If you are like every other home owner or general consumer out there, you need to pay for your expenses somehow. If you have bad credit, you might be limited in your options as to what you can do (or so you think…keep reading!). This can be especially annoying to homeowners who want to refinance their mortgages to take advantage of low interest rates but have had a few debt defaults in recent years. The story is always the same: you see these low 5% interest rates advertised on TV and you know that you deserve to refinance your home loan with this low interest rate. However, once you call, you find out that in fact you can refinance your mortgage, but it will cost you a lot more than you think. “What?” you think to yourself… “Why does it cost more for me to refinance my mortgage than I thought it would?” The reason is simple: bad credit. Refinancing with bad credit can be difficult. You might have filed for bankruptcy or racked up a whole bunch of debt which you just couldn’t pay off. Debt defaults take a long time to get off your credit report (if they ever come off!) and they can affect every lender to whom you owe money.

This is because these days, lenders are very clued in to borrowers credit scores and credit history. All your credit information is stored in a giant database somewhere and if your credit is bad for some reason, it’s going to show up on a mortgage refinancing report. And banks probably don’t mind seeing a few defaults and bad credit accounts here and there. More fees for them! Your bank might like to see one of their client’s earmarked as ‘bad credit’…they can raise your interest rate and you can’t do anything about it.

These days, having bad credit isn’t necessarily as bad as it should be. This is because banks are business entities too. Banks borrow money just like people do. In times of relatively low interest rates, banks need to make money by originating loans. And, a lot of new ‘subprime’ lenders have opened up shop in recent years and are specifically in the business of lending to people with bad credit. They are looking to refinance bad credit accounts like yours and collect massive fees on the backend.

Many people with bad credit history look to take out loans from friends and family. While this may be a fairly good short term solution, it might not be the smartest of long term business moves. What you need to do is refinance your mortgage and lower your payment. The best thing you can do for yourself is to shop around. I’d be willing to bet that some banks will give you a better deal on a mortgage refinancing than you think they would. Find out who’s got the best rate to get the best deal on your loan. This might take a little legwork, but it could pay off. Finding that right bank to give you the right deal on your refinancing will be worth the effort.

Mortgage can last a lifetime and that extra 1% can add up to literally thousands of dollars over the years. I have friends that are in their 70s and still paying off their home loans. It’ll pay off in the long run to make sure you find the best deal possible. Don’t let bad credit stop you from refinancing your home.

Refinancing a fixed rate mortgage is usually only suggested when interest rates fall, but you can also save money by changing your loan terms. You can also pull out part of your equity to pay bills or renovate.

Lower Interest Rates

In general when interest rates are at least 1% lower than your current mortgage rate, it pays to refinance. But you need to consider other factors, such as the length of your mortgage, loan costs, and how long you plan to stay in your home.

An adjustable rate mortgage (ARM) should also be considered if you plan to move soon. With rates lower than a fixed, you will see lower monthly payments. But you have the risk that your rates and payments will increase over time.

To help decide if refinancing makes sense for you, calculate the difference in interest payments over the course of your loan. Online mortgage calculators can help you find both total interest costs and monthly payments.

Better Loan Terms

Besides lower interest rates, you can save money by converting to a better loan term. A shorter loan, such as a 15 year term, can save you thousands on interest payments, even if you don’t have a lower interest rate. However, your monthly payments will be 10% to 15% higher.

You can also reduce your monthly payments by refinancing for a longer term. You trade lower payments for higher interest costs.

Access Your Equity

Whether you want to pay off credit cards or pay for your child’s education, you can pull out your equity by refinancing. One of the advantages of using your equity is that your interest is tax deductible.

However, if you just want to tap into your equity, a better option is a home equity loan. You can pull out your equity, write off your interest on your taxes, and avoid loan fees.

Online Lenders

Online financing companies allow you to research terms and fees from your home. You can receive quotes within minutes online, so you can compare finance packages. You can also apply online and qualify for discounts on closing cost with some lenders.

Working from home is becoming a more popular option with many in today’s workforce. Whether you telecommute or have abandoned the rat race in favor of setting up your own home business, or just simply need a place to land to take care of the bill paying and the home organization chores, a home office has become a necessary space in many homes. Whether you set up a corner office in your kitchen, designate a guest room to double as your office, or set up a location in your basement, it’s crucial that your home office include all the elements that contribute to your productivity, efficiency and overall success.

But setting up a home office doesn’t have to break your bank account. Very few of us can afford the luxury of having a professional organizer devise an office system for us. Don’t despair; there are many creative ways to devise your space .

Maybe you are able to have a separate room for your office. If so, that’s great. You’ll have lots of elbow room. But if you don’t, there’s lots of ways to utilize the space you can carve out for one. Whatever space you choose, make sure it’s a space that can be dedicated to your office, and doesn’t double as an arts and crafts table for your kids or a workbench for your spouse’s do-it-yourself projects on the weekends.

Take a look at your space and see what you can do easily and inexpensively to spruce it up and make it conducive to working from home. Sometimes just a fresh coat of paint, some strategically hung pictures or some simple stencil work can brighten up an otherwise dreary corner.

Next, look around your house to see what furnishings you already have. If there’s a small unused table that could double as a desk, use it. You’ve probably got a comfortable chair in your dining room that could work fine as an office chair. Look around your home for some useable pieces that can be brought together successfully to create a comfortable and relaxing home office environment.

You may also already have book shelves, bins, baskets, boxes and a filing cabinet that could also be incorporated into your office. If you don’t already have office supplies available, visit your favorite office supply or discount store and stock up on a few needed items and get your space organized and ready to roll.

You’ve finally decided to add that patio you’ve always wanted to your home. Now you can enjoy barbecue outdoors and get a little fresh air every now and again. But how are you going to pay for it? If you’re like most people, you don’t have cash for home repairs just lying around the house. You’ll have to borrow. So where should you go to borrow? Mortgage rates are low these days, so a home equity loan would be pretty affordable, as would a home equity line of credit (HELOC) if you have a number of remodeling projects in mind.

Then it occurs to you — “What about my 401(K) money? I can get good terms on a 401(K) loan and borrow the money from myself!” That seems like a good idea. You can borrow the money from yourself and pay yourself back with interest! What could be better than that?.

On the surface, borrowing from your retirement savings may seem like a better idea than taking out a home equity loan. The terms are good either way, and the interest rates are probably comparable. So, why not borrow from your 401(K) account?.

There are several reasons why it may not be desirable to borrow from your retirement account:.

There are certainly some circumstances where you might benefit from borrowing from retirement funds instead of taking out a second mortgage, but those situations are fairly rare. A substantially higher interest rate on the home equity loan than the 401(K) loan would be one such example. If in doubt, you should consult with a financial planner.

What could you do with $10,000? Well, you can have it, now in a new home equity loan! Did you know that if you have been in your home for just one full year, you may already have the opportunity to take out huge dollars in equity from your home — tens of thousands, even! Did you also know that you can get this money with no closing costs, use it any way you like, and, best of all, it will cost you as little as the price of your cable bill each month, and you can create an amazing money cycle that will give you an endless supply of cash.

Unlike conventional mortgages, home equity loans are paid back with interest-only payments, and have no taxes or insurance added, which make for extremely low payments. This means you can get tens of thousands of dollars for as little as $33 per month on your equity loan. Imagine having 10,000 dollars and paying this little to get it!
What’s more, if you use this equity properly, you can pay off debt, saving hundreds monthly. Then, in a few years, you can get a new home equity loan, with the new equity you have built in your home from simple appreciation in value.

A real-life home equity loan example. . .

Here’s a great story about the power of equity. I had a client once, who was going to sell his beautiful home, which he loved, because he needed money for his daughter’s college education. Little did he know that the money was right at his fingertips, locked away in the vault inside his home. All he needed was the right combination to get it out. When I showed him how he could get a $50,000 home equity loan for less than $180 per month, he was astonished. “I figured it would be like a whole new mortgage,” he said. You know, around $500 per month, and I could never afford that, on top of my current mortgage payment.”

The Money Cycle. . .

He was even more excited when I taught him how to pay that loan off later, using his house again, while taking even more money. This is what is called the Money Cycle. Your home equity loan can create this never-ending cycle.
Imagine paying off a car, a credit card and another loan, all at high interest with combined payments of over $600 monthly. Your home equity loan payment is $180, saving you over $400 per month and $5,000 yearly. Now, instead of spending this extra cash, what if you go to your financial planner and have him invest the money for you? Suddenly, you’re building wealth and creating cash flow. Now, in a few years, your home appreciates, and you either sell or refinance to a new loan, getting more cash and starting the cycle over again.

The home equity loan has become quite popular in the last five years, and Americans have tapped into the equity of their homes in record numbers. The reasons vary, although home improvement and debt consolidation are the most common reasons for borrowing against a home’s equity.

In the last fifteen years or so, a new twist has arrived in the home equity market –- the reverse mortgage. Like a traditional home equity loan or line of credit, a reverse mortgage allows you to borrow against the equity in your home. Unlike those other options, you don’t have to make payments in order to pay it back. The repayment takes place when you die, when you move, or when you sell your home. You must be at least 62 years of age to qualify, but unlike other loans, you do not have to have any appreciable income in order to get a reverse mortgage.

There are a number of advantages of a reverse mortgage over a traditional home equity loan:

Due to the age restrictions on reverse mortgages, they are not for everyone. But if you qualify, it could provide an excellent opportunity to have an income during your retirement years.

For the last two years, interest rates have been much lower than anytime during the last thirty years. This has resulted in an unprecedented boom in real estate sales, home refinancing and home equity lending, as borrowers try to take advantage of these rates for the long term. But refinancing or even borrowing against your home’s equity may not make sense for everyone. When is it a good idea to refinance your home? When is it not advisable?

Traditionally, lenders advised homeowners not to refinance unless doing so would lower the interest rate on the loan by 1-2%. While anyone who can save 2% on their interest rate would almost certainly benefit from doing so, others might find refinancing worthwhile even with a smaller reduction in the interest rate. Increased competition among lenders has brought the costs of refinancing down in recent years, so homeowners can realize a significant reduction in their home payments with reductions of ½% or so, depending on the size of their mortgage.

The key to whether or not refinancing makes sense is how long the homeowner intends to remain in his or her home. The costs of the refinancing, which can run $1000-2000, are amortized over the life of the loan. For many people, a reduction of $50 or more in the house payment would be more than enough to justify a new mortgage. If payments cannot be reduced by at least that much, or if the homeowner plans to live in the home only a short while, refinancing may not be a good option.

Refinancing may also make sense for those with Adjustable Rate Mortgages (ARMs.) At the moment, at 30-year fixed-rate mortgage is quite competitive with an ARM, and may actually be cheaper. With rates at historic lows, an ARM can only adjust upward, making it a less desirable choice in comparison with a fixed-rate loan.

Anyone considering a home remodeling project or debt consolidation might ordinarily think of a home equity loan or line of credit. These are often wise choices, as they offer deductible interest and great repayment flexibility. On the other hand, a chance to obtain a 30-year loan at 5% might make a complete refinancing with a cash-out option a better choice, as home equity rates are somewhat higher than first mortgages.

A new mortgage might also make sense for anyone with a second mortgage or a piggyback loan. A piggyback loan is a second loan used at the time of a home’s purchase to help the buyer avoid paying the sometimes-expensive private mortgage insurance. Simultaneous payments on two mortgages will be higher than paying on one, so this might be a great time to roll them together on a refinance. The same applies to anyone carrying a large credit card balance; that money could be rolled into a home loan with deductible interest at a lower rate. Anyone considering such a move should be careful, however, as failure to repay that debt could lead to home foreclosure.

Now is a great time for any homeowner to consider whether or not a new mortgage could help lower their payments. With interest rates as low as they are now, the timing is great, and there’s nowhere for the rates to go but up.

A new report by the independent Demos group has revealed what may not be a surprise to many people – corruption is rampant in the home appraisal industry. The bust in the dot-com market of some five years ago has left would-be lenders with a surplus of cash to lend. This has led to a huge boom in both mortgage and home equity loan lending. That’s not a bad thing; a record 69% of Americans now own their own homes. Owning a home is easier than ever; in 2004 the average down payment was a record low of only three percent.

So if everyone is buying a home, and loans are easier to obtain than ever, what is the problem? The problem is that nearly 55% of the appraisers polled in the survey said that they had been pressured by lenders to deliver appraisals that met a “target” value. The appraisers said that failure to meet the “target” value resulted in either their not being paid, or not being hired again. Since most appraisers want to keep working, they have had a tendency to meet the target value, even if it means that they have overestimated the value of the property. This drives prices artificially higher and leaves many homeowners with mortgages that may be worth more than the homes they were meant to finance. This problem becomes acute should the owner need to sell the home, only to discover that it isn’t worth as much as he or she owes on it.

The worst-case scenario to result from this would be a burst in the current real estate “bubble” and a nationwide collapse in home values, leading to massive foreclosures. This probably will not happen, but there are several things prospective borrowers can do to avoid being caught in the appraisal trap:

Ultimately, if you take out a home equity loan or a mortgage for more than your home is worth, you are the one that suffers. That can be easily avoided if you simply pay more attention to the process and educate yourself about the possible pitfalls. The last thing you want to lose is your home.

Home equity loans have become one of the most sought after ways to lower debt payments through consolidation, to find the cash for remodeling, or purchasing a vehicle at a low interest rate. Applying for a home equity loan is like other loan applications: The applicant gives the prospective lender basic information about himself/herself such as name, address, telephone number and email address. Next they need to have the property address, income information, and Social Security number, and then the lender will get a credit report before approving a home equity loan. They will need to know bout any other loans you have against the property too. If there are other liens, they will be paid off with your loan so there will be only one loan with the status of Second Mortgage.

There are options as to the type of home equity loans available. If a person wants to have a line of credit available to draw on as needed, that can be arranged through home equity loans. The interest on a line of credit is tied to an index, so could change over the life of the loan. The other home equity loan option is to get a single lump sum to be paid back over a specified amount of time with fixed interest (that cannot be changed until it’s paid off). This latter type of home equity loans are most popular, and is sought for a variety of reasons. Relief from credit card debt is probably the most common reason for getting a home equity loan, and the money is used to consolidate many debts under one low interest rate. Sometimes when a homeowner has lived in a house for a few years, it becomes apparent that rooms need to be enlarged or added on to accommodate a growing family. A home equity loan fills that need very well. College tuition is another reason some homeowners look to home equity loans.

There are more than one way to pay back a home equity loan. First, the length of the loans can be anywhere from five to fifteen years for home equity loans. The payments of part interest and part principal that are usually in place can be waived for home equity loan plans that call for interest only payments for the first few years. If a homeowner knows he will be moving from that place in the next few years, this is a good option. All of the principal will be taken out of the sales revenues when the house is sold. A balloon note is also an option when acquiring home equity loans. Smaller payments (based on a twenty or thirty-year loan) are paid for a specified time, then the entire principal and interest is due at one time. Overall, home equity loans can be good tools for clearing up debt and giving a homeowner peace of mind.

While only comprising about 1% of all mortgages, the reverse mortgage has gained in popularity in recent years. Federally insured since the late 1980’s, the reverse mortgage allows owners of paid-off homes to borrow against the equity in their homes in the form of a lump sum, a line of credit, or in the form of monthly payments. The loan is repaid when the owners die or when the home is sold or no longer occupied.

In the early years of its existence, the reverse mortgage was regarded as a “last resort” step to avoid foreclosure, pay medical expenses or keep the home from disrepair. More recently, however, retirees have been finding creative ways to use the equity in their homes to allow their retirement years to be more enjoyable.

The huge growth of the housing market during the last five years has left millions of homeowners with large amounts of equity in their homes. Californians who bought homes in the early 1960’s at modest prices are now retiring; many of them have home equity in the mid-six figures. With that sort of equity, homeowners are using their equity to buy recreational vehicles, boats, luxury vacations, and even second homes. The structure of a reverse mortgage makes it possible for some homeowners to pay cash for a vacation home, while continuing to live in their primary residence for as long as they like, or are able. Once they die, the primary residence would be sold to pay pack the loan, while the second home would become part of their estate.

This has provided a rare opportunity for many couples, who struggled to raise families and pay mortgages during the working years, to enjoy a few luxuries in their retirement years. Couples who could never afford to travel can now dip into their home equity and see Europe or take that cruise that always eluded them.

While this may seem like a win-win situation for all involved, those in the lending industry express caution. For most people, the equity in their home is their single largest asset, and borrowing against it should done only after careful consideration. What if a lengthy hospital stay became necessary? Would the homeowner have sufficient funds to pay for that after buying a second home through a reverse mortgage? What if a husband or wife became incapacitated and required permanent housing in a nursing home? These are things that must be considered before using home equity for a houseboat or RV, and those considering such a move should consider discussing their plans with a financial advisor.

Despite the potential drawbacks, the use of the reverse mortgage to fund a fun and adventurous retirement seems to be growing. With interest rates still near all-time lows, the trend will almost certainly continue in the near future.