I recently came across a program that I thought was pretty good. It isn’t a loan at all but its a financial program (that may be stretching it a bit) that’s designed to help your pre-teen or teen kid be more financially responsible.
We all have had allowances, to one degree or another, that we given to us as kids, typically in the form of cash. You had to carefully budget to see how much candy you could get for the money or how long it would take to save up for a new Nintendo game.
That seems not to be the case anymore. With the every increasing credit card debt Americans have, because of how easy it is to get credit, parents are opting to make kids authorized users of there credit cards. Yikes! Now kids simply just have to charge what they want with a complete disconnect to realizing that that money has to be paid back with interest!
There is a new way of instilling old values in our kids and showing them the value of earning the money that parents give them. It is a site called Pay Jr. You can set up a list of chores that your kid has to complete before earning their allowance. (The system nags them to get it done so you don’t have too. . .as frequently!) Everything is trackable and in the process, Pay Jr provides some basic financial education that our children definitely need.
Once they earn there allowance, you place the funds on a prepaid visa card called Visa Buxx. From there they have to responsibly budget there funds because they won’t get there allowance again until they completed their upcoming chores.
Now, here’s a warning to you parents. Pay Jr keeps track of everything you input so your kids also know when it’s time to receive their money! Good way to keep every one honest! LOL
Go ahead and check out the Pay Jr Visa Buxx program to see if this is right for your family. I’m sure that you’ll enjoy the fact that everyone is held accountable and that your kids are getting a good financial education as well.
Hard Money can be a quick way to fund everything from residential property, to industrial facilities, to new home construction. I will not get into every aspect of hard money but I will offer you a general frame work that your brain can grab a hold of.
First of all a majority of hard money lenders will allow you to borrow up to 65% of the value of the home. If the loan is for rehab purposes, they’ll use the “after-repaired value” of the property as the basis point. I have seen, on occasion, that number as high as 75% but 65% is the norm.These loans are very situational and very flexible so there is some wiggle room if the deal works. It may be a strike against you if you are new to the game but fortunately that can usually be offset with adequate reserves and a good plan of action.
Let’s say you come across a beat up old home in a good neighborhood where homes sell for $100,000. The seller walks you through the home and you determine that the property needs around $12,000 in work. You’ve gotten pre-qualified for a rehab loan and know you are wondering what the maximum you should pay for the house.
Lets keep it basic, you want to take $100k x 65% - loan costs – repair costs/holding costs = Purchase price. Loan costs, for hard money loans, run from 8-13% of the total loan amount. They are not inexpensive but it’s less money than you’ll pay to a partner! For now we’ll assume costs of 10% and holding costs of $2,000. Given those numbers, you probably shouldn’t invest more than $45,000 for the property. If you decide to pay more, that just means more money out of your pocket to complete the project.
Here are a few quick tips you can utilize to maximize the likelihood of being approved for hard money loans, in general:
The more equity in the property after the loan, the better,
The higher your credit score, even better
The more credit history you have, the better!
The more liquid assets you can show that you have personally or have guaranteed access to (lines of credit, partners, rich uncles. . .) the better
The more populated the area, the better
The faster the properties in that area sell, the better
The more solid the appraisal value, the better! A lot of hard money lenders like to use fire sale values as the basis point of the loan so don’t be stunned. This is definitely not the time to use inflated values.
All in all, this is a numbers game. Do not allow yourself to get attached to a property if the numbers don’t benefit you. Hard money lenders can be flexible but present them a deal where the numbers don’t add up and it could cost you a crucial relationship for future investments. Credit doesn’t always matter but it does help, tremendously, if you can show good credit history.
Tags: hard money loans, loans, real estate investing, foreclosure, mortgage, lender
Mortgage cycling can be a relatively quick way to pay off your home loan. However, there are a few caveats that you need to be aware of if you intend to use this method of equity acceleration. I have posted a quick tutorial on some of the basics but for more information, please visit our mortgage cycling page.
Throughout the years you have somehow managed to keep up with the payments on your home mortgage and now
you are looking to do a bad credit mortgage refinance. Even with a worse credit rating then you had you still need the money you are seeking. Here is the answer for you!
tags: bad credit mortgage, mortgage, home loan, loan, refinance, personal finance
If you are the type of investor that likes to hold on to property for cash flow, there is a loan type that when used correctly can maximize your revenue. It’s a bit controversial but, again, can dramatically increase the cash flow on your property. Take a look at the video below to get more information:
There are many advantages to refinancing your mortgage. Such as tax benefits, lower rates and debit consolidation. You can decide which is right for you.
