How to Find the Best Mortgage Loan

Guest post by Sharon Smith

Planning a home-buying venture? The right kind of finance is of utmost importance as it helps you get the best deal. The most crucial task of a would-be home owner is to shop for a suitable mortgage loan.

Shopping for a good mortgage loan is not a very time consuming process. All you need to know is where to search for and what best suits your needs.

Remember these important tips before going for a mortgage loan:

1. If you are a first time buyer, you need to dedicate some time in studying the various loan options that you may lay your hands on. Compare the various aspects such as interest rates, terms, closing costs and conditions for each loan. This not only helps you in getting the best deal, but also helps you gather knowledge about the loan before you apply.

2. Before applying for a mortgage loan, order a free credit report. You can get your annual credit report from all three of the credit agencies: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. Your present credit score would help you in determining whether it is the right time to apply for a mortgage loan or not.

If your credit report is on the negative side, you might have to pay a higher rate of interest. Therefore, it is always advisable that you apply for loans, be it a mortgage or a debt consolidation loan only when you have a high credit score and a positive credit history.

3. Make sure, you read about all the fees, cost, terms and conditions involved with the mortgage loan before you sign on the dotted line of your agreement with the lender.

Your eligibility to apply for a mortgage loan is based on your total income. The monthly mortgage payments are however, based on your net income. Therefore, take an honest look at your finances before you apply for a mortgage loan.

How to Find Investors for Starting a Business

Finding an investor for your business provides you with the seed money you need to start the business. In return for investing in your business, most investors receive a percentage of the sales or company stock. Finding an investor for your business may be harder than it sounds, but there are some ways to go about locating and convincing investors to invest in your business.

Write a business plan. Before looking for investors write a business plan. A business plan is a written guide of your business including the purpose, the startup costs, expenses, sales forecasts and other information to gain the interest of investors.

Make a list of possible investors. Add people you know to the list who have money to invest and may be willing to take a risk with your business startup. Friends, family members and business owners of related businesses are the best places to start. For example, if your business involves a computer software product, then other software companies may be interested in investing in your company.

Locate business investors on investor websites. Dozens of investor websites exist, where business startups can search for investors (see resources), which may be called angel networks. If you do not have someone you know personally that can invest in your business startup idea, you can typically find possible investors through these networks.

Develop an investor presentation. Compile a speech or pitch to present the business idea for convincing investors to invest in your startup. Include information in your presentation that includes what the product or service offering for the business is, the costs involved in starting the business, what kind of demand there is in the market for the item and how much the company stands to make in one year, three years and so on.

Contact the possible investors. Schedule a time to meet with and make your presentation to each investor on your list.

Present your business idea to investors. At the meeting with the investor, pitch your business by giving your presentation and providing a copy of your business plan to the investor. Answer any questions the investor has about the startup and tell the investor what is in for them such as shares of the company stock or a percentage of the sales.

Sign an investor agreement. Once you find an investor, put your agreement in writing. You can find general agreement templates online or work with a business attorney to help you draw up a legally binding contract for both you as the business owner and the investor to sign.

http://money.cnn.com/2007/05/03/magazines/fsb/raising.money.fsb/
http://www.score.org/best_ways_to_finance.html
http://www.entrepreneur.com/money/finance/index.html
Lending Club: Find Investors for a Startup Business
https://www.lendingclub.com/public/about-us.action
http://www.gobignetwork.com/
http://www.angel-investor-network.com/

How to Look Up a Tax Lien

According to Experian, one of the credit reporting agencies, a tax lien is a claim by a taxing authority on an asset owned by someone who owes back taxes. For a business, a tax lien may be on a commercial property the business owns, possibly the property where the business operates. The two major taxing authorities include the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for business back taxes the business owes to the federal government and the county where the property is located. Whether it is a federal or county tax lien, the lien shows on the property records, which the county clerk’s office where the property is records on the public records. Whether you’re looking up a tax lien on your own property to pay it off or you’re an investor looking to invest in tax liens, your computer is the main tool you need to look up a tax line.

Find the county website. Use the National Association of Counties website to determine if the county where the property is located has a website.

Search the county website. Once you determine if the county is online, go to the county website and conduct a tax lien search. You can typically search for liens on the property using the parcel number, address or owner of the property. If the property is going to auction, the county websites also list upcoming tax lien sales and the procedures for paying off your own lien or buying tax lines.

Review the tax lien or tax lien lists. Once you pull up the tax lien for the property you’re interested in, the website provides various information on the lien. Typically, it lists the amount, date and payoff instructions for the tax lien.

Tips
If the county where the property is located does not have a website or does not allow online searches for tax lines, you have to go in person to look up the tax lien. Look up the address for the county clerk’s office, note the hours of operation and then go in person to obtain the tax lien information.

Some counties provide tax lien information by phone, but if you want a copy of the tax lien information, there is usually a charge.

Some websites, such as www.taxsalelists.com sell tax lien lists, which is another way to look up tax liens. Before you pay a third party to obtain a tax lien list, conduct some research on the business with organizations such as the Better Business Bureau, to make sure that the website is legitimate.

If it is a business IRS tax lien, you can contact the Centralized Lien Unit of the
IRS by calling 1-800-913-6050.

Debt Consolidation Tips

Debt consolidation consists of rolling all of your debt into one loan or line of credit. This consolidation allows you to make one monthly payment at one fixed interest rate. Usually the interest rate on the new debt is lower than the original loans, which creates a long-term savings. Following some debt consolidation tips and guidelines can help ensure that your debt consolidation is a successful venture.

Get a Big Picture View of Your Debt

In order to understand the debt you’re in, make a thorough list of all the debts you have and want to consolidate. Include the interest rates for each debt and the balance you owe. Creating a written list allows you to see where your spending weaknesses are and account for every dollar of debt. The written list lays out a road map for you to determine which debts should be tackled first, allowing you to put together a plan of attack on consolidating and getting rid of high interest debt first and then working your way down the list.

Select the Right Company

Although you can consolidate on your own, a debt consolidation company is an option for some who cannot manage consolidation alone. Shop around for a company that is well established and highly experienced. Debt consolidation companies charge fees to help you create a written plan on how to consolidate debt and then to help you implement the plan. Make sure that the fees are not exorbitant. Ask the company for references and then contact the references, if possible. By law, debt consolidation companies have to provide you with a written agreement that spells out your working relationship, including fees.

Choose the Best Plan for You

Several debt consolidation options exist. Credit card counseling can help you to lower your interest rates on credit cards in order to pay off the balances more quickly. Credit card consolidation places all of your debt on one lower interest rate credit card. A debt management plan involves you depositing a sum of money with a debt consolidation company each month. The company uses that money to pay off your debts on a schedule that they have negotiated with your creditors. A consolidation loan is a personal loan to pay off all of your creditors, leaving you with just one payment each month.

Be Patient

The debt did not accumulate overnight and it is not going to disappear overnight. Once you have a plan in plan, stick with the program until the debt is completely paid. Keep track of the total and watch the amount come down each month. Each payment brings you closer to financial freedom.

Make Payments on Time

The debt consolidation process is a prime opportunity to train yourself to be wiser with money than you were previously. Put your monthly budget on paper, so you can see income and expenses. Make every effort to pay your bills on time, every month. Check with your former creditors to ensure payments from the debt consolidation company are on time. If the debt consolidation company is not paying on time, it can hurt your credit further.

Stop Spending

Many think that debt consolidation solves financial problems. It does not. It helps a debtor pay off outstanding debts at a specific time in his/her life. Debt consolidation does not account for continual spending after the process has begun. Some programs offer financial counseling to help you build appropriate spending habits, but the overall goal of debt consolidation is to get you out from under the current debt. Do not use this opportunity to go out and spend more. Instead, look at the habits that caused your debt and train yourself to avoid those pitfalls.

Employment Credit Checks

Most people know that when they apply for a loan or credit, the lender or creditor is going to check their credit. What may not be common knowledge is that some employers also run a credit check as part of the employment process. When a potential employer runs a credit check on a potential employee, it is typically called an employment credit check.

Types

A potential employer has the right to pull a credit report or to run a credit check on an employee before offering employment. An employer also has the right to run a credit check before deciding to promote the employee, give the employee a raise or deciding whether to continue employment of the employee. According to the Employee Issues website, an employer has the right to run a credit check because there are currently no laws that exist that prohibit discrimination based on the status of the credit report.

Identification

The employer requests credit information from the three credit agencies: TransUnion, Equifax and Experian. An employer is typically privy to pulling a full credit report on an employee, which can include personal information and information pertaining to credit and debt accounts held by the employee. Information the employer can obtain from a credit report may include the year the employee was born; current and previous addresses; marital status and name of spouse; names of current and former employers; bankruptcy, liens and judgments; child support and alimony obligations; payment history on any account listed; a credit score; and other companies that have checked the credit report.

Permission

The Fair Credit Reporting Act does govern how employers can obtain a credit report on employees. An employer has to inform an employee that a credit check is going to be run and the employer has to obtain written permission from the employee. If an employee does not provide consent to the employer to check credit, the employer won’t be allowed to run a credit check, but this may also mean the potential employee does not get the job and an existing employee may not get to keep their job.

Use

The Fair Credit Reporting Act also requires employers to provide the employee with disclosures before taking action based on the credit report. For example, if the employer intends on letting an employee go, the employer first has to hand over a "pre-adverse action disclosure," which includes a copy of the employee’s credit report and a written summary of the employee’s rights under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. After the employer takes adverse action against an employee, the employer then has to provide the employee with an "adverse action notice," provide the name and complete contact information of the credit agency the employer received the credit report from, the employer cannot disclose the credit check results to anyone else and is not allowed to place the information in an employee’s personnel record.

State Laws

In the wake of the downturn in the economy that began in 2007 and the high unemployment rate, many consumers were not able to pay their bills, which left many of these employees or potential employees with negative credit reports. Some states have proposed bills that prohibit discrimination on employees based on the findings of a credit check by an employer.

Freelance writer at ZSB (Las Vegas, NV)

Freelance writer at ZSB (Las Vegas, NV)
This company hires writers and then does not pay them for completed work. DO NOT do business with them and expect to get paid! They have owed me $400 for months and keep promising to pay me, but never do.

Elastic Credit with New Credit Card Laws

Credit cards have long been a source for quick and easy cash when needed—making this type of credit very elastic. Credit cards are getting a facelift with the new credit card laws, which makes credit card purchases and cash advances more elastic than ever before.

One way that credit cards are becoming more appealing to cardholders is due to the new credit card laws passed by the Federal Reserve. The new credit card laws help to protect consumers from being charged high late and penalty fees by card issuers. The changes are due to take effect on August 22, 2010 and are the closing act to the Credit Card Accountability and Disclosure Act introduced by Congress in 2009.

New Credit Card Fee Limits

Credit card issuers can no longer set and charge their own rate fees. The new credit card laws limit late payment fees to a maximum amount of $25. The only exception is if a cardholder has made a late payment in the previous seven months, then the late fee limit does not apply. The penalties charged by the card issuer also have to be proportionate to the minimum payment due. For example, if the minimum payment due is $15 and the cardholder makes a late payment, the card issuer can only charge a late fee of $15. Cardholders who have credit cards that they do not use also do not have to worry about being charged fees for inactivity because inactivity fees are eliminated with the new law.