FOREX Freedom

The FOREX (Foreign Exchange Currency Trading Market, also know by the term FX) is relatively unknown which is surprising because it is the largest financial market in the world and sees approximately 1.9 trillion US dollars worth of trade on an average day.

Everyone has heard of stocks and shares, probably even the futures market, but trading the FOREX market is a relatively new phenomenon. Until de-regulation in 1997, the FOREX was the domain of the banking fraternity and the elite in financial and business circles, but now with as little as $300 any individual can open an account and trade on the FOREX.

Foreign currency trading is such a lucrative and easy to understand market that many who used to trade stocks, bonds, commodities and futures have switched to trading nothing but FOREX. More and more astute internet entrepreneurs are shunning the traditional financial markets and turning to FOREX trading. Even Bill Gates and the world renowned trader Warren Buffet now trade currencies as part of their overall strategies.

As currency markets are some of the most volatile markets, many fundamental variables such as weather and war affect the price of the currency. However, since there is no single apparent reason much of the time for price movement, the fundamentals get discounted and one can use an almost purely technical approach to trading. This is why the FOREX is considered one of the most predictable trending markets that follows technical analysis methods more than any other market. These price movements are highly predictable, creating trends that can be anticipated when it comes to decide when to buy and sell.

With real estate, the prices must go up in order to make a capital gain. With the stock market, traders need stock prices to rise in order to take a profit. Unlike real estate or the stock market, which relies on property value or shares increasing in price to create profit, money can be made both on a rising and falling FOREX market.

The FOREX is the best trending market as it keeps moving in the same direction (this can be UP or DOWN) over 78% of the time. You can sell a currency (go short) just as easy as you can buy a currency (go long). Currencies go up and down and you can trade either direction just as easily ensuring there is always plenty of trading opportunities. It is possible to strategically plan your market entry and exit levels and control exactly how much you profit or lose. Investors can even make a profit when they misjudge the market 50% of the time! Compare that to other types of investments.

The FOREX market is also the most liquid market in the world. Many other forms of investing require tying your money up for long periods of time, and if you need to use the capital it can be difficult or impossible to access to it without taking a huge loss. Not so with FOREX trading, you have full control of your capital.

Entry orders are instant. There is no lag time in placing an order. Orders are processed instantly at the current market price, or the price at which you set the order to enter the market in the future.

All done electronically and considered an over-the-counter (OTC) market, FOREX trading is far easier and less risky than either the futures or the stock markets and far more liquid than the futures markets.

Quite easily, the foreign exchange market dwarfs the stock market of any country. To illustrate, this is 30 times larger than all the US stock markets combined.

Currency brokers usually give their traders 100:1 leverage, meaning that if there is $1000 in ones account, they will let one control $100,000, which allows currency traders to reap large gains from relatively small price movements in the market.

In the FOREX market, you pay NO commissions and NO exchange fees. This can add up to quite a significant overhead in other financial markets. Even when you use discount brokers, those fees add up. With the FOREX, since you deal directly with the market maker via a purely electronic online exchange, you eliminate both ticket costs and middleman brokerage fees. There is still a cost to initiating any trade, but the broker just takes a small difference between the bid price and the ask price as its fee for the transaction of a currency pair. Since the FOREX market is very liquid, the spread between the bid/ask is very small. In the FOREX market, you also do not have to worry about having a large sum of money in your account to sell your currency pairs. As a trader gains experience, a full service paid broker is no longer necessary.

On another note, in the stock trading world, you are flagged if you are deemed to be a day-trader. In other words, if a trader of stocks chooses to trade every day, he or she must have an account balance of 50,000 dollars to do so. There are no such restrictions when it comes to trading the FOREX. If you work at night, you may trade in the daytime. For those that have jobs during the day, the FOREX market is much more accessible as trading can be done at night or early in the morning before going to work.. You simply trade according to the schedule that works best for you. As there is no central exchange and because it is a world market FOREX can be traded 24 hours a day so it need not get in the way of your other business interests or social life.

Another advantage that the FOREX market has over stocks is the advantage of trading focus; instead of having to choose between over 4,000 stocks you can deal with 7 main currency pairs. Any good business person knows that focussing on too many things is a recipe for financial disaster and this can hold equally true in the stock market. A stock trader also must grapple with the time issue doing research on all those potential stocks presents. It is also much easier to become familiar with 7 areas as opposed to 4,000. Focus is the name of the game.

So, where is the foreign currency market located? Well, unlike the stock exchanges of the world, the foreign currency market is a virtual market that is connected by the internet, phones and fax.

Most brokers offer a free demo version of their live software, easily downloaded and installed.

The wonderful thing about these programs are that they work exactly like the real versions, with buy/sell capability; real-time charting with data updates; several dozen indicators; live price feed or a minimal 10 second delay; a realistic $50,000 account with active profit and loss; open, pending and closed trades; and actual stop, limit and market trades. No account deposit is needed. Traders can practice trading tactics until confident and successful before they even part with a cent of their own money.

Unlike learning how to invest in the stock market, for example, where you have to pretend that someone will sell to you and that someone will buy from you – and that is not real at all, the FOREX market is so liquid (instant buyers and sellers) that both the demo and real accounts behave exactly the same! What a great way to learn – when you switch to a real account, you can't even tell.

You can practice, using various proven techniques, with your demo account until you feel comfortable that you are consistently making profits.

Once you feel that you have been obtaining consistent trading results, you can start trading on the FOREX for as little as $300 dollars. There are two types of real accounts, a mini FOREX trading account and regular FOREX trading account. Most FOREX Brokers offer 100:1 leverage which means a in a mini account you can control $10,000 currency position with $100. In a regular account $1000 controls a $100,000 currency position. This provides great leverage and an extremely efficient use of trading capitol.

Get ready for a life-changing adventure! Once you get a taste of making money by sitting in front of your computer monitor, there is no turning back. But the best part is, it can be fun and get you more involved in your own financial portfolio.

What Is A Tax Lien And When It Is Used?

A lien is defined as the right to hold or sell property that is owned by an individual who owes debt. The property is often sold to make payment on the debt or the property is held as security until the debt is paid off. There are many financial institutions that use a lien to obtain the amount of money owned to them. In addition to financial institutions, the federal government also uses tax liens to obtain money until their debt is paid off in full.

When the federal government makes a tax lien claim on a property, there is really nothing a taxpayer can do besides pay the amount of money they owe or try to work something out with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Since the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is mostly interested in getting their money and nothing else, taxpayers may wish to hire the services of a professional tax attorney. Professional tax attorneys are experienced with dealing with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and developing a solution that benefits everyone involved.

When the government takes hold of a property they have a number of things they can do. Most county governments offer what is called a tax sales auction. This auction is open to the general public and the public can purchase the property or purchase a debt that will be later paid off. When an individual is purchasing the debt instead of the property it is as if they are loaning money to the taxpayer who is behind on their taxes owed. The individual who agrees to pay the amount of taxes due on the property will have their name placed on a lien certificate. This certificate will be used in case a property owner still is unable to make good on the amount of money he or she owes. At this time the individual who purchased a lien on the property has the right to foreclose on the property if they wish to do so.

In addition to auctions where only a lien certificate is purchased, there are tax lien property sales. These sales are also open to the general public and they are often performed as an auction. When an individual is the winning bidder at deed sale they become the new owners of the property. These new property owners will not be responsible for any previous mortgages or previous liens. http://www.taxhelpdirectory.com/taxliencertificate/

A tax lien is often imposed by the government as one last chance to try and obtain the amount of money a property owner owes them. Once a lien tax has been filed against an individual and their property, their credit may be damaged. A lien imposed by the government often prevents individuals from being able to purchase new properties, new vehicles, or even lease an apartment. If you are unable to pay the amount of money owed on your taxes it is important you contact a tax attorney today. Take action now and learn about your tax lien options before it becomes too late.

Tax Deduction – Meal Per Diems

Per Diems deduction can be one of the best flight attendant deductions. This deduction depends on which city you layover in. The IRS states that you can either itemize each city you fly to or you may take a standard rate. If you fly domestic, this standard rate can work to your advantage. We are seeing a nice jump in them minimum about in 2006. Previous the base rate was $31 a day for meals and incidentals; in 2006 the base rate has jumped to $39. However keeping track of every city is important as many cities are substantially higher that the base rate, as high as $61. Alaska and Hawaii can be as high as $91. We have attached both 2005 and 2006 U.S. rates. Also realize that changes in per diem rates are from October to October, thus you need to keep track of locations times. A few seasonal cities even have seasonal per diem rates.

If you fly any international trips, it is well worth itemizing out your layover cities. The standard rate for International is $46 per day where as the daily rate for a common city such as London is $100 per day. Both Alaska and Hawaii are included on international rates. When figuring out your Per Diem, you use Meals and Incidental rates. For instance in Anchorage Alaska you take the Local Meal rate of $71 plus the Incidental rate of $18 for an M&I of $89. International rates do not have the same October to October schedule of change.

If you just flew domestic, the IRS will allow us to use an average rate based on the number of days you flew. Turn arounds are not included in this deduction. Once you calculate the total amount you are allowed, the total non-taxable per diem that you were paid by your airline is subtracted.

Flight attendants get an additional break here. For the average work in America than can only deduct 50% of their meal expense. In 2005 Flight Attendants can deduct 70% of their actual expense or per diems, minus any nontaxable payments your employer paid you. This amount will climb to 80% by 2008

For Businesses, Self Employed

You can deduct 50 percent of ordinary and necessary business expenses for entertaining a client, customer or employee if it is directly related to your business or associated with your business. It is essential to keep excellent records for business entertainment expenses. For example, if you take someone out for a meal, be sure to document the date, the amount, the place the meal took place, the business purpose of the meal, and the business relationship. If you hold a party, you should keep a copy of the guest list, noting your respective business relationships.

IRS rules for business-related meals, entertainment and gifts allow you substantial opportunities to convert personal expenses into deductions.

How would you like to get a discount of 14% to nearly 20% on your meals and entertainment expenses? If your meals and entertainment expenses were deductible, a $100 meal would cost only $86.25 if you were in the 27% tax bracket.

Tax laws allow you to deduct half of your meals and entertainment expenses if they are business-related. Any expenses for food and drink provided under circumstances considered favorable to a business discussion, or when a business discussion is held, can be deducted. If you are self-employed, you can deduct them as part of your adjustments to income.

Entertaining Business Clients

By far, the most commonly used aspect of this deduction relates to entertainment and food, however. The custom of entertaining business clients or potential business clients with food and drink in restaurants and hotels converts into deductible expenses. When you go out with friends or relatives for a meal or drink, do you ever pick up the check? If they are or could be potential clients or customers for your business, and you discussed business with them, then that check would be deductible.

Even if you do not talk business at the meal, it will be deductible if the meal follows or precedes a business discussion. Recognize that no actual business need come from the meeting so long as business was discussed. Be careful, if you meet with some one regularly and exchange picking up the tab, you can face a tremendous penalty. If caught by the Internal Revenue Service, the deduction will be disallowed as a sham and subject you to fraud penalties. However, do not hesitate to deduct legitimate expenses.

Not only can you deduct meals, but you can also deduct business entertainment expenses. Money spent for business entertainment, amusement or recreation can be deducted if you can show the expense:

• Directly preceded or followed a substantial business discussion;
Or;

• Directly related to the active conduct of your trade or business.

• Examples of potentially deductible expenses include entertaining guests at nightclubs, theaters, sports games, or even vacation trips.

Do not waste much energy building up deductible entertainment expenses unless you are prepared to do it right. This area is always a target of audits and is one of the most abused of all expenses. Make sure that each receipt (or notation in your appointment book or business diary) has ALL FIVE of the following components:

• The amount of each expenditure;

• The date of the expenditure;

• The name, address or location, and type of expenditure, such as dinner or theater, if the information is not apparent in the name or designation of the place;

• The reason for the expenditure or the business benefit derived or expected to be gained. While this sounds complicated, it is really easy.

• Information about the person or persons entertained, including the name, title or other designation sufficient to establish the business relationship to you.

You must have a receipt or other documentary evidence for meals or entertainment expenses of $75 or more. Currently, for expenditures of less than $75, you do not need a receipt. In a recent audit, when asked for "all" of my receipts. I brought out only those over $75 and my records for the rest. The auditor had to take what I gave him as proof. Fully acceptable substantiation would include a diary or written planner in which you enter the above descriptive information. I put this information on my business software records. Even in an audit, the entries are complete substantiation under the law.

While most meals or entertainment expenses can only be deducted for half of the cost, certain meal and entertainment expenses remain fully deductible:

• Expenses reimbursed under an "accountable plan;"

• Expenses incurred for recreational or social activities provided by the employer for the benefit of its employees. These might be the annual company picnic or holiday party;

• Expenses for goods, services and facilities made available to the general public, such as promotional tickets or customer samples;

• Expenses related to the ticket package costs for sporting events arranged primarily for the purpose of charitable fund-raising.

The deductions for meals and entertainment allow you substantial opportunities to convert your personal expenditures into business deductions. Do not fail to claim them and do not fail to keep them because of lack of adequate substantiation. In the 30.5% tax bracket, $100 worth of entertainment expenses costs you $84.75. No matter how much money you're making, it would be worth $15.25 in tax savings to spend 30 seconds noting the name of your business clients and the business discussion on the back of your ticket stub or receipt.

Mortgage Rates, Loans And Financing

Very low mortgage rates have been instrumental in increasing the purchasing power of millions in the US, Europe and around the world. For one year mortgage rates are on the rise and home prices leveling out. Foreclosures are becoming more common, especially in the American Midwest, but it is still on a low level. We can now expect a gradual rise in mortgage rates the coming year. The 30-year rates will likely continue to rise in the upcoming months, but should not go past 7% in the US. In Europe the 5 year interest rate is around 5-6%. So if you plan to get a fixed rate loan, you should act quickly because mortgage rates are predicted to push past 7% in the US over the next few weeks.

The second mortgage rates on high loans to value loans above 90% on real estate investment properties can come close to 20%, even if you have a very good score. It might be a good time now to refinance your home or get a mortgage loan with attractive rates. Search the Internet and you will find a lot of online companies offering low mortgage rates all over the country.

A survey that was performed recently shows that there is a increase of foreclosure rates and delinquent mortgage payments across the country. Also lenders, just like consumers, feel the effects of a slowing economy and rising mortgage interest rates. No wonder we hear lots of discussions about rising mortgage interest rates.

A forty-year mortgage rates offer lower monthly installments, which suits the needs of first time home buyers as well as borrower who otherwise do not qualify for any other option. Of course there are many factors that can affect the mortgage rates but mortgage rates should be relatively stable for the foreseeable future.

Some persons prefer to have a fixed mortgage payment to maintain their peace of mind. Then you should have it and if you took the loan a couple of years ago you certainly made the right choice. For others there are a wide range of options currently available.

With an adjustable rate, the rate of interest is linked to factors like the Prime Rate. There are also other variations of the adjustable interest rate. As said before, if the market appears to be on a longer rise, locking in a fixed rate now can save you money in the future.

It is impossible to mention the rates individually, as there are a wide number of factors and statistics involved and they vary from day to day. It also depends on when you happen to read this article. Often the credit companies are also skeptical in offering the forty-year mortgage rate option to their customers as there are other existing ways of reducing monthly payments.

Searching on the Internet, using lowest mortgage rates as keyword, will provide you detailed information on Compare Low Mortgage Rates, Lowest Commercial Mortgage Rates, Lowest First Mortgage Rates, Lowest Fixed Mortgage Rates and more. That is an excellent way to get the basic facts for the time being and will give you a better understanding of which plan to choose.

1% Mortgage Refinance - How?

1% Mortgage Refinance loans, you’ve probably seen 100 different advertisements, but how is it possible? There is really only one big secret to 1% mortgages: 1% minimum payments are below the interest payable on the loan. Once we’ve addressed this feature, most of the other facets of 1% mortgages are relatively logical. 1% mortgages, which now come in dozens of varieties with start rates from below 1% (some even starting at 0% for a few months after refinance) up to 4% or more, offer astonishingly low payments. Some of them offer fixed rates for 30 or even 40 years, some of them are adjustable from the day you take them out, all of these are basically “1% mortgages” and are extremely popular amongst homeowners today. 1% mortgages and their offspring are being used for debt consolidation, cash flow management, investments, and for tax purposes, and they are being used a lot.

A full 40% of home loans originated in 2005 and 2006 are estimated to be from the 1% mortgage family, with multiple payment options. By its proponents, the success of the 1% mortgage has been hailed as a new era of affordability and flexibility, of an extremely sharp financial tool once available only to the very rich now available to every family in the country. Its opponents tend to think that the 1% mortgage is a bit too sharp for the average homeowner to handle, they fear “Average Joes” could conceivably cut themselves. Despite their division, one thing is certain, the popularity of the 1% mortgage is driven by the relentless pursuit of the American dream. There are more homeowners in the United States today than in any other period in history, and many of those who own homes have only been able to accomplish home ownership, which was once a lifelong achievement, in their early 20’s and 30’s, largely because of the extended availability of these 1% mortgages to normal borrowers.

How much less expensive is a 1% mortgage payment option versus the comparable 30 Year Fixed traditional principal and interest payment?

For a $500,000.00 Mortgage:

1% Minimum Payment: $1200.00
Normal Loan Payment: $3000.00
-----------------------------
Cash Flow / Savings: $1800.00

It’s easy to see why the 1% mortgage refinance is so heavily marketed as a way to cut your mortgage payment in half. In the above example, the 1% mortgage minimum payment option is 60% less than a typical, traditional principal & interest loan payment. 1% mortgage minimum payments are usually 50% lower than even the highly lauded Interest Only payment mortgages, and most loans in the 1% mortgage family include the ability to pay more than just 1% if need be.

So How Does it Work?

In fact, 1% mortgages are more than just the 1% start rate. They have a fully indexed rate as well, which is the true amount of interest due each month. When making a 1% mortgage minimum payment, the borrower is not paying all of the interest due, which is seen by some as a good thing and some as a bad thing. Let’s examine some of the commonly perceived benefits and caveats of 1% mortgages:

Commonly Perceived Benefits of the 1% Mortgage Family:

1. Extremely Low Monthly Minimum Payment: As we’ve seen in our example, the minimum payment option is less than half of the typical traditional mortgage payment.

2. Flexibility to Control Your Own Money: Unlike a traditional mortgage, which requires a payment to principal each month, 1% mortgages allow borrowers to take the power into their own hands to make principal payments when they want to, e.g after a bonus or a particularly good year.

3. Separate Cash Flow from Equity: While many personal finance pundits laud the benefits of building home equity, the reality is that investing home equity yields a 0% return on investment on a month to month basis. In the above example, paying the traditional principal and interest payment forces the borrower to invest $1800 more each month in their home, money which is locked up entirely in the equity of the home. Home Equity is illiquid, meaning all this money locked in equity cannot be accessed unless the home is sold or refinanced. The bank won’t cut a check each month for the borrower’s home equity in a traditional loan. With a 1% mortgage minimum payment, that $1800 difference in payments is money in the borrower’s pocket, to invest or spend at their discretion. By deferring interest using a 1% mortgage, the borrower has full access to money that normally would be locked up until they sold the property. That $1800 per month adds up to over $100,000.00 in cash over 5 years on a 1% mortgage, and it’s available every time your paycheck does not get used up paying a huge traditional mortgage payment each month.

4. Maximize Debt Consolidation: Using a 1% mortgage refinance to pay off all of your other creditors, such as credit card companies and high interest rate lenders, means that you can save even more money than with a 1% mortgage refinance alone. Since you aren’t throwing high interest money at your creditors each month, the cash which you save by making the 1% mortgage payment actually goes into your pocket, your savings, your investments, or wherever you need it most. That’s ultimate control. Let’s say that in our $500,000 1% mortgage example above, we rolled in $30,000 of credit card and other high interest debt that have a monthly minimum payment requirement of $1,000. By using a 1% mortgage refinance to pay off those debts, total monthly savings using the earlier example would be over $2800 per month, $1000 from the debt consolidation plus $1800 from the difference between the traditional loan payment at 6% and the 1% mortgage minimum payment.

5. Turn Equity into a Tax Deduction: First, the 1% mortgage payment is 100% interest and therefore should be 100% tax deductible in most cases. Secondly, One of the most attractive benefits of 1% mortgages is the additional tax deduction available on deferred interest. What this means is that borrowers can realize a tax deduction on interest they did not have to lay out the cash for, and choose the time at which this deduction is realized, which can be a huge savings upon liquidity or refinance. For real estate investors, this is a huge advantage as it can often wash out the capital gains consequences of selling a property. Disclaimer: We do not dispense tax advice, and you should consider consulting a CPA.

6. Easy Qualification: Normally, to qualify for low payment mortgages, borrowers are required to have exceptional credit. However, 1% mortgage refinance loans are routinely available to borrowers with credit scores as low as 620, and if they are borrowing less than 80% of the value of their home, scores can even be in the 500s provided there are no late mortgage payments reported on their credit file. The borrower’s income can be stated, and sometimes no income or employment documentation is required at all.

7. Enhanced Protection from Foreclosure: Because the minimum payment option is so low, the cash savings each month so high, and the loan is so flexible, the 1% mortgage family offers homeowners a low minimum payment option which they have a much higher likelihood of paying should they suffer an interruption of income or become disabled.

8. Biweekly Payments: A popular way to maximize the benefits of the 1% mortgage refinance is to elect to make biweekly payments (which are available on select 1% mortgages). This optimizes the loan to coincide with most borrower’s payment cycles and reduces any possible negative effects of deferring interest.

Commonly Perceived Caveats of the 1% Mortgage Family:

1. Artificially Low Payments: Because the minimum payments are so low compared to traditional mortgages, many pundits fear that people who would normally not qualify for home ownership can now own a home. The fear is that new or “low income” homeowners could “get in over their heads” by buying more house than they can truly afford. Ultimately, it is up to the borrower to decide how much they can afford.

2. Deferred Interest: Often referred to as negative amortization, this concern is commonly cited by journalists as a “negative” because the loan balance may increase over time if the minimum payment is always selected. However, this perspective does ignore the advantages of dramatically increased cash flow in the borrower’s pocket each month and the tax benefits of deferring interest. Of course, the borrower can choose for themselves whether they want to spend their money paying interest to the bank or if they would rather put the difference into their own pockets.

3. Depreciation: If the value of the borrower’s home falls dramatically, and other factors force the borrower to sell the home while the value is low, the borrower may wind up owing more than the home is worth. This is a valid risk over short periods of time for all types of mortgages, not just 1% mortgages. Even a traditional principal and interest mortgage does not pay off enough principal over the first 5 years of its life to offset a dramatic short term decline in home values. The risk of property values declining is a real risk of owning property, period. However, history tells us that residential real estate appreciates consistently over any given ten year period in the past 50 years.

4. Too Easy To Qualify: This may not seem to be a disadvantage to most borrowers looking to purchase or refinance a home, but there are those who believe that borrowers should be forced to document significantly more income and assets to qualify for these types of loans. A lot of this sentiment is an outgrowth of antiquated conceptions of 1% mortgages as a “Rich Man’s Mortgage”, which used to require significant net worth to obtain, and some of it is attributable to equally antiquated “one size fits all” notions about mortgages. Your perspective will likely depend on whether or not you are in a position to provide extensive documentation of your income and assets in support of your loan application.

Many of the criticisms of 1% mortgages revolve around the adjustable rate variety of these mortgages, which like all adjustable rate mortgages go up and down with the rest of the market. However, in most 1% mortgages, the minimum payment stays fixed and can go up or down only 7.5% per year. So if your payment in Year 1 is $1000.00 , in Year 2 it can go no higher than $1075.00. Because the rate on the loan can change more or less than the minimum payment, which is extremely low, the loan can result in the deferral of interest if only the minimum payment is made. Many of the amortization issues which are seen by critics of 1% Mortgages as their key detractor have been recently resolved by the introduction of fixed rate minimum payment loans to the 1% mortgage family.

Fixed rate 1% mortgage variations, the latest additions to the 1% mortgage family, have fixed interest rates from 3 to 30 years or more. The minimum payment option is generally available for the first 5, 10, 15 or in some cases 20 years of the mortgage, at which point the 1% mortgage payment recasts or readjusts to the interest only payment or the full principal & interest payment. During the fixed period, the loan payment and interest rates of fixed 1% mortgages are utterly predictable and can be defined down to the penny. Many borrowers who would prefer a fixed rate can benefit significantly from the 30 year fixed 1% mortgage, which actually carries a minimum payment of 1.95% and a fixed rates in the 6% to 7% range for 30 years.

While there are those in the journalism community who believe that 1% mortgages have too much power for your average homeowner, ultimately the decision is in the homeowner’s hands. Make a high payment to the bank each month, or put the money in their pockets. And homeowners seem evenly divided, as refinances into loans from the 1% mortgage category are projected to represent over 50% of all refinances in 2007. Traditional mortgages are not a one size fits all solution, and neither are 1% mortgages, but with low minimum payment options, excellent debt consolidation capabilities, significant cash flow and tax advantages made possible by deferring interest, and flexibility to control your finances or insulate yourself from interruptions in income or disability, 1% mortgages continue to post significant growth across the country. Whether or not a 1% mortgage refinance is right for you should be determined by performing a detailed analysis of your personal financial situation with a home loan professional who has extensive experience with 1% mortgage products. As always, we welcome your calls and emails.

Check Your Mortgage Plan Every Year

Do you know that the higher your credit score is, the lower your mortgage interest rate will be. That is obvious to some but not everyone. Another good thing with some mortgages is that there are alternatives which will help secure you a lower interest rate for the first three to five years. At the end of that period you can sell the property or refinance the loan. There are also valuable knowledge to find on the Internet with detailed highlights of the fixed rate second mortgage, which is just like a regular mortgage loan but it is a secured loan guaranteed by the same asset as the first mortgage and holds an interest rate that can be fixed or variable.

Mortgage loans are sometimes the most difficult loans to receive if you have bad credit because lenders focus heavily on your credit score and history of making payments on time. But there are lenders focusing on this group of persons and generally the interest is higher as the interest always follow the risk involved. Fixed interest rate is generally on the installment loans of 125%, which are particularly popular among first time home buyers. This is good for them as they do not yet have equity in their homes for debt consolidation, making home improvements, buying furniture, landscaping etc. Also remember that many times the second mortgages can reduce years of interest because these loans allow you to refinance revolving credit into a fixed rate mortgage.

It is important to know that there are significant differences in interest rates among lenders. So a thorough investigation and evaluation of the lenders become important before selecting any one lender and the alternative they offer. It is common that mortgage brokers or lenders charge percentages on the total loan that you borrow. That is a reason why more and more lenders are offering what they term as flexible mortgages.

As from recent moves in the credit card industry, to reduce the number of people switching from one financial provider to another, mortgage lenders are now looking to follow suit. All lenders have to look at their fees much more closely now.

Creditors now evaluate the information about a customer to the credit performance for people with comparable profiles. With the available statistics they will then have all the information they need to work out the best bad credit history mortgage or consolidation loan for you. This will be based on your own personal adverse credit history. So your credit report is vital and the information provided to the credit scoring system lenders use to determine their financial risk in granting you a home loan or home equity line of credit. As times goes, this information changes and your credit scores change as well.

Your equity is the security for your loan and there are steps you can take to increase the value of your equity. To calculate the equity in your home is easy, simply subtract what you owe on your mortgage from the market value of your home. There are some advantage to taking out a second mortgage over a home equity line of credit. If you are borrowing a larger sum of money the main advantage is that your loan will come with a fixed interest rate.

Credit scores are calculated by using a rather complicated algorithm that measures several variables like payment history, amount of available credit compared to your high credit limit, length you carry debt and many more. You can borrow money for many reasons, home improvement, debt consolidation, financial investments, down payment on another property or car loans. Even if your payment history is perfect there are still some banks that can shy away from loaning to you because of a low score caused by debt to income ratio.

Hybrid Option Arm Mortgages

The reality of today’s market is that interest rates are higher than rates from the past few years. What this means for first time homebuyers, real estate investors, and property owners with adjustable rate mortgages is that monthly payments for the traditional 30 year mortgage are becoming more and more of a financial burden.

Fortunately, for current and prospective homeowners who have good payment histories over the last two years and credit scores above 620, an emerging product is making monthly payments for mortgages both affordable and safe.

Hybrid Arms

Similar to Option-Arm mortgages, Hybrid Arm mortgages have 4 different options for monthly payments. These options are:

1.Minimum Payment - minimum payment—can lead to negative amortization.
2.Interest Only Payment - payment on only the interest of the mortgage
3.15 year Amortized Payment - payment towards the principal and interest based on a 15 year term
4.30 – 40 year Amortized Payment - payment towards the principal and interest based on a 30 or 40 year term

The primary difference between an Option-Arm mortgage and a Hybrid Arm mortgage is the length of time the minimum payments and interest rates in a Hybrid Arm are fixed. ption-Arm mortgages typically have fixed interest rates of 1 to 3 months. In contrast, Hybrid Arms have fixed interest rates between 1 and 7 years.

What this means for homeowners is that the benefits of Option-Arm mortgages are now combined with the security of longer termed mortgages.
For example, a homeowner with a 200,000 5-year adjustable mortgage pays $1467.00 before her taxes and insurance. With a 5 year Hybrid Arm, the homeowner would pay $800 a month on the same mortgage. The savings on the minimum payment would be comparable to the savings of an Option-Arm mortgage.

However, for an Option-Arm mortgage, the minimum payment would increase after 1 to 3 months, leading to minimum payments above $800. With a Hybrid Arm, the minimum payment would remain at $800 for the 5 year term. For the homeowner, this means a more predictable monthly payment and a reduced risk for negative amortization.

Hybrid Arms (also known as Hybrid Option Arms and Fixed Option Arms) typically save homeowners about 55% of their typical monthly payments. They are powerful tools to save money and ensure financial freedom. To see if you qualify for a Hybrid Arm, contact a mortgage professional today.