Stop Foreclosure and Protect Your Credit Rating

Stop Foreclosure and Protect Your Credit Rating
Foreclosure is a difficult process for any homeowner.
Proceedings start once a person has not made either
payments or acceptable arrangements for payments for over
90 days. In California, it is estimated that nearly 12 out
of every 100 properties is in some stage of foreclosure.
There is, however, a way to stop the process.

When a bank begins foreclosing on a property, they are
looking to re-coup their original loan by assuming the
value of the property and then selling it again. This is a
lengthy process a bank would much rather avoid. It would
much rather agree to a sale, even at a loss of the original
loan amount. A cash home buyer can likely complete a
transaction with the homeowner that will stop the bank from
moving ahead.

The ideal scenario for selling a house takes place when a
homeowner decides he or she will make a tidy profit and it
is time to move on. The vast majority of sales work this
way. A small percentage, however, are caught in
foreclosure, where payments are unable to be met and the
bank seizes the property.

The fastest way for a property to avoid foreclosure is
through a sale to a cash buyer. The amount of the sale can
then be used to pay off the loan and penalties. Even if you
owe more than the house is worth, a bank will be much more
willing to negotiate in good faith at this point and accept
far less to avoid getting the house back; this is known as
a short sale and is very effective in a depreciating market.

The State of California uses a system of nonjudicial
foreclosures, meaning that no court order is required to
begin proceedings. The Notice of Default is filed with the
county courthouse and delivered to the homeowner at the
same time. This invariably speeds the process along, giving
a distressed property owner less time to either raise money
or work out an agreeable arrangement with the bank. When
homeowners manage to stop a foreclosure proceeding in the
state of California, they are also protecting their credit
rating. Should they wish to return to the housing market,
other lending agencies will not see the black mark of
foreclosure on their credit reports? Otherwise, it can take
seven years for a foreclosure to disappear from a person's
credit history.

There are companies that are able to complete quick
transactions for sellers that are either simply tired of
their property being listed with no sale or facing
foreclosure. The offer price will be lower than a seller
would like, but if they are facing a foreclosure process,
the long term savings to credit and reputation can be
incalculable.

Copyright Property Partners, LLC 2007

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For several informative articles ranging from mortgage
issues to tips on selling your house visit
http://www.property-partner.com/library.htm .

Invest in Yourself and Retire Early

Invest in Yourself and Retire Early
Precious Metals and Investing

My father was a wholesale Jeweler (Bless his soul). Every
week he would bring home a hand full of stones and put them
in the bottom of the fish tank. No, we did not have gravel
we just had different stones like opals, emeralds, rubies,
a few diamonds and so on. We had every possible stone
sitting in the bottom of the fish tank. We did not think
twice about it.

You ask why? Well, you see, stones are worthless, the most
expensive thing in any jewelry is the precious metal
(silver, gold, platinum). No, we where not rich, my mother
was a stay at home mom. My dear Mother was taking care of
12 children.

The stones in the fish tank where of no value with out the
precious metals.

This is where you have to invest these days. Here is what
we are speaking about. Example, you take a paper dollar
bill and hold on to it for a few years. Then you take a
silver dollar and hold on to that for a few years. After 7
years how much is the paper dollar Bill worth? (One dollar)
Now you take the silver dollar out at the same time and
what is that worth? Well its worth more then a dollar
because of the precious metal it was made from.

So here is the idea, invest in yourself and future with
some precious metals in your portfolio and you will be able
to retire earlier then you thought. I have an example for
you. I have a 1898 penny and this penny has been in
circulation. Right now, today the penny is worth 14.50 you
can not beat that. Now if I took a silver dollar that has
never been in circulation the return on that dollar would
be more because the only hands that have touched it where
mine.

The next time you want to invest in something. Remember the
fish tank story and the jewels. The value of the dollar is
going down every day as you see on the news. Its time you
turn the paper currency into coin currency so when the
paper is worth nothing you have your coins (precious
metals)To fall back on. You need to have some
silver,gold,and coins in your portfolio the way the present
dollar is falling.

"Remember if you look in the right direction everything is
good in the world."

----------------------------------------------------
Feel free to distribute this article in any from as long as
you include this resource box
http://affilatecashsecrets.com/index/65359/8 You can also
include your affilate link when you sign up at my website
http://www.mpelements.com

Online Accounting and Bookkeeping Solutions Reviewed

Online Accounting and Bookkeeping Solutions Reviewed
Most owner-managed businesses in the UK are concerned about
keeping costs to a minimum, so shelling out hundreds or
even thousands of pounds for bookkeeping or accountancy
software that runs on a PC or Mac is not always desirable.

This is especially true, as any owner of Sage is aware,
when there are constant updates and patches to download and
install.

Over the last eighteen months or so, a number of online
bookkeeping and accountancy services have come on the
market, aimed mainly at the UK SME market and we've tried
out a number of such solutions.

The Basics :

Essentially, all these services share some common features
- the most important of which is all run online and can be
accessed via your web browser. All are accessed securely
using SSL, so all your data should be secure.

Because all the software runs on remote servers, patches,
updates, additional features and so on are all
automatically installed. Additionally, because the
providers of such services have extremely high end servers
and security systems, it is their responsibility to ensure
that backups are made regularly, that the server is hacker
proof and has good uptime and runs smoothly.

It is the removal of these chores that makes online
bookkeeping services an attractive proposition to UK
businesses.

Choosing The Right Service :

There are probably six or seven established online
accountancy and bookkeeping services on the market right
now: Kashflow and Marginz (aimed at the small business and
sole trader market), WinWeb and Liberty Accountants
(focused on the SME market), Twinfield and Sage's own
Online 50 solution.

Obviously, many of the features offered by these services
are similar, but here's my personal guide to selecting the
right online bookkeeping or accountancy service for your
company.

1) Is There A Free Trial

In order to find out whether the particular package offers
the reports and functionality you need, it is essential to
try before you buy. WinWeb and Kashflow both offer 60 day
free trials, so you can log in and see what is - and more
importantly - what isn't available to you.

I would suggest that you create a checklist of essential
features before signing up - that way you can be sure the
service offered covers all the needs of your business.

You should also check whether there are restrictions on the
reports themselves - limits to date ranges, for example.

2) Are You Going To Be Able To Use The Data In The Future

The service you choose must allow you to export records and
data in a format that can be used with more traditional
desktop accountancy packages, thereby allowing you to swap
providers in the future.

Further, you must be able provide the necessary reports to
your accountants in a useable format. Excel or CSV export
options are a must for all reports.

3) What Is The Service Level Agreement

With any web based service, the critical thing is uptime.
You must be able to rely on the service to be live 24/7 and
there must be a minimum level of acceptable uptime agreed
in the contract. Don't be fooled by guarantees like '99%
uptime guaranteed' - that is not sufficient for a business
critical application.

4) How Established Are These Companies

Bookkeeping software as an online service is a relatively
new concept, so many of these company are not well
established. The obvious exception is Sage, who offer the
SME favourite Sage Line 50 as an online service.

The more established small business solutions, like WinWeb
and Kashflow have been running 3 years or more, but some of
the other alternatives have been in existence only 2 years
or so.

Obviously, you should choose a service that isn't likely to
go out of business any time soon.

5) Testimonials from Other Users

Check the on-site testimonials by all means, but ask to
speak directly to current users of the service. If, as some
do, the service offers a forum, then this is another good
way to find out what users really think of the service.
Kashflow, for example, has a forum at
UKSmallBusinessForums.co.uk.

6) Support Is Critical - Test It Out

When you start your free trial, test out the support. Look
for both email and telephone support as well as online
knowledgebases and user guides. With an online service, it
is far from unreasonable to expect fast round the clock
support. So, test it out. If you get good, accurate, useful
answers quickly, then so much the better.

For businesses of all sizes, an online bookkeeping solution
is one well worth looking into but it is very much
something that will suit some companies (contractors
working through limited companies, for example) more than
others (large charities, for instance).

As with all things of this nature, it is worth testing out
at least a couple of these services to get a feel for how
they might benefit your business.

----------------------------------------------------
Jim Haines works for Just Accountants, where UK businesses
can compare bookkeepers and accountants and receive up to 4
quotes. Visit
http://www.justaccountants.co.uk/accounting.html for
details.

Cash Flow Management Issues Relating To Funding And Investment In A Credit Crunch

Cash Flow Management Issues Relating To Funding And Investment In A Credit Crunch
There is a fundamental difference between cash flow and net
profit. Net profit is the bottom line of the profit and
loss account measuring the net growth in financial value.
Cash is the business liquidity and closely related to the
changes in the value of the current business assets in the
balance sheet representing the amount of money the business
has at its disposal to generate further business.

Stock control management

The objective is to reduce the level of stock which uses
working capital within the business.

Stock control is a major potential area where every
business can become more efficient in its cash
requirements. Stock comprises of four main elements, raw
materials, work in progress, finished goods and consumable
stores.. Each area can be managed to reduce the working
capital requirement with an appropriate stock management
system being adopted.

Raw material stocks can be reduced by setting a just in
time stock control policy, negotiating better delivery
schedules and reviewing order quantities with a view to
reducing the value of stock held before it is required for
production or sales.

Work in Progress is mainly a manufacturing area and
governed by the manufacturing process however a review of
the policies can produce efficiencies if excess products
are left lying around waiting to be finished or excess
materials are on the shop floor waiting to be used.

Standard levels of finished stock should be set to satisfy
the requirement to supply all customers on time but avoid
excess stock. Delivery schedules might be reviewed to
ensure delivery times can be shortened to reduce the
requirement for higher stock levels. Ideally the stock
should come in one door and be invoiced out the other door
the same day.

In some businesses consumable stores may be significant and
where any significant working capital investment is
required the policy should be reviewed to save cash by
introducing stock control measures.

Profit margin management

The objective is to sell more cash flow friendly products.

Given a range of products within a business the gross
profit and stock requirements and funding requirements may
be variable. During a credit crunch the products offering
the highest gross profit, fastest turn round and most
economic use of working capital would offer the best
options to reduce the credit crunch effect.

A sound management policy would be to review all products
in terms of the working capital requirements and levels of
gross profit margins with a view to concentrating sales
growth in these product areas.

Financial investment management

The objective is to reduce the draining effect of capital
investment in the business to protect the working capital
requirements.

There are many cash flow issues in this area but
consideration may be given to how fixed asset purchases are
financed. In days of the credit crunch it may be safer to
lease or buy major items on hire purchase than to buy
outright. Different and alternate methods of financing
investments can broaden the funding options open to a
business and reduce the strain on working capital.

Consideration might be given to delaying the purchase of
non essential renewable assets. For example the business
may have a policy to replace the delivery vehicle or
representatives car every three years. Delaying the
replacement by six months saves valuable cash resources and
protects the cash flow.

Consideration in larger companies with numerous investment
projects may be to prioritise the fastest cash generating
projects. Capital investment often requires high initial
investment which is repaid slowly over a period of years
and a reduction in approval rates for such projects can
have significant impact on liquidity.

During the early days of a credit crunch and potential
recession consideration should be given to reviewing all
non or low performing areas of the business with a view to
selling these business areas or assets ensuring they do not
become a drain on the cash resources but instead produce a
positive cash flow the remaining parts of the business can
use to generate higher profits.

Funding management

The objective is to achieve at lowest interest rates
possible adequate funding for all the business cash flow,
working capital and investment requirements.

Planning is essential to make sufficient arrangements well
before the cash is required t6o enable a satisfactory level
of funding at an acceptable rate. Negotiating when a
business runs out of cash is the very worst time to
negotiate funding as it will cost more and may not be
obtained at all.

There are benefits to reviewing the number of sources of
finance and funding available to the business and the
interest being charged. Relying upon one funding source may
be putting all the eggs in one basket. With a range of
potential funding sources smaller amounts can be raised
with each the sum often being higher than might be
available from a single source.

Alternate sources may include leasing and financing
companies, banks and specialist lenders such as stock
finance businesses and factoring companies. One disastrous
source a small business should avoid at all costs would be
to finance the working capital through credit cards where
the interest rate could be so high it could cripple the
business.

----------------------------------------------------
Terry Cartwright designs UK Accounting Software at
http://www.diyaccounting.co.uk/ on excel spreadsheets
providing complete Bookkeeping solutions
http://www.diyaccounting.co.uk/bookkeeping.htm for small to
medium sized businesses

Cashflow: The Only Sensible Investment Strategy for the Twenty-first Century

Cashflow: The Only Sensible Investment Strategy for the Twenty-first Century
First the Disclaimer: This is a thought-provoking article
that draws upon real world examples, articles, books and
websites that are readily available to the public. This
article is not intended to offer investment advice. Any
actions that you take in the market place should be the
result of your own financial education and consultation
with a licensed professional.

This is the conclusion of my 3 part series that began with
Home Ownership: The Biggest Financial Scam of the
Twentieth Century and was followed up by parts one and two
of The Stock Market: The Second Biggest Financial Scam of
the Twentieth Century.

What is Cashflow? Cashflow simply put is the flow of
money. Positive cashflow is the revenue or income that a
person receives from a job, investment or business. The
majority of people derive their cashflow from their jobs.
To the extent that they come to derive cashflow from
investments and or businesses is the extent to which they
will become financially free when their working years are
over. Negative cashflow is the revenue that a person loses
due to an investment or business.

Most people are taught to invest for capital gains rather
than positive cashflow. Investment success depends on
appreciation of the underlying "asset" rather than income
production. This is the basis for "investing" in a primary
residence or the stock market for wealth creation. Yet,
success of the capital gains investment strategy is by no
means assured. No one can guaranty that an asset will
appreciate in value, despite the tendency to quote
historical gains as justification for an investment today.
The current housing and market crises highlight the fallacy
of depending on capital gains to create wealth. The
housing crisis alone will destroy billions of dollars of
personal wealth. From the October 25, 2007 Joint Economic
Committee report:

The JEC report found that the subprime catastrophe is
likely to accelerate the downward spiral of house prices.
Based on state-level data, the report estimates that by
2009:

• 2 million foreclosures will occur by the time the
riskiest subprime adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs) reset
over the course of this year and next.
• Approximately $71 billion in housing wealth will be
directly destroyed because each foreclosure reduces the
value of a home.
• More than $32 billion dollars in housing wealth will be
indirectly destroyed by the spillover effect of
foreclosures, which reduce the value of neighboring
properties.
• States will lose more than $917 million in property tax
revenue as a result of the destruction of housing wealth
caused by subprime foreclosures.
• The ten states with the greatest number of estimated
foreclosures are California, Florida, Ohio, New York,
Michigan, Texas, Illinois, Arizona and Pennsylvania. But
there are several others that are close behind in the
rankings.
• On top of the losses due to foreclosures, which this
report examines, a 10 percent decline in housing prices
would lead to a $2.3 trillion economic loss.

The power of positive cashflow is that it guarantees the
value of an investment regardless of the markets. Imagine
the difference between a real estate investor who bought a
house expecting it to go up in value versus the investor
who bought for cashflow. The capital gains investor bought
at very high premiums in the market such that the rents
received for his investment do not cover the expenses. Now
the investor must find a buyer who paid more than he did in
order to make a profit. If the market goes down that
investor will find that he has no staying power and will
likely sustain a substantial loss to liquidate the property
and limit his on-going monthly losses. The fate of the
cashflow investor is much more secure. The positive
cashflow yielded by the property will continue regardless
of market activity. Should the market go down, the
cashflow will continue, giving the investor staying power
and continued profits in a down market. More importantly,
most if not all of the positive cashflow will be shielded
from taxes by depreciation expenses on the property. In
short, the cashflow, not the capital gains, on a property
will usually be tax-free. Avoidance of unnecessary taxes
is one of the best wealth acceleration strategies you can
employ. To quote David Swenson from Unconventional
Success, "Taxes impair wealth accumulation."

Cashflow strategies can also be applied to the stock market.

The trouble with cashflow investing is that it requires
having a financial education. Cashflow investing requires
the ongoing thirst for financial knowledge specific to your
chosen area of cashflow generation.

The capital gains strategy encourages financial ignorance.
Tempting the would-be investor to treat their investment as
a money-in-money out proposition. Actively seeking
financial education is the only way that a cashflow
investor will be successful. Yet the odds are against him.
Not because financial education is difficult to attain,
no. The odds are against him because the financial sales
people any would-be investor will encounter are paid
commissions based on their ability to sell products and the
majority of those products are for capital gains rather
than cashflow. I find one or two real estate deals per
year that yield sufficient positive cashflow for me to
consider the deal, yet I am often encouraged by brokers to
ignore my criteria for cashflow and invest instead for
capital gains.

The cashflow strategy requires that you learn to work with
people to form a team and generate profits for all. A
capital gains strategy has people so focused on maximum
gain that they ultimately succumb to greed, fail to exit an
investment at an appropriate time and experience financial
loss.

Even in today's economy cash in the bank is not a source of
solace as savers are seeing their returns destroyed by
interest-rate-cutting policies of the Federal Reserve.
People who depended on interest from savings to provide
retirement income are seeing their incomes dissipate as the
Federal Reserve sacrifices their incomes to bail out Wall
Street, Banks and the derivatives markets.

The actions of the Fed and the behavior of Banks and Wall
Street have proven that it is cashflow, not cash that is
king.

----------------------------------------------------
Ouida Vincent is an active real estate investor and
entrepreneur who has watched her friends and family members
struggle under the burden of home ownership and poor
returns in today's market. To find out more go to
http://www.ouidavincentsblog.blogspot.com

Find Out How To Sell Your Orange County House Fast

Find Out How To Sell Your Orange County House Fast
Do you want to sell your Orange County house quickly? If
you do then you need to find out what you need to do to
help you sell your home fast.

There are many people that live in Orange County that need
to sell their homes. So how do you sell your Orange County
house quickly?

There are a couple of different things that you will need
to do if you want to sell your home quickly. The more of
these things you do the faster you will sell your Orange
County house.

One: You need to make sure that your home is in good
condition. You don't want to sell your home if you have
unfinished projects or an unclean and un-kept yard.

It must be ready to sell before you sell it because if
people are going to buy it they will want to walk through
your home to see it firsthand.

Many times the differnce in selling your home and not is
the simple things like how it looks. Think about that.

If you were going to buy an Orange County home and 2 homes
were very similar which would you choose. One that was
ready to move into or one that needed work. If the prices
were similar you know which your choice would be!

Two: You need to list your home in as many different places
that you can. Put an ad in the classified section of your
local newspaper, put an ad online in as many places as you
can find, and anywhere else that you know people will see
it. The more places your home is listed the faster it will
sell.

Three: Work with a real estate agent. They know the real
estate business and they know how to sell your home
quickly. They will also be able to get you the best price
for your home because they have the knowledge to know what
it will sell for in the area it is in.

Working with a professional is always a good idea unless
you just want to do it yourself for some reason. For the
most part people want to sell their homes and not become
experts in doing it themselves.

This is 3 things to keep in mind when tryine to sell your
Orange County home fast. Get it ready to sell, list it
where it can be seen, and hire a professional to get the
fastest results.

----------------------------------------------------
James Redmond invites you to visit his best home offer
website if you must sell your house fast. If you are a
private party who must sell your home because of divorce,
to stop foreclosure, bankruptcy, short sale my house, or
other issues he can help. He specializes in private party
must sell home help including selling Orange County homes
fast. Please go here now to learn more:===>
http://www.thebesthomeoffer.com

California Distressed Real Estate Provides Long Term Profits

California Distressed Real Estate Provides Long Term Profits
California real estate has proven over the years to be one
of the soundest investments in the country. It has been a
steady performer over the long haul, with only a few
significant dips, the most recent being in the early 90s
and currently. When the market rebounds historically it
does so quickly and dramatically and has provided people
with retirement possibilities that job pensions and Social
Security never could. Even the fickle stock market is less
appealing than California real estate investment.

Today's California real estate market is slowing down after
a newsworthy boom. While some homeowners may bemoan the
lowering value of their homes, it does provide investment
opportunities. If "buy low, sell high" is the investor's
mantra, now is the time to look around and buy California
real estate.

There are several ways to buy investment real estate in
California. One of the most overlooked is buying from cash
buyers who possess large portfolios of properties they
themselves purchased at below market prices. Cash buyers
typically buy distressed real estate and get good prices.
They then turn around and sell these properties at a
nominal margin, which equates to a good deal for the buyer.

There are individuals and companies that pay cash for
houses in the state of California and in turn markets the
properties available for sale at wholesale prices. Many a
retirement account has been built on the ability to buy
California real estate at the right time and at the right
price.

California is the largest market for real estate investing
in the United States. It is, in fact, one of the largest in
the world. The land in the state, from the sunny beaches in
the south, to the fertile soil in the north, to the vast
inland deserts and forests continues to grow in value. The
state of California has solid industries and deep capital
investments.

Real estate investing in California can be used short-term,
for quick profits, or long-term, for retirement accounts or
college funds. Naturally the strategies will differ, and
short-term investing is riskier. But the key to real estate
investing is first to "get in the game." Sitting on the
sidelines has no chance of bringing an investor profits.

There is a belief that real estate investing is only a
sound strategy in a "hot" market. Nothing could be further
from the truth. There is always money to be made through
real estate investing. In fact, down markets usually
represent the best chance for large profits. By getting in
when prices are low, investors have a greater profit margin
when the markets rise again, as they always do.

Seasoned investors buy most of their properties during
cooler periods. They do so by purchasing properties from
over-extended homeowners or other investors wholesaling
them out. The arrangement is mutually beneficial for both
buyer and seller since homeowners can often avoid lengthy
and painful foreclosure proceedings.

Copyright Property Partners, LLC 2008

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For many insightful articles regarding buying properties at
wholesale prices visit http://www.property-partner.com