Secured Loans

What is a Secured Loan and what are the risks?

A Secured Loan is a loan secured on the homeowners property very much in the same way as a Mortgage is. A Mortgage on a property is known as the “1st Charge” - a Secured Loan therefore becomes the “2nd Charge.” If a Secured Loan is never paid then obviously the Homeowners home is at risk. With the Mortgage company having the 1st charge they therefore reclaim their money first. A Secured Loan Lender would then follow as they are the 2nd charge. It is worth remembering that a Mortgage and Secured Loan Company would only ever repossess a property as a last resort.

A Secured Loan is ideal for Homeowners who are looking to raise finance by using their home as security. Traditionally a Secured Loan can provide Homeowners with a lower APR than that of an Unsecured Loan. Obviously a Loan Lenders APR varies depending on the personal circumstances of the applicant. A Secured Loan can be used for a variety of purposes. The most common Secured Loan purposes are for Home Improvements and for Debt Consolidation.

Home Improvement Secured Loan

A loan that is secured on the applicants home address for the purpose of Home Improvements. The loan can be used for a new conservatory, renovations, extension or simply for double glazing. Almost any form of home improvements can be funded by a secured loan. You may find that some secured loan lenders will require proof of what you will be using the funds for. This can be provided by simply gaining a written quote from someone who you are looking to have the work done by. Chances are a Home Improvement Secured Loan will actually increase the value of your property so it will be money well invested.

Debt Consolidation Loan

A loan that is secured on the applicants home address for the purpose of Debt Consolidation. The loan is generally used to consolidate (pay off) all existing credit by putting it into one secured loan and this generally reduces the monthly payments and therefore frees up more of your monthly income to use for more exciting purposes than clearing credit cards, store cards, loans or hire purchases! Sometimes the only way in which the monthly payments can be reduced is by taking the Secured Loan over a longer period than what the existing credit is currently on. This can increase the amount in total that you will pay back but customers who take a Debt Consolidation Loan generally are more interested in the reduced monthly outgoing on credit.

A Secured Loan can be used for other purposes besides Debt Consolidation and Home Improvements. They can also be used for a Car, Holiday or Wedding. Generally Secured Loan lenders do not raise finance for Business. For a Business Loan it may be a better route to contact your local Bank or Building Society.
Why would I want a Secured Loan instead of an Unsecured Loan?

There are many reasons why.

Repayment Period
A Secured Loan can normally be taken over a longer period than that of an unsecured personal loan. Unsecured Loans can normally only be taken over a maximum of 7 or 10 years. Some Secured Loan Lenders will allow the applicant to take the finance over a 30 year period and most will allow the finance to be spread over 25 years worth of payments. Obviously by taking the loan over a longer period reduces the monthly payment to the applicant - although you must remember the longer you take the loan over the more interest you will pay.

Loan Amount
A Secured Loan amount can often be a lot higher than that of an unsecured personal loan. Secured Loans can be taken up to

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Is the party over for people looking for home equity loans? It may be, by the looks of the financial reports coming in from 2005. It seems that there was a slowing down in the housing market at the end of last year. House prices have started to slowly fall although they are still higher than they were last year and the number of people looking to take out new mortgages has started to decrease.

Many home owners have had a bonanza this past couple of years by freeing up the increasing equity in their home to purchase big ticket items like cars, home improvements and using their home as a virtual ATM machine to make up the difference that maybe lacking in their take home income. But as easy at it maybe have been to get the new home equity loan it all has to be paid off, with interest, added to the fact of declining house prices and a few home owners could be putting themselves to added risk.

Last week the federal regulators to gain some control have advised banks and lending agencies from offering interest only loans they have people needed to purchase homes at today’s prices. Interest rates have risen by more than three percencentage points since mid 2004 which have had the effect of slowing up consumer spending and slowing up the housing market. Although this has worked well up this point in time the housing market has now become nearly half of last years growth rate and has been estimated to have given one million extra jobs to the economy. To avoid putting this in jeopardy it’s thought interest rates may be cut back to protect this.
So what about 2006, it looks like the property market will still remain strong this year but take you time and shop around for the best deals before taking out a home equity loan.

For more information on home equity loans, how to avoid home
equity loan scams and how to protect yourself.
visit http://www.allabouthomeequity.com/ for details.

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Debt consolidation is supposed to help you get free of debt. By combining a lot of smaller debts into one big loan you can pay the debt off with lower repayments. So how come a lot of people have the same debt load two years later?

Answer is, they treated the symptom, not the cause. Debt consolidation only works if you address the underlying problem, which is that you spend more than you earn. Once you’ve consolidated debt, it can be very difficult to do it again.

The way it’s supposed to work is that a loan pays off your debts, you sweep away all your past mistakes and extravagances, get a grip on your finances and vow to live within your means. This way you never again have to face the consequences of any more mistakes and extravagances.

But maybe you had just cause for spending too much. Medical bills are the largest cause of bankruptcy in America. If you got sick or had a major accident you’ve got big bills to pay and this can devastate your finances. If this is you, face up to your debt situation before it gets out of control. Your hospital probably has someone on staff to help people in your situation. Find the person with a sympathetic ear and use them. It’s better to ask for help than to prevaricate and suffer alone.

Your aim should be to keep current with all your non-medical bills, but to work out a way of paying your doctor over a longer period of time. If your medical care providers know that they’ll get their money in the end, there is usually a payment plan that you can use. Remember to keep up to date with your household bills: you’ve got to pay your energy bills but the doctors can wait. They can afford it.

Or maybe the reason you’re still in debt is that you still have to pay your student loans but you’re not yet earning enough to live. If you’re young enough to be in this situation but old enough to have graduated, then the answer’s simple. Get a better job, or get a second job, or both. This sounds tough and it is, but life is tough. If you’ll learn how to be in control of your money at an early age, you’ll be learning how to be one of life’s winners.

For those who are in debt but not sick or young, the simple truth still remains. You’re spending more than you earn.

Here’s a way you can help yourself. Get out your wallet, take out the dollar bills and the credit cards and spread them out on the table. See those credit cards? You probably think of them as infinite plastic. You use them over and over to buy what you want. Until they actually are maxed out, they seem infinite. They will always gratify your spending impulses. That is, if you will let them.

See those dollar bills? They can buy the exact same things as the plastic, but when you’ve handed them over, they’ve gone. If you want more of those bills, you’ve got to earn them. Now get the truth into your head that you can only spend up to the value of those dollar bills. Not one cent more. If you can discipline yourself into this frame of mind, you’ll begin to see that you can repay your debt.

And here’s another thing. You can cut up your plastic even while there’s still money to pay on them. Think about it: destroy the cards but keep up your repayments and one by one those debts will disappear.

If you can think of debt consolidation as a last resort, if you can tackle the causes of your debt (not the symptoms) and if you can promise yourself to start afresh, you can be debt-free.

Gillian Gunner is a writer, software author and webmaster with first-hand experience of debt. She has contributed to Bad Credit and Debt Consolidation and other online financial resources.

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