Mortgage Interest Rates Forecast August 19, 2008
Posted by janey in : finance formulas , comments closedIf you have been following the mortgage rates predictions, you will have noticed that there is a growing trend for the mortgage interest rates forecast - and that trend is upward. Home owners have a very small window of time just now to lock in the current low interest rates before the Federal election. After that time, all bets are off. Interest rates will be cut loose from the political weights holding them artificially low.
Current Mortgage Interest Rates Predictions
Mortgage interest rates predictions are on the rise, because of a number of important economic pressures.
1. Mortgage interest rates predictions rise with rising inflation. Oil prices alone are enough to raise inflation right now.
2. Mortgage interest rates predictions rise when the US dollar falls against other currencies - which it has been doing these past few months.
3. Mortgage interest rates predictions rise when risks for lenders increase - because lenders always want to protect themselves and their money.
All these factors are present in the current mortgage market, which means that home owners can expect mortgage interest rates predictions to continue their upwards trend for some years to come.
Refinancing your mortgage can lower your monthly mortgage payment. Not only are current interest rates rather low, but if you have had your mortgage for any length of time, you should have built up some equity in your home, which means that your new mortgage will also be for a lower principal amount - that is, the amount you need to borrow will actually be lower.
Combining lower interest rates with a lower principal loan amount can reduce mortgage payments quite dramatically.
You can use an online mortgage payment calculator to work out what your mortgage payments would be if you were to refinance.
When did the Debt Settlement Industry get so big? November 7, 2007
Posted by janey in : finance formulas , comments closedDebt settlement has been growing by leaps and bounds over the past few years. While it has been around for quite some time it took off in 2005 when the change to the bankruptcy laws took place. Credit card debt settlement is a form of debt relief in which a reduction in the balance is given to the debtor from the creditor on defaulted debt.
The reason the settlement industry has taken off over the past few years is because the option of a Chapter 7 bankruptcy became a lot harder for people to qualify for. Forcing many to look the route of Chapter 13, which is a re-payment process at a lower amount than the balance, somewhat like debt settlement. Whereas a Chapter 7 absolves a debtor of their entire debt amount.
So once the option of going Chapter 7 was all but taken away then settlement became a much more viable option. It does have similarities to a Chapter 13 proceeding, in the sense where you are paying a reduced amount back to the creditors, however through settlement you are not actually going through a bankruptcy proceeding. Which has a much worse effect on your credit than debt settlement does, plus a bankruptcy is a public record for the rest of your life. Where settlement is not in any way a public matter.
For those who are seriously considering going into bankruptcy, they should take a close look at settlement first to see if they qualify for settlement and always have bankruptcy as a matter of last resort.
