total cost involved for education. In such scenarios to
make up for the entire expense involved borrowers may try
to avail a private loan.

However, Private loans have their own set of advantages and
disadvantages. Private loans are highly based on the credit
score of the applicant. In case of student's loan they
would consider the parent's credit history. Hence for those
with bad credit, they may end up paying high rates of
interest towards that loan. In addition to high interest
rates, private loans tend to charge extra fees. For
instance, for a loan amount of $4000, about 4% would be
charged towards fees before the loan is disbursed. The fees
is normally deducted from the loan amount, which in simple
term means, the borrower pays for $160 that he would not
see. A general thumb rule is every 3% of extra fees equals
up to about 1% more of the interest rate.

The major advantage of private loans is that they are
easily available. Since they exist with an objective to
make profit through fees and interests, they make the loans
available to most of the applicants. On every loan
application, they try their level best to get the loan
approved. On the contrary, the Federal lenders have strict
regulations to approve a loan and once rejected there is
usually no stand to expect a federal loan further. The
private loans in order to provide maximum customer support
employ skilled service professionals to solve the issues of
the customers promptly and professionally. Whereas Federal
loans usually have limited staffs where quality do not
usually meet the service provided by private lenders.

In addition to availability and better customer service,
Private loans are preferred for few other practical
considerations. Unlike the Federal student loans, the
applicant need not provide supplemental documentation or
fill up the FAFSA (Free Application for Student Aid) forms.
However the fees and interest rates may vary and depend on
the program features. Out of all the private loan programs
available, the most desirable would be the one with no fees
and that has interest rate equaling to 1% prime rate. Prime
rate is the fees that the banks charge each other for their
prime customers. It would be highly advantageous when the
Interest rate is equal or lower to the prime rate. As
mentioned earlier, it is also important to check for
additional fees since that can substantially increase the
cost of the loan.

To avail a private loan with such features depends on good
credit score of the applicant or the co signer. You may
check further information by digging into the specifics of
each of the private lenders available in the market. Or you
could compare the status online where there are lot of
charts and table with the features provided by each student
loan lenders and their individual loan programs are listed
in sites such as
(www.finaid.org/loans/privatestudentloans.phtml). There are
also loan calculators available online at
(www.bankrate.com/brm/rate/calc_home.asp) that would help
you check some sample scenarios. While checking the
feasibility from those scores, it is important to consider
the cost involved in terms of initial charges as well as
the interest rates throughout the tenure has to be
considered to derive at the exact figure.

----------------------------------------------------
Moses Wright is the founder of BulletPedia. He provides
more helpful information on debt consolidation help, and
loan facts on his website for free:
http://www.bulletpedia.com/

3 Credit Card Services You Need To Know About

3 Credit Card Services You Need To Know About
If you carry a credit card but know nothing about the
various credit card services available, you don't know what
you're missing. Ask yourself these questions... How will
your credit card balance be paid if something happened to
you? Who do you turn to if your credit cards are lost or
stolen? What do you do if you get in over your head with
debt? Credit card services have the answers. Here are a few
you should get acquainted with.

Credit Card Services That Offer Insurance

Insurance can be a beautiful thing. That's why many credit
card services offer various forms of it. Whether you become
disabled, unemployed or (heaven forbid) deceased, there are
insurance products that will take care of things for you.

While many credit card companies offer insurance directly,
you might be able to save money by looking to the credit
card services that offer it independently. Just make sure
you understand the exact terms of the insurance policy
being offered. If you become disabled, exactly how long
will the insurance make payments for and how much will they
pay? Are there exclusions to a death benefit? Does it have
to be an accident or are illness and natural death covered
as well?

Check with at least two credit card services to see what
types of insurance are available to you and compare costs.
Then you can be sure you're getting the best coverage at
the best price.

Stolen Credit Card Services

Having your credit card stolen is a nightmare to begin
with. The headaches only multiply when multiple cards are
involved. Fortunately there are some credit card services
that can help with this already-bad situation.

Stolen credit card services maintain the contact info and
account details for all of your credit cards. Then, if your
cards are lost or stolen, you just call the service and
they take all of the steps required to notify your credit
card issuers. Your old cards will be canceled and new ones
issued. These credit card services make a hard situation a
little bit easier to deal with.

Debt-Related Credit Card Services

One of the pitfalls of carrying credit cards is some
consumer's tendency to accumulate too much debt. That's
where debt-related credit card services can be very
beneficial. These services can counsel you on how to
properly manage your credit cards and can even help you
navigate your way out of debt.

If you carry credit cards and have never looked into these
credit card services, now is the time to do it. As a wise
man once said -- it's better late than never. You just
never know when these credit card services will come in
handy.

----------------------------------------------------
For more tips on credit card services, saving money and
avoiding getting taken, check out CreditCardTipsEtc.com, a
website that specializes in providing credit card tips,
advice and resources.
http://www.creditcardtipsetc.com/

The Price of Old Properties Are catching Up With The Price Of New Developments

The Price of Old Properties Are catching Up With The Price Of New Developments
10 years ago the price differential between a brand new
apartment and an old one was usually 25%; the latter being
the cheaper of the two. However, in the last few years
these prices have been converging at an alarming rate so
much so that now in Yvelines according to the Chambre of
Notaires of Ille de France the difference in price between
the two is now as little as tens of Euros compared with 17%
two years ago! A representative of the developers Nexity
who builds nearly 10,000 homes across France per year is
quoted as saying that the gap between the two is now around
6%.

Michel Mouillart a professor at the University of Paris-X
has studied this phenomenon very closely and commented that
if these trends continued then the price of old buildings
could soon overtake the price of new developments. He
concluded that the worrying thing about this was that the
prices in the long term will fall into balance with the
difference returning to 25% once again, stinging anyone who
has over-paid for an old apartment.

The advice given is to compare property prices in the same
area and only buy an old apartment if the price is 25%
below that of a new one in the same area. If the gap is
smaller than this then the advice is to think hard about
your purchase or negotiate.

But Will French property prices keep on rising?

French property prices over the last year until the month
of October 2005 averaged an increase of 11.4% (Source FNAIM
2005). This is in contrast to the previous year which
reached over 15% as a national average- so is the French
housing market slowing down?

Figures show that in November 2005 the price of apartments
rose by 0.3% while the price of houses by a more sturdy 1%,
averaging out at 0.5% in total for the month. This has been
the trend since January 2005 as apartments have increased
in price by a slower rate than houses and seems to be
re-adjusting to the much higher growth rates they were
accustomed to from 2002 to 2004. Data shows that between
2002 and 2004 apartments rose by between 12% and 17.8% each
year while houses by a more moderate 8.4% to 12.5% a year,
hence the readjustment seems logical. Smart investing
however is all about examining specific locations and not
looking at a country as a whole. For instance statistics
from FNAIM show that in 2005 prices in Bordeaux rose by
15%, Toulouse by 18% and Nantes by 22%- all on the west and
South West coasts of France while Paris recorded just 6%
growth in 2005 as it was the slowest mover. These price
rises in the south-West look set to continue as percentage
prices still haven't risen by nearly as much as they have
in Paris and so still have plenty of room for strong
growth. It is also interesting to note that these price
rises have often been in the less sought after areas of
cities such as Bordeaux, Lyon and Paris. "Capital" the
French investment specialists have seen that in Bordeaux,
the common areas of la Bastide prices are catching up with
those in the sought after area of the "Rive gauche". So
does this mean that you should be snapping up as much
property as you can in the less prestigious areas of French
cities? Probably not as it is quite normal that during boom
periods less sought after property can increase in value
very sharply and it is also true that they will also be the
first to drop in value if the French economy stumbles upon
hard times. The fact is that even in a slow housing market
prestigious, well located properties will always sell
whereas others may not and even though price rises now
might persuade you to buy in a cheaper area, in the long
term the price gap between the two is likely to revert back
to normal.

Therefore the advice is to choose your location and
property type wisely and find out about local property
trends before your purchase and the rewards are there for
the taking.

----------------------------------------------------
Nick Dowlatshahi is the French Property expert and Managing
Director of Leapfrog Properties. Leapfrog Properties is a
French Property Agency that specilaises in the sales of
French Property in every region of France.
http://www.leapfrog-properties.com