Mountain Top Loan Services

By know you have all heard about the meltdown in subprime mortgages. Foreclosures are on the rise and home prices have dropped in many areas across the country. The number of real estate investors in the market have fallen considerably as many of them have lost their shirt buying homes at the top of the market hoping the prices would keep going up.

Now there is a new sheriff in town, so to speak. All of the novice investors are gone leaving room for the seasoned vets to play the market again. Being a bit contrarian in nature, I see lots of buying opportunities out there IF you know what you are doing. Many markets are also seeing increased rents as would be buyers put off that home purchase and people that have lost their homes are subsequently renting.

This makes for an interesting buy and hold opportunity for the right properties. Part of determining the right opportunity is the type of financing you have in place. There are still a lot of options for real estate investor loans despite the fact that mortgage companies have tightened up their credit policy.

Real estate investor financing options include:

• 95-100% Financing - This option has almost completely disappeared due to the amount of foreclosures that resulted from it but it is still available in limited situations.
• Investor Pay Option Arms - Here is another loan program that has gone into hiding that allowed investors to double or triple their cash flows.
• Investor Rehab Loans (Hard Money Loans) - This little darling of a program is meant for all you that enjoy flipping houses. The underwriting guidelines are more flexible and fundings are much quicker. Hey you could eventually get your own TV show if you do enough of them! LOL

This is not a complete list by any stretch of the imagination but I also didn’t see the point of listing 101 variations of investment property loans when they fall under a few general categories. Next time I’ll dig a little deeper into specific guidelines such as how to get a loan with no title seasoning, etc. I will also go over some examples of how the financing can, and should, play in the decision of whether you should buy a property or not. Stay tuned.

Later

Tags: Investment Property Financing, Real Estate Investor Loans, Hard Money Loans, Investor Rehab Loans

Identity theft is a serious crime that is getting worse every day. If you are a victim you could spend months, even years, trying to fix your damaged credit. Ruined credit can hurt your chances of getting a job, loans, insurance, etc. People have been arrested for a crimes they didn’t commit because someone else had used their identity for criminal activity!

Unfortunately, some of the tactics these thugs use to steal personal information is beyond your control to prevent. Although it’s rare, store clerks have been known to use their position to collect and pass along information to identity thieves. There are things you can do, however, that will make it much more difficult for a thief to steal and use your personal information.

Destroy Documents That Contain Sensitive Personal Information

Go to your local office supply store and buy a shredder and use it to destroy paperwork that contains personal information such as credit card numbers, social security numbers, phone numbers and dates of birth that you would otherwise just toss. Dumpster diving is a quick an dirty way that identity thieves use to find valuable personal information that can help them get credit in your name. Make sure the banks and financial institutions practice this as well. Think of how much personal information that they throw away each day (and it’s the law).

There is a new tool that takes identity theft prevention to an extreme called LifeLock. It’s like giving your credit is own special operations force dedicated to protect and serve it. Life Lock will do the following for you:

• Completely block your credit so only you can use it.
• Back you up with a $1 million guarantee. If your identity is ever stolen, they’ll fix the problem. No matter what it takes and reimburse up to $1,000,000 in financial losses.
• Stop pre-approved credit offers.
• Drastically reduce the amount of junk mail to your home.
• Provide free annual credit reports.
• They are the only company that prevents your children’s identities from being stolen!
• Most importantly, they put alerts on your credit reports with all major credit bureaus. These alerts ensure that if anyone tries to do anything with your credit report, get new credit, change your address, expand credit lines, open a checking account, get insurance or utilities, or whatever, you will be called directly for approval before anything happens.

If you are currently a victim of identity theft, make sure you take these crucial steps immediately:

• Contact your credit card companies, close your accounts and ask to have new cards issued to you.
• Place a fraud alert on your file with the three major credit bureaus; Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax.
• File a police report. You may need it to show to creditors as proof of the crime.
• File a complaint with the FTC, which maintains a database of identity theft cases used by law enforcement agencies for their investigations.

Again, you definitely want to prevent this from happening altogether. The passing of the FACT Act a few years ago has allowed companies like LifeLock to provide innovative tools and technology to keep your personal information safe. It’s like having insurance for your credit.

Tags: lifelock, life lock, identity theft, lifelock review, life lock review

Mention payday loans to anybody an you are bound to get a wide variety of responses anywhere from outright rage to mild admiration to blank stares. It all depends on what you what you know about them and if you’ve gotten and advance based on your upcoming paycheck.

Payday loans, also known as a payday cash advance, can be a bit controversial because of the amount of fees that can be charged on the loan, especially if you don’t pay it back on time. There are consumer groups that are up in arms, outraged that these loans even exist! Despite all of the hoopla, there are distinct uses for them.

We all, ok most of us, have had situations where there was an emergency need for cash. Whether the car broke down, the electric bill was twice as high as normal because the kids keep messing with the a/c setting, or whatever. Many of us have credit cards, caring friends and family with some spare change, or a sock drawer full of coins saved up over the years that will help us get through the temporary cash crunch. There are some folks that don’t have that luxury.

An option exists with pay day loans albeit a potentially dangerous option if not used properly. The danger comes when it is used unnecessarily for frivolous purchases or not planning for how you will pay back the advance. The fees are pretty high to begin with and skyrocket when the loan isn’t paid back on time. In some circumstances, the fees could nearly equal the advance so be very careful. Payday cash advances should be used ONLY if there are absolutely no other viable options including selling unwanted household items.

Here are a few other reasons why people gravitate toward payday loans:

• Usually there is no credit check,


• Approval is instant and you can usually get up to $1,000-$1,500 the same day,


• There is no hassle in getting the loan (just if you don’t pay it back!)

So if your back is against the wall it is an option, albeit a tough one. But a good choice if it means keeping the lights on.

Here are a couple of companies for you to choose from if you are in need of a quick cash solution:

• Payday Loan Yes - Not available in New York, Georgia, Kansas, Delaware, Colorado, Illinois, Nebraska, West Virginia, and Montana


• Team Quick Cash - Get up to $500 with NO credit check and instant approvals.

Just make sure you pay them back by the next pay period to avoid the extra fees.

For more information on pay day loans, please check out these resources:

• Com Bad Credit Loan Payday

- Everyone needs extra cash now and then for unforeseen events but how many people want to go through the process of arranging a loan for something that is very short term. One answer to this short term cash flow situation is a ‘payday …

• Be Careful When Commiting To Cash Advance Payday Lenders With Your …

- It is wise to use pay day loans responsibly. If you apply for a loan, think ahead to be sure you are able to repay it when it needs to be paid. A lot of loan businesses will allow you to set up the loan, but then there is usually an …

Tags: payday loan, payday cash advance, no credit check payday loan, no faxing payday loan

To be honest, my initial impression was this this was some sort of scam. Just a bunch of lawyers flush with cash, going around trying to take more money out of your pocket if you win a lawsuit. Doesn’t it seem like attorneys get more money than the people who had been the victims?

I had to be careful not to let this natural distrust cloud my view of this service so I went out to do a little research. First, I wanted to know what exactly legal finance is and how is it best used. To give you a idea of what this is, let me tell you a story of what is currently happening to my brother (well at least until I told him about lawsuit loans).

My brother and his friend were recently in a car accident that was completely at the fault of the other driver. They got the police report saying this, and firefighters testimony who directly witnessed the accident and the confession of the other driver. My brother incurred some medical bills in the process, as well as his friend. Given the amount of information in his favor you’d think this was an open and close deal? WRONG!

The insurance company stopped all negotiations and pretty much said ’sue me’. My brother is now in a dilemma because he doesn’t have the money to pay an attorney to get this started and the insurance company knows it. So despite the fact that their customer is clearly at fault in the accident, they aren’t going to do anything. Who said that the insurance companies are “responsible”? Oh yeah, their tv commercials.

Anyway, by the insurance company drawing a line in the sand, they know that most people would stop there not having the money to afford obtaining justice. This is where legal finance and lawsuit loans come into play. Companies that provide this service will review your case to determine the likelihood of you winning and if it looks good, they will advance the funds needed to pay the prosecuting attorney as well as part of your projected winnings. So if you lost time at work, missed a few mortgage payments, or whatever, you can get some of that back ahead of time. Am I the only person that knows people that got hurt, couldn’t work, couldn’t pay their home loan and lost their house because of insurance companies dragging their feet?

The best part of it is that if for some strange reason, they review your case, see that it should be a winner and you subsequently lose, you don’t owe them the money that they advanced you. It is completely forgiven! It that regard it really isn’t a loan at all and you don’t make any payments.

Now you are probably wondering how they get paid and I would say, good question. They are not philanthropists in doing this and they do make good money from taking a portion of the proceeds of the lawsuit. It could be as high as 15% of that amount! That on top of your attorney taking the customary 33% adds up to over half of the money you win!

Before you go ape about this, consider what you would have received otherwise. . .ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! I had a car accident 8 years ago where the other driver was determined 90% at fault. Their insurance company squeezed and I couldn’t do anything because I didn’t have the money to take the case further. They fixed my car paid some of my hospital bills but in the end it cost me money and time that I was never able to recover. I wish this was available then!

The moral of the story is now that this services are becoming more prominent, you don’t have to get bullied my the insurance companies anymore. Oh yeah, my brother now owes me a fishing trip for telling him about this!

Tags: lawsuit loans, legal finance, cash advance, loan, insurance