While home ownership is a dream for many Americans, the bank failures and bailouts that the economy has experienced in recent months have caused lenders to change their lending habits. Banks that once would have approved a no asset no income mortgage, or even a jumbo mortgage, are now requiring their borrowers to prove their credit worthiness in the form of proof of employment and a high credit score. Gone are also the teaser mortgages that drew the borrower in with the promise of a low interest rate that would drastically increase in a matter of three to five years. Combine this with an unstable economy and banks are now more concerned than ever about lending money to the wrong person. If you find yourself longing for home ownership, here are some simple tips that can help you improve your credit rating so you look like a better risk to potential lenders. (more…)

Paydayloans are certainly not an answer to the world’s financial woes. But they are great for helping people who find that they need just a little bit of extra cash to last them until payday. With the cost of so many different goods and services on the rise, it is likely that more and more people will turn to these types of loans in order to make ends meet on those months where extra expenditures crop up. It is wonderful that this option exists to help those in desperate times. (more…)

As the world economy plunges deeper into its current crisis, and as more and more jobs disappear, and companies are dissolving overtime, the need for financial help grows. Getting loans in the traditional manner, through banks and credit unions is fast becoming a difficult if not impossible option. Even people who have stellar credit find it nearly impossible to get loans in the current economic climate. In these cases, no fax payday loans are one of the best ways to make sure that you have the money you need for necessities or any emergency that might rear its ugly head. (more…)

Most people living in the United States have at one time been faced with a financial burden.  Sometimes, the situation can be worked around, perhaps borrowing a little money from a family member or friend but other times, there simply seems to be no solution.  However, rather than the individual paying the expense with a high interest rate credit card, maxing out a credit card, or for people that never use credit cards, payday advances offer a way out. (more…)

If you haven’t been watching headlines or nightly news broadcasts you may be unaware of the fact that the average house price in 2009 is expected to decline. While this is not necessarily the case for every real estate market in the country, on the whole, house and property values are expected to continue dropping at unprecedented rates. (more…)

photo credit: mrhayata

Experts say that especially in tough economic times like these, lending money within a family is getting increasingly common. But borrowing money from parents or siblings is a risky business and one which The Age thinks should be avoided wherever possible.

If you absolutely feel that lending or borrowing money between you and your family members is necessary, here are some pieces of advice to follow:

• Put the loan in writing. Even if it’s a little awkward to discuss that at the time, it’s better than creating a large dispute later. Where possible, draw the arrangement up as officially as possible.
• Only lend money that you are prepared to lose. You never know what could happen in the future. Apparently a worrying trend amongst parents with adult children is that they are lending them money by remortgaging their houses, and if the adult child is unable to repay the money, the elderly parents lose their house - and of course the relationships between them get very strained.
• Avoid reverse mortgages for this purpose - the reverse mortgage allows retirees to use equity in their home to obtain cash which is repaid when they later sell the house to move into care or when they die. Here the risk of losing a house increases again.
• Be open, honest and up front about every part of the deal, and if you have any doubts at all, say no. Just consider whether your relationship with the family member is more important than money or not. Usually the relationship wins and it’s not worth risking it over money.

photo credit: pfala

If you hit upon hard times and need an urgent, temporary cash injection to pay a bill or get through to payday, the Investing for Beginners blog has five ways you can quickly get your hands on some cash:

• If you have securities (a house, or investments), get a temporary line of credit that is backed by these securities. Weigh the risks first, of course - especially if it’s backed against shares, they could go down and you could get in even bigger trouble.
• Get a second job. It doesn’t have to be forever, and it might even be over the internet from home. But it’ll get you extra cash.
• Try a loan against your 401(k) - but only if it’s an extremely desperate circumstance. Borrowing from your retirement fund is usually not at all advisable.
• Check if you can redeem some rewards points. Most people have a credit card that includes reward points and you can often redeem these as vouchers for various grocery and department stores, so if groceries or other store goods are what you need, this is like getting a form of “cash”.
• Sell your jewelry! We’re not so happy about this one but it’s a valid point - gold is valuable and if you have some excess gold jewelry that you could probably live without, consider selling it off to solve your financial crisis.

It’s easier these days than it used to be to get a home loan. Traditionally, banks expected everybody to start with a down payment of 20% of the value of the home, no negotiating. But today you can even find finance with no deposit at all. That doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a good thing: here are three reasons why saving up 20% of the cost of your home will help you out financially: (more…)

credit: Dan_H

If you’re steadily paying off your mortgage, you often don’t think about changing anything about the loan you have – you just keep paying, month after month, looking forward to the day in twenty years when the house will be yours. But there are some situations when it can be really advantageous to refinance your mortgage.

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In response to the market dip, many automakers are offering longer loan terms. More importantly, many car owners are biting, extending their loans to seven years or longer.

While these new loan terms may seem like a natural and logical response to today’s financial crush, they may be the downfall of many individuals and car companies. Unfortunately, auto analyst Kevin Tynan says that these practices are bubble-inducing, a dangerous factor in today’s economy, when the bubble is already bursting.
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