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Monday, February 2, 2009

FACT - Bad Credit Could Get Your Student Loan Denied

By Tim Beachum

Not many young people care too much about their credit let alone worrying about the intricacies of student loans. After all they have enough to worry about with watching television and gossiping about who is dating whom. Then they find out that because of their substandard credit that they do not qualify for the standard student loans. This is the first devastating blow of reality. Its understandable why most young people would be a little discouraged.

Instead of getting discouraged your first line of defense should be seeking a cosigner. Approach your parents, grandparents, friends, and even loved ones. Normally when you ask someone to cosign you are immediately met with rejection. Be honest and upfront let them know that you need help, and you would like them to cosign to aide in continuing your education. Chances are theyll be more willing to cosign for a college career than a car loan. Whoever it is that you do approach make sure that you have your career plans in hand. Do not approach an individual without an action plan.

Locating a co-signer with a good credit history will be advantageous to you because the lending institution will use the credit history of your co-signer instead of yours to base their decision. This will in turn allow you to receive a student loan at an extremely low interest rate. If a young person has low or bad credit a co-signer may be their best option.

BUT what if you have contacted every individual that you could think of. You have knocked on every door and still you have no luck finding a cosigner. Do not jump ship just yet you still have other options. Try giving your local banks and other financial lenders a call. Chances are that they have some sort of program that will fit your current situation. The downside is your interest rates are going to be sky high.

Theres no need to get depressed because now you have a high interest rate student loan. I guess I could probably word that a little better. What I mean is in most instances it takes for five years to graduate from college. This will give you plenty of time to start to reestablish your credit and to increase your credits score. By the time you are ready to graduate you can simply refinance your loan and get a much lower interest rate.

Theres also another option that you should be aware. Theres a loan called a combination loan what this does is allows you to consolidate all your bad debts and then apply for a big loan to pay everything off. By using the consolidation method chances are you will end up paying a much lower interest rate.

I almost forgot about the Stafford Loan and the Perkins Loan. These loans are geared towards those that are having financial hardships

Please realize that at first all of this may seem a bit overwhelming. The truth of the matter is its nothing more than a mere numbers game. If you go on the Internet and apply for every student loan and scholarship program that you could find you would be astounded at the numbers. The fact of the matter is if you just continue applying for several scholarships and loans, I can pretty much guaranteed that at the end of the day you will be approved for a few of them at least. Whatever you do keep the faith and dont give up, who knows you may just get a free ride regardless of your financial situation.

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Mortgage industry

By reklicom

Now is not the time to sit and wait for the best possible price. Have a serious talk with your real estate agent. Having experienced buying/selling transactions in your area, he or she can help you price your home accordingly. He or she can also help ensure that your buyers are pre-approved and stay pre-approved throughout the entire transaction.

Then, in 2006, a slowdown in real estate led to a deterioration of home values, an increase in inventories, and ultimately to today's tightening of credit guidelines, leaving many investors unable to sell or refinance out of their existing positions. Many Americans who had tapped into their equity were suddenly tapped-out and overextended as home values fell. Foreclosures followed in record numbers and a re-valuation of mortgage bonds and other financial instruments created the credit/liquidity domino effect we're now experiencing.

ARMs Borrowers: If your ARM is scheduled to reset in the next 2-18 months, you need to schedule an appointment with a mortgage professional right away. Whether your ARM is subprime, Alt-A, or even if you have a pre-payment penalty, don't let a default or foreclosure situation sneak up on you. Did you know that your monthly payments can increase anywhere from 30% to 100% once your loan resets? At the very least, give yourself the peace of mind of knowing what your adjusted payment will be.

Thou shalt say "Thank You" often. Every savvy marketer knows that a 'thank you' is important. They don't have to be showy or expensive. Just make sure the 'thank you' is classy and considerate, and the kindness you have shown will eventually be repaid to you many times over.

There is no doubt that all of us have broken these commandments from time to time. Should you consistently break these Ten Commandments of Mortgage Marketing, you do run the risk of a mass customer and prospect exodus the world has yet to see.

Thou shalt create and maintain a detailed Mortgage customer, prospect list, and contact list. Thou shall allocate time each week to maintaining and updating thy lists. For it is these lists that hold the customers that will be in your next mortgage pipeline and your pipeline for years to come.

Thou shalt steal good marketing ideas only from successful competitors. Add your personality and experience to the mix and make it your idea. Just be sure you do not violate any copyright laws.

Thou shalt respect and honor not only these humble Commandments, but all of the rules, regulations, and laws of the land that govern both you and your Mortgage Business. You'll notice in all of this, there's nothing mentioned about reading your FHA manual, or the marketing book you just purchased, or the self improvement book that's been sitting on your book shelf the last year or so.

These ideal lending conditions persisted for several years, supported by high demand, historical real estate data, home prices, and massive trading volume/profits on mortgage-backed securities and other financial instruments on Wall Street.

Organize a drip marketing system using postcards for your niche, Touch base with the Realtor/Agents that you exchange leads with, Edit your marketing material such as your fliers or tri-fold brochure, Review and evaluate the results of the niche you are promoting and marketing, Study and determine the results you're receiving from your mortgage advertising.

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Learning How To Become A Well-Endowed Wealth Wonk

By Chris Channing

The majority of the population isn't likely familiar with the way of life that a Wealth Wonk foregoes. Wealth Wonks are able to turn profits in the worst of economies, but not without effort and training. The path in becoming a Wealth Wonk may be a long one, but is every bit of rewarding as it is long. The prize at the end of the road far outweighs the time it takes to become financially stable for the rest of one's life.

Making a good decision on an investment is an obvious way of making a return on an investment. But the many factors that go into weighing the benefits and pitfalls of investments aren't always reviewed as they should. Keeping in mind the risk, investment amount, government and bank influence on the decision, and any repercussions the investment may have should be discussed. The best investment is going to have minimal interference with lenders and government, be low risk, and have a high payout- but don't expect to find too many of such investments.

Every dollar counts when an investment takes its toll on one's money supply. One way Wealth Wonks save every dollar possible is through avoiding the credit industry as much as possible. While it's good to have credit, and to build it over time, depending on it too much will result in hundreds to thousands of dollars each year in lost savings that could have been avoided. Instead of buying a new car outright, consider a slightly aged car or even saving up money for the new car to buy it all at once.

Jumping on the bandwagon isn't always a good idea, but it has proven to make some quite the pretty penny. Knowing when trends are going to falter and when they are just beginning is key in making money from following the crowd. A key example is in stocks, where many investors buy a stock as it starts to rise, and most will sell when it starts to drop. Obviously, holding onto a stock too long will result in certain negative impact on one's investment.

The proper Wealth Wonk isn't going to consider things in short-term effect: indeed, most are already planning their retirement funds by the time they reach their 20's. Planning is the key action here, in which all aspects of one's finances can be foreseen and accounted for. Thus, the intellectual Wealth Wonk is logical in what he or she invests in, and weighs all possibilities in each financial decision made.

Becoming a wealth wonk is a long road for those who are just starting out in building a financial empire. There are books to be read, published magazines to keep up to date on, and a wealth of information found online to browse through. And if one is a physical learner, getting personalized help over the Internet is an option in becoming a financially intelligent Wealth Wonk.

Closing Comments

Don't fret when the economy takes a turn for the worst. Instead, look for ways to profit from a downwards spiraling economy, budget appropriately, and watch odds in success rise over the years with practice of Wealth Wonk principles.

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Choosing a Boston Condominiums

By K. Kim

Boston area has many diverse and historic neighborhoods because it it the oldest city in the continental US. It is the seventh largest city in the United States and it offers affordable living as well as luxurious living. The prices tend to be in wide range and you fan find these in numerous neighborhoods.

Back Bay area the prices range from $299,000 to $16,990,000. Beacon Hills area the prices range from $284,000 to $5,750,000. Charlestown area the price range from $129,000 to $1,395,000. Fenway area the prices range from $161,900 to $475,000.

Here are some other neighborhoods and there prices. Waterfront $329,000 to $3,525,000. North End $220,000 to $899,000. South End $185,000 to $4,495,000. Midtown $349,000 to $6,900,000. Again the prices are as diverse as the neighborhoods.

You can find wide range of prices in wide rage of neighborhoods. Some of these Boston condominiums are close to many area attractions such as Boston Symphonies, Boston Ballet, and New England Zoo. There are wide range of things to do in Boston. Some of the best universities in college also call Boston home such as Harvard. You need many living spaces to accommodate all the students and people living in Boston.

Due to many different options within neighborhoods and prices, it is recommended that you ask for professional help. You can always do you own due diligence with many information public on the web. One of the major advantage of owning Boston condominiums is you do not have to worry about repair and maintenance of the building, it is done by the association.

So, right now is the right time to buy a Boston condo because of recent economic downturn, many new condos are available for sale in either foreclosure or short sale market. You can also look into luxury condos, since Boston has many of them listed in the real estate listing services.

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Right time to buy a Minneapolis Condominiums

By K. Kim

Greater Minneapolis St. Paul area is largest metropolitan area in the region and the state of Minnesota and has become popular among home owners. You can find Minneapolis's North Warehouse District and North Quadrant Region and St. Paul's Lowertown as the hot bed of Minneapolis condominiums where you can find many condos along the Mississippi riverfront.

Many of the new high rise developments and luxury condos have beautiful views of the city along the river. Warehouse and factory building have been turned into condos because they have stable structures that provide solid building structures for the condominiums. Some of these range from $400,000 in the lower end to over $1,800,000 for luxury penthouse condos.

Even with the current down market, the Minneapolis condominiums market has likely seen bottoming of prices, the reason inventories of downtown Minneapolis condos that are under $400,000 is dwindling and very few new construction is happening in the market. Many experts are seeing price stability in North Loop and Mill District area where prices can be affordable at $300,000.

But if you are thinking about selling your Minneapolis condominiums remember the average days on the market has increase 28 percent over last year to 108 days. But the inventories have declined for downtown as available condos for sale have declined by about 30 percent.

The good news is that the average price have increased 6 percent. Although foreclosure rate about 35 percent in great Twin Cities real estate market, the Minneapolis condominiums have remained at about 8 percent far below national levels.

Good deals will be bringing back home buyers in the spring, make sure you wait for the right time and right condo to purchase. One thing for sure, the real estate market will rebounds from dismal 2008.

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The Reverse Mortgage and Worst Case Scenario

By Matt Vanrock

The reason I'm writing this article is I'm getting many questions from my customers asking me if this is the reverse mortgage is the right answer for them.

You may not believe this but I always say it is not a great choice for everyone. Its situational and some borrowers should simply walk away.

The reason most are calling me is that money is extremely tight. There are the exceptions who are looking for investment money but most need the money.

Generally speaking most are on social security and some form of pension, but others are still working and planning on retirement.

When they ask me their question Im primarily focused on their long term equity position in their homes. They may need that equity if a major financial issue presents itself.

Every day of our lives we roll the dice. Sometimes it comes up snake eyes and we must be there to answer the call.

One of the problems of getting a reverse mortgage is all of the sudden an individual who is used to living on nothing has tons of money to spend. I caution to use discipline with the reverse.

These borrowers have worked very hard to build up the equity in their homes. It is their nest egg, and if it is squandered what money will be there for them if they really need it?

If the concern is for the event of a major financial mess then the borrower needs to be very prudent. Many want to pay off a mortgage and eliminate that payment. Waiting to do this may be a good idea.

Some have their home paid off and simply want to add to their income. These folks should use a line of credit. By doing so a very small amount of interest accrues against the equity of the home.

Additionally, the unused funds in the line of credit will accrue interest for the borrowers favor. The net effect of this is increased borrowing power over time.

There is no doubt the reverse mortgage serves a great financial purpose. However, it should be used with the utmost care.

College Students: Avoid Identity Theft

By Daniel Z. Kane

It should really be no surprise that since 2005, more than a third of the victims of identity theft in the United States are college students. That's because students rarely take precautions to protect themselves agains identity theft, because lots of people have potential access to their personal information, and because they are the recipients of a ton of credit card and other commercial junk mailings.

Todd Davis, the CEO of LifeLock, the nation's first identity theft prevention service for consumers, offered us these tips for parents and college-bound students to help protect them from becoming victims of identity thieves.

1. Buy and use a shredder. Never throw away anything that has your name, address, or other indentifying information without shredding it first.

2. Most students have at least one roommate. They and their roommate(s) frequently bring lots of people into their living areas. And, many others generally live in close proximity. Everyone wants to trust the people around us, but residing in an apartment or dormitory puts us among folks we don't really know. Therefore, it's smart to limit the information left out in the open or on a computer.

3. Parents, have your son or daughter order a free credit report, and check it for problems. You can get one free report a year, and resolve any problems you identify.

4. In the most recent three years, more than two hundred universities, colleges, school districts and student lending organizations have lost personal information on nearly 9 million students, faculty, and staff. Despite increases in institutional security, social security numbers and other critical identifiers are lost or stolen at a steady pace. Thus, it makes sense to take steps to make sure you have protected your identity in the event your information becomes vulnerable to identity thieves.

5. Opt out of all junk mail, as soon as possible. Identity thieves can steal credit card offers from your mailbox or garbage (if you fail to shred), fill in the applications with your name and their address, and charge thousands of dollars of goods and services to you. It happens every day.

6. Have free fraud alerts placed on personal information. Fraud alerts, offered by the major credit bureaus at no cost, mean that credit agencies will contact you directly to get your approval whenever someone tries to open a new credit account in your name or change your address. Thus, even if a thief manages to obtain your information, you can potentially stop him or her from opening new a new account or making an address change on an existing one. You can request fraud alerts yourself, but you must renew them several times a year, and they can fail if the creditors don?t make the call (as they are supposed to). Paying a company a small monthly fee to take care of the fraud alerts for you may be a good option, especially if the company offers you an identity theft guarantee.

Taking a bit of time and exercising some caution to prevent identity theft is well worth the effort. Protect yourself by being cautious, aware, and alert.

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Credit Card Debt Settlement - Strapped Consumers Seek Relief

By Carina McMullen

For those consumers who are deeply in debt with all manner of different credit cards, they can utilize a credit card debt settlement service that can help them remove a tremendous amount of debt from their credit. By utilizing a professional service, the process of credit card debt settlement can take less than 36 months and leave them with sterling credit and a far sunnier outlook on life in general. With the multitude of different types of credit card debt settlement services, it isn't too difficult for card holders to achieve the settlement that they need, as long as they understand the facts about the program and that they choose the proper credit card debt service and strategy that works for their personal situation. There are so many individuals dealing with credit card debt around the world, which makes it easy to see that this form of relief is a valuable and suitable method of avoiding bankruptcy.

These different types of credit card debt settlement services and professionals can assist greatly in tremendously reducing the amount of credit card debt that a person owes. With all this help, it is far easier to get out of debt and beat out the credit card debt that one owes. Quite often, these credit card debt settlement companies can end harassment from credit card company phone calls and minimize the contact that credit card holders must have with these annoying individuals. Credit card debt settlement companies and services generally work closely with credit card companies in order to assist debtors in removing the level of credit collectors that continue to contact and harass them. Debt settlement professionals work to minimize the stress and difficulty of dealing with credit card collectors oneself, so that debtors can relax and enjoy peace of mind in knowing that the debt settlement company that they have selected is doing all the work for them and is busy reducing the amount of credit card debt that they owe.

Credit card debt settlement is a worthwhile strategy that can save credit card holders a tremendous amount of money, as well as bring them up-to-date on their payments. In many cases, debtors are required to stop making credit card payments altogether and begin saving their payments in a separate account. Once they have 40 to 60% of the amount that is owed, the debt settlement negotiator will advise them to offer that amount for repayment of the entire loan.

Perhaps one of the most important aspects of credit card debt settlement is that it saves debtors from bankruptcy. Going bankrupt would have catastrophic effects on one's credit score, and victims would be marked as bankrupts. Credit card debt settlement helps credit card holders to reduce credit payments by as much as 60%. It also does not have as negative an impact on credit scores as bankruptcy does. Any way you look at it, no one wants to be in debt, and credit card debt settlement is one solution to this issue, which has escalated to even higher levels in the current economic crisis.

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