Money Talks

Mortgage Rates Predictions

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 04:26:10 GMT

Predictions about mortgage rates? Puh-leeeze ...

Is there any way that mortgage interest rates will be allowed to flow with market pressures?

There is a great article on the Emergency Refinancing site about mortgage rates predictions - it's a must read for every hapless home-owner in the US. Find out why we are in this invidious situation.

Interest rates at at historical lows right now - not since the 60s have we had such a dream run of consistently low mortgage rates. All the mortgage rates predictions are for a rise. Today's mortgage rates can't go on forever.

What will that do to housing affordability and values, when mortgage interest rates start to rise?

Home-owners are already stretched to the limit, with interest rates at historical lows. It would not be unheard-of for interest rates to double within five years, as happened in the 80s.

How would the average American family cope if their house payment doubled?

One of the first steps to refinancing a mortgage is to determine how much you can afford to borrow. How many people stop to ask themselves whether they would cope if that payment doubled?

Of course, mortgage rates predictions don't affect those who don't need to move house or refinance ... yeah, and who is not going to want to do either of those things in the next decade?

Rising interest rates will put further downward pressure on property values, at just exactly the wrong time. Hold on folks - the ride is gonna get bumpy!

More information at Emergency Refinancing, including today's mortgage rates, mortgage rates predictions, and a free mortgage payment calculator.

Image: Automania

Earn A Second Income

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 07:35:08 GMT

It seems totally obvious, but it passes by over the heads of quite a few people without raising a ripple.

If your money regularly runs out before your month does, you need a second income!

If your budget doesn't balance, you will keep going backwards financially until you have exhausted every possible avenue of credit, at which point you will "hit the wall". You must either reduce your expenses or increase your income, and with fuel and food prices skyrocketing, it's easier to increase your income than cut back on expenses these days.

Now, almost everyone would like a little extra cash each week or each month, but you need to exercise caution when setting out to create a second income, particularly if you like the idea of working from home.

There are numerous "work from home" scams, which basically look to squeeze as much money as possible from the income-seeker - some are actually criminal, like the modern version of the Nigerian bank account scam, in which you are enticed by the prospect of a high monthly wage for simply receiving payments in to your bank account and forwarding them via Western Union. Needless to say, the objective of this exercise is to defraud you by reversing the original payments after you have sent the money order.

You need to begin by knowing how to avoid "work at home" scams, and then you can start your quest for the right source for your second income.

Will you go into vending machines?

Does earning a second income as a freelance writer take your fancy?

Perhaps you have the urge to make money online? Affiliate marketing, information products, Adsense, eBay, click arbitrage, dropshipping ... the list is almost endless!

You can turn your hobby or collection into a business.

You can find regular jobs which allow you to work from home - for example data entry, call centre, piece work, and childcare work.

Maybe you can write a bestselling book!

Whatever path you choose, you will eventually be faced with the prospect of sitting down on a regular basis to get to work. If home has always been a place for you to kick back and relax, or to socialise with your family, the adjustment to working from home may take some time. Check out the nine ways to stay on track when working at home.

Once you have made the decision to earn a second income, the process is relatively simple. Arm yourself with the knowledge you need to avoid the scams, research all the possible ways to earn a second income, and set yourself up to be able to work effectively at home.

Gift Credit Cards - Avoiding The Problems

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 04:27:59 GMT

Gift credit cards can be useful and much-appreciated gifts, but it is important to understand what they are and how they work, and to check the terms and conditions of your particular gift credit card. Each issuer has different fine print relating to their gift credit cards, and some of the clauses in the fine print can be costly.

Gift credit cards are actually not credit cards in the traditional sense of the word. A holder of a traditional credit card makes purchases on credit, and pays the bill later, when it falls due. A gift credit card is a stored value card, or debit card. A certain amount of money is deposited into the gift credit card by the purchaser at the time the gift credit card is issued, and only that amount of money may be spent using the gift credit card.

If you think about the old-fashioned paper gift certificate still issued by many major retailers, you will have a more accurate notion of the nature of a gift credit card than if you think about credit cards in general.

Some issuers limit gift credit cards to use within the USA. Others will not allow gift credit cards to be used for certain purchases, such as air tickets or hotels. American Express will not issue gift credit cards to the residents of five US states, because, according to American Express, "restrictive legislation" makes it prohibitively expensive to do so.

Check your gift credit card terms and conditions to understand the fees payable. In most cases, it is a costly mistake to keep a balance on your gift credit card for more than a few months. Most providers have expiry dates on their gift credit cards, or start charging relatively costly monthly fees after a particular time period has passed. In some cases, the balance on the gift credit card at the expiry date is simply lost. In other cases, the gift credit card issuer will send you balance by check - less an account closing fee and a check drawing fee which can add up to $30 or thereabouts, and often consume the balance completely anyway.

If you have chosen the right gift credit card, you will be able to give a gift which is as flexible as cash, but as personalised as a gift certificate. If you have received a gift credit card, you have no choice about the issuer, so make sure you read the fine print, so you can avoid any unwanted fees or complications.

Visit Money Talks to find the Top 10 Things To Ask Your Gift Credit Card Issuer.

High Mileage Auto Refinancing

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 07:22:19 GMT

If you are after high mileage auto refinancing, you will know that many of the finance companies who put their ads next to a search for "high mileage auto refinancing", or appear in the free listings for that search, don't offer high mileage auto refinancing at all.

For a great rant about the search results for "high mileage auto refinancing" check out BlogSpot!

Pretty much every lender will welcome you with open arms - as long as your car is less than 10 years old and has gone less than 70,000 or 80,000 miles.

So what do you do if you have a car that doesn't meet their precious limits for their so-called "high mileage" auto refinancing?

There is no need to get down about it - you can still swing high mileage auto refinancing if you get a little creative.

It may not be called "high mileage auto refinancing", but a debt consolidation loan can certainly be a way of refinancing your high mileage auto.

It's a bit of lateral thinking, but if you do a debt consolidation refinancing just before your balloon payment is due, or before your existing loan comes up for repayment, you are effectively doing your own high mileage auto refinancing.

The thing is that you are now using your home as security, so the lender doesn't give a toss how old or well-travelled your car might be. That is no longer their concern. If you stop making payments, they won't be repossessing your car, they will be repossessing your house!

As a bonus, the interest rate should be significantly lower because it should be at mortgage rates, not car loan rates.

If you are buying an older car, you won't be able to consolidate before purchasing, so in that case you will need to go for cash out refinancing.

The benefit of that is that you have the joyous experience of telling the car-yard Nazis to take their high-priced finance deals and shove them, as you open a briefcase and pour a pile of cash on their desk ...

Yes, if you get a little creative you can actually find that high mileage auto refinancing can be quite enjoyable!

Photo: fabio pintiero