Alabama | Home Loan | Mortgage | Refinance

Archive for December, 2009

When refinancing your home, it’s helpful to know a few things about refinancing. When you refinance, you usually pay off the old loan and sign for a new loan, whether you are refinancing your 1st mortgage, second mortgage or home equity loan. The expense that comes in to play when refinancing are the new closing costs and points charge for getting a new loan.

How much can you expect in closing costs for a refinance? Usually between 3-6% of the total loan amount. So, for a loan amount of $150,000, you can expect to pay around $7 in fees. Usually, a company that will say that have no closing costs, will also charge a higher interest rate to compensate. The mortgage broker has to make money somehow, they will either charge a higher interest rate or charge higher closing costs. The best way to compare refinance lenders is to analyze all of the expenses.

Should I pay down points on my loan? If you plan to stay in your home for more than 3 years, it may be smart for you to consider paying down points on the loan which reduces your interest rate. That pays off if you plan to stay in your home for a while, but if you plan to sell the home soon, you may lose more money paying down the points on the loan.

How can I know if I should refinance or not? If you are interested in finding out whether it would save you money in the long run to refinance with the current interest rate, there are financial calculators online that can help you determine if you would save money refinancing your house or not.

To view our list of recommended refinance mortgage companies online or to use a refi- calculator, please visit this page: http://www.abcloanguide.com/refinance.shtml

Carrie Reeder is the owner of http://www.abcloanguide.com, an informational website about various types of loans.

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Summary: It is understandably easy to get into bad credit; the key to avoid any financial crisis is recognizing early signs of disaster by understanding credit report score

Are there those times when you just have an earnest yearning to curse the one who invented the credit card? I did. True enough, credit cards are fast becoming items that are loathed and feared from the practical and handy items that they once were. But still, everybody would vouch for the usefulness of credit cards.

It is understandably easy to get into bad credit, especially if every purchase is just a signature away. That’s why a habitual checking of bills and credit reports are generally advised since it can tell you about your current status as a credit holder and evade financial disaster early on. So the key to avoid any financial crisis is recognizing early signs of disaster by understanding credit report score.

Credit reports are filled with data that will seem irrational to the common masses; even lawyers do have a hard time deciphering the details. That’s why leaning what you can on understanding credit report score can literally save your ass from a debt pit that you have no hopes of climbing out.

FICO score is the cookie cutter for most credit score ratings so details from a FICO scoring sheet can be the same to any credit report score. FICO stands for Fair Isaacs Corporation who designed the software used to calculate credit score. The lowest score is 350 and the highest is 850. If you have a score of 600, you are considered an average credit holder. Lower than that signals bad credit rating. Learning the FICO system can get you better in understanding credit report score.

Credit type is denoted by letters. “R” stands for revolving credit and “I” stands for installment credit. Revolving credit are those account types that reoccur, such as credit card account. A number scale from 0 — 9 is used to determine your credit activities with a specific lender.

0 — no accurate judgment can be made since all your data are relatively new.
1 — Paid after a month
2 — Paid after 2 months
3 — Paid after 3 months
4 — Paid after 4 months
5 — You haven’t repaid for 4 months.
*Take note that this rating is now substantially different with 1 — 4
7 — Your debt payments are made under consolidation
8 — Your debt is cleared by repossession.
9 — You have a bad debt. It means you have defaulted.

The number scale is usually preceded by the credit type as stated above, e.g. R1 which means that you paid the monthly fee in one month.

Credit companies are now a major economic factor in the United States as early as the 80’s when credit took the country by storm. They proliferated for several reasons: at times cash is not available, credit cards provide a spending option which is repaid later with interest. Just as the Declaration of Independence, credit cards offer an independent way of spending apart from cash basis that is typical for an American spirit.

There are a number lending companies whether offline or online who provides refinancing of auto loan. In refinancing auto loan, you need to have your application approved by the lending company. After the approval, the refinancing auto loan company will shoulder you remaining and current balance. After the debt is paid in your behalf, you will begin to make monthly payments to the refinancing company under a new balance and new interest rate. Refinancing auto loan could save you hundreds in\f not thousands of dollars.

There are number of reasons why clients are forced to pay high interest rates. First, it could be due to poor credit standing. Second, you apply low down payment to the auto loan. Third, you did not look around for the best financing deals. And lastly, you availed of an indirect financing where the dealer charges a higher than usual interest rate. If you are experiencing any of the above-mentioned situations then a refinancing auto company could best address your need. They can readily lower the interest rates and pay off your debts. Of course, it will be important to know the hidden charges imposed by your first lender. You must inquire beforehand if there are penalties for early prepayments. As this could an additional cost you need to shoulder once you availed of refinancing auto loan.

Refinancing auto loan can be best demonstrated in the following example: you purchased a $20,000 car payable in 60 months at an interest rate of 12.5%. And after several months of payment, your remaining balance is now 36 months which requires you to pay $449.96. Total interest payments for 60 months would reach $6,997.53. Given the fact that you approach an auto loan refinance company which charges you 9% for the remaining 36 months. Your monthly payment would now be reduced to only $318 per month and you end up saving more than $2,000 in interest.

Just imagine the huge amount of money you can by refinancing auto loan. All you need to do is a little legwork as refinancing auto loan companies can be easily accessed through the internet. Applying for refinancing auto loan takes just a few minutes actually. And you do not need to furnish documents. You can also approach your local banks, dealerships and credit unions for more information regarding refinancing auto loan. Look for refinancing auto loan companies that offer the best value for your money.

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