How much can you Borrow? The question everyone applying for a loan wants the answer to is “how much do I qualify for? Depending on your credit score & the amount of your revolving debt, a few home equity lenders may let you borrow up to 100% of the appraised value of your home. When you apply for a loan online, always ask the lender about the terms for the home equity loan. How many years is the loan for? Is the interest rate fixed or variable? If you are applying for a home equity line of credit, discuss whether or not there is a minimum draw requirement at closing.

Don’t forget to find out about the accessibility. In other words, how do you access to your credit line? (ie. checks, credit card, etc.?) Ask the loan officer if after the draw period expires, whether or not it will you may be able to renew your credit line. If you cannot, find out if the interest rate will continue to be variable for the repayment period. If there are fixed rate options, get them.

Verify with your loan officer that there is no balloon payment with the second mortgage. If there is, you may be required to pay off the entire outstanding balance, when the balloon payment is due.

How much cash can you get out of your home? If you have good credit, and have for example $75,000 in equity, you should be able access the entire $75,000. There are quite a few home equity lenders that offer equity loans up to 100% of the appraised value of your home. A few brokers and lenders, like BD Nationwide Mortgage can offer you second mortgages up to 125% of home’s appraised value. Typically 125% loans will have some cash out limits. Depending upon your credit score, 125% second mortgages will allow cash back between $25,000 and $75,000 in addition to the debt consolidation.

Dan Ambrose is a true mortgage authority who has been in the business for nearly 15 years. Today Dan is a free-lance writer, and account executive for Irwin Home Equity. He offers loan tips to anyone interested in maximizing home equity. Previously, Dan has done some consulting for Countrywide, and BD Nationwide Mortgage. You can read more of his articles about Second Mortgage & Home Equity Loans online. For a complete look at home equity loans please visit 2nd Mortgage & Debt Consolidation or go to 125 second mortgages online. If you want more tips, please check out the “FTC Fast Facts - Home Equity Credit Lines” published by the Federal Trade Commission.

Share This

Following in the footsteps of many of its high street competitors, Alliance and Leicester has announced that it will no longer accept new customers onto its Online Saver and Direct ISA accounts. The interest rate for the Online Savers account is also being cut from 5.35% to a straight 5%.

Richard Brown of the financial comparison website Moneynet believes that Alliance and Leicester (A&L), in common with its high street competitors, has seen its costs rise as a result of recent rule changes covering things like the way mortgages and general insurance are policed. He added, “Unfortunately it’s the consumer who shoulders much of this additional burden”

It seems to many of their loyal customers that A&L is indeed determined to make their customers pay in an effort to purge costs and boost their profits. These cuts are only the latest of a series of changes that A&L have made during recent months. First to go was the cashback scheme on their Moneyback credit card. The Moneyfacts financial data website pointed out in February, that A&L had increased the APR on their credit cards for all purchases up to 16.9%; as well as increasing penalty fees, and introducing punitive new clauses to current accounts. Other charges have been introduced to their mortgage products, balance transfer fees on credit cards, reductions in children’s savings accounts, whilst The Guardian has revealed some suspect changes that have been implemented to their systems to increase the number of customers who breach their overdraft agreements, triggering penalty charges.

A&L has said that there is no hidden agenda, and that it still leads the way compared with its banking rivals.

A&L however, are not the only financial group to be feeling the pinch. Barclays, HBOS and Royal Bank of Scotland have all warned about credit arrears. An announcement concerning job losses at Scottish Widows, came alongside admissions from their owners LLOYDS TSB that there was, “An increase in the number of customers experiencing repayment difficulties” with their credit card debts and unsecured personal loans. According to Lloyds’ Chief Executive, Eric Daniels, we are currently experiencing, “a slowing consumer environment”.

Recent announcements by the Treasury delivered the worst monthly public borrowing figures since records began in 1993, re-igniting fears over a possible rise in taxes.

Consumers are reducing the amount they borrow on credit cards and analysts predict mortgage lending in the UK will plummet by 10 per cent over the next three years, as the out of control growth in house prices finally stalls.

Independent market analyst Datamonitor claims, lenders who have been enjoying a boom in recent years, will struggle to maintain the momentum and be forced to work harder to secure market share.

Investor Connections, a group of independent financial advisers, has called for an accurate assessment of the UK’s current economic position, after statistics showed the three main asset classes, shares, bonds and property are all experiencing downward trends.

This downturn should spell good news for borrowers and homeowners, as the mortgage and credit industries fight for customers and sharpen up on their competitiveness; however the evidence of Lloyds TSB’s actions seems to belie this. With HBOS forced to criticise the other credit card companies for failing to provide customers with adequate product information, despite repeated requests to do so from consumer lobby groups and watchdogs on the Treasury Select Committee, it looks like the majority of finance companies are currently out to protect themselves and their share-holders, with little regard for their customers.

At a time when UK consumers are proportionately saving less than half of what they were 25 years ago, you might be forgiven for thinking that competition in the banking world would be becoming increasingly cut-throat in order to gain customers’ business, but it seems that the big institutions are instead looking to go down the route of cost reduction to protect their profits. There are savings are out there to be made, but they are savings in costs to be made by the finance companies, at the expense of the consumer, rather than beneficial savings for the customer.

Richard works in Edinburgh for a media company, occasionally writing for the personal finance blog Cashzilla, and drinking too much coffee.

Share This

An auto loan calculator helps a person to decide monthly auto loan payment or auto purchase price. These calculators are also known as ’self-help tools’ for independent use but these tools are not intended to provide investment, legal, tax, or accounting advice. An auto loan calculator is a simple programmable calculating tool. It provides help to those customers who are planning to take an automotive loan after making calculation of their loan payment installments. It helps a person to determine spending capacity on an automobile.

Auto loan calculator helps a person to understand that:

Which is better: a new or used vehicle?
What vehicle can a person afford with his available money?
Which vehicle loan is better?
Which is better: a rebate or special dealer financing?
Which loan term should be opted?

This is used as a decision making tool. A simple auto loan calculator simply works on inputs such as the amount of loan availed; this is based on the margin money the borrower willing to pay and the value of his earlier vehicle, the length of the loan and the rate of interest charged. A person can easily analyze its monthly repayments. These loan calculators will ask for three main elements or variables that are principal payment, interest and the total number of payments arranged.

An auto loan calculator is simple to understand. It can easily be used and doesn’t require much time.

The author presents a website on auto loan calculator. Website provides information about meaning, advantages and purpose of auto loan calculator. You can visit his site to get info about auto loan payment

Share This