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Loan modifications and refinancing

June 3rd, 2009

No matter how careful people are, debts can get on top of them. For almost every family, the monthly mortgage installment will be their biggest payment. If there’s an emergency of some kind and more money has to be borrowed on a loan or credit cards, this can disturb the delicate balance between paycheck and monthly payments. What was affordable suddenly becomes unaffordable. How should families react when disaster strikes? The first rule is always to communicate with your lenders. If you have a problem, they should be the first to know. The second rule is to keep paying as much as you can on all your liabilities. The moment you stop, this sacrifices every creditor’s sympathy for your problems. You are now a delinquent, and penalties and service charges will drive up the amount owing. Can this all be avoided? Well, with some care, you can talk some lenders into modifying the loan or refinancing the debt.

The modification you want from your mortgage provider is some reduction in the monthly installment. This may come from extending the term of the loan or from reducing the interest rate applied. Why should a lender modify the loan? The problem for lenders is that foreclosure is a sledgehammer remedy to crack a nut. If the lender does foreclose, there is a small mountain of fees to be paid to end up with ownership of a property it cannot sell in a depressed market. Indeed, lenders are now looking at increased costs to maintain and repair properties to prevent further losses in value. None of these costs will ever be recovered from the borrowers, particularly if they are forced into bankruptcy. It is more cost-effective to take less from a borrower and leave the house occupied. This preserves the asset value and keeps some money coming in from the borrower. Most lenders now have a dedicated department to deal with modification applications. Applying for relief is more likely to receive a constructive response today.

President Obama has pushed through a package called “Making Home Affordable”. It covers both mortgage refinancing and modification. If you qualify, lenders must reduce your monthly repayments so that they are less than 31% of your income. To qualify, you must be current on your loan with no payment more than 30 days overdue. You must be able to show the resale value of your home has dropped by more than 15% and that your personal circumstances justify federal assistance. For these purposes, anyone with a mortgage from Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac qualifies automatically. This can entitle you to interest as low as 2% with all the lender’s losses covered by the government and represents an excellent deal if you can bring yourself within the terms of the scheme. If you do not qualify, it will come down to you or a professional advisor acting on your behalf to talk the mortgage lender into agreeing a refinancing package on favorable terms. It’s in everyone’s interests that you save on mortgage installments and keep making some repayments to the lender. This way leads to peace of mind, knowing that the ownership of your home is secure.

admin Mortgages

Should you overpay your mortgage installments?

June 1st, 2009

There’s a simple rule when it comes to debts. Unless the debt is interest free, continuing to borrow the money is costing you money. If you can earn interest on savings or get a return on other investments, it usually benefits you to pay off the debts and invest your money. Except, if you are overpaying to reduce your debts this can leave you short if there should be an emergency and some lenders dislike people repaying more quickly than they should and charge fees and impose penalties for early repayment. So, applying the general rule, you should always pay off the most expensive loans first. That means those store cards, credit cards and high interest loans you are carrying. Under normal circumstances, mortgage interest tends to be less than commercial loans.

So, for these purposes, let’s assume you have few credit card debts and some savings. What are your options? One is to use the savings to reduce your mortgage debt. This immediately reduces the interest you pay and it will help if you are thinking about refinancing. Property values have been falling fast. In fact, at the time of writing in May 2009, the market has probably not yet bottomed out. That means your loan to value ratio has been falling. Even though you might have had a mortgage for years, you may now find the current balance of the loan is worth more than 90% of the resale value of the property. This will make finding new finance difficult. Even when the ratio is between 80 and 90%, the interest rate is likely to be quite high to reflect the risk of further falls in property values. If you have a capital sum that will lower the amount borrowed, this will make the chances of refinancing at a cheaper rate possible. However, before you pay, make sure you know when the mortgage interest is calculated. You need to ensure you make the capital repayment at a time when you will get the maximum reduction in interest. Also check to see whether there are penalties if you make an early repayment of part of the principal.

The other factor is practicality. Once you pay a lump sum into the mortgage, that money is locked up. If there’s an emergency of some sort, that forces you to borrow all money needed at higher rates of interest. With the current recession in full flow, unemployment is rising fast. It can be worth having some capital set aside to live on should you lose your job or fall ill. In particular, you should have enough to cover your mortgage repayments for six months should your income dry up. So you can save on your mortgage by overpaying installments or paying a lump sum, but it’s not for everyone. Sit down and do the math to see whether it’s really for you. But, if you are looking at mortgage refinancing, having a lump sum to hand makes a very good bargaining chip in both getting a new deal and getting that deal at a low interest rate.

admin Mortgages

The loan for an office

December 22nd, 2008

A mortgage is the ideal solution for first home purchase, for a new apartment, for the much-dreamed of the sea or stay in the mountains and so forth.

The loan can be claimed even by those who intend to open an office to be allocated to its work. In reality there is no special funding for offices, but in most cases it is using normal funding (personal or among members).

Before signing any loan contract, you must read some parameters indicative of the interest to be paid and expenses incurred in the return of capital received.

  • The first indicator of the rate of interest is the TAN – Nominal annual rate – which indicates how you will pay per year of interest (the interest is obtained by multiplying the capital for this percentage).
  • A second and more important indicator is the APR (Annual percentage rate of charge). Unlike TAN, this incorporates all the charges laid down for the complete operation: inquiry, open circulation, collection rate, insurance and interest.

When the term of repayment increases, down (the costs are “coated” on a longer time). This index also decreases with increasing the amount required (the APR is a measure of the cost of financing).

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The bank offers the Saddle

December 15th, 2008

Here are the possibilities offered by the bank Saddle:

LOANS

For those who are becoming the new current account and want to make the portability of the mortgage, there are no delivery fees. Also, if you need an additional sum (for the actual cost of property, family documented expenses, purchase of durable goods), you can request an additional amount to the sum necessary to extinction of the old mortgage.

PERSONAL LOANS
We must have the last two pay slips or pension slips, the last tax return and any additional documents, depending on the loan you choose.

General conditions

  • TAN: max 9.75%
  • APR: 14.72% maxes
  • Compensation for early repayment: 1% on outstanding debt
  • Commission to supply: max 2% of the paid

LOAN OF HONOR

Granted to students attending the Master of Italian and international, and in favor of foreign students attending the Master Italians.

Details and conditions:

  • Amount: € 50,000 maximum individual.
  • Documents to be submitted:
  1. Journal Certificate of admission to the master.
  2. Curriculum vitae and academic work bearing official degree relative with a vote, the votes of maturity and the GMAT scores and / or other standardized tests.
  3. Certificate of the employer bearing last salary (as an alternative copy of pay slips) and possible job post master.

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Montepaschi, suspension of payment of installments due in 2009

December 7th, 2008

The crisis is felt. The increasing precariousness and, proportionately, there is a growing opportunity for borrowers to lose their jobs. To cope with the economic crisis that is putting at risk the ability of families to support the weight of loans, born dele facilities for families.

After Unicredit, the Montepaschi Group launch, from the beginning of new year, a program that allows borrowers to suspend the payment of installments due in 2009, at no additional administrative or notary.

Who will benefit from this course?

All families who have a mortgage for the purchase and renovation of the first house with Banca Monte dei Paschi at Siena, Banca Toscana and Banca Antonveneta and highlighting difficulties in paying the installments.

In addition, borrowers will have another choice: you can opt for a solution that provides for the payment of only part of the interest rate on expiring in 2009. The Montepaschi Group reserves the right to evaluate the possibility to extend this program to families who are in arrears of installments.

The crisis offers no respite:

“The policies adopted – says Carlo Pileri, president of adoc – have damaged the public and consumers have to pay them. The expenditure of households with an average income has declined over the last year, by 2-3%. The crisis in consumption affects not only the secondary and luxury goods but also the primary goods, especially food and catering, and the fall in consumption of Christmas is a further testimony to the hardship experienced by families. “

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