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How Will the Impending Credit Changes Affect Your Score?

We all know that one of the biggest challenges small business owners face is access to capital. Access to sufficient capital in business is the lifeline that can keep an entrepreneur afloat. New business owners especially often have to rely on their personal access to credit in order to finance the beginning stages of their business operations. This is why it’s important for business owners to stay abreast of how their personal credit score can affect their ability to get credit for the purposes of funding their business’ operating costs. Fortunately, some changes coming down the pipeline could positively affect millions of Americans’ credit scores. Not only could these changes boost personal credit scores, but they could also help more aspiring entrepreneurs access personal credit while paving the path to business creditworthiness. Business owners (and aspiring business owners) should be aware of these two major changes: The implementation of the National Consumer Assistan...

WILL A TEMPORARY LOW INTEREST RATE AFFECT YOUR MORTGAGE CHANCES?

The September meeting of the U.S. Federal Reserve board did not increase the federal funds interest rate which affects the rates given to other financial instruments such as car loans and home mortgages. Although a rate hike was expected in September, the Feds nixed that plan, citing that the American economy wasn't strong enough as the prime reason. The Feds' decision, however, created what could be considered a temporary low-interest rate for the American housing market. How this will affect home buyers is unclear as how much the Fed will raise base interest rates is still unknown. All indications point to an interest rate hike that will happen soon, most likely by the end of 2015. If the rate hike is around 0.25%, homeowners will hardly notice the difference. The difference will come when, and if, the Fed continues to hike interest rates as the economy improves. Most experts agree that a 25 or 50 point rise in interest rates won't produce a visible effect on the e...

Cash-out Refinancing: Everything you need to know

What it is and when to use it? If you have a significant amount of equity built up in your home and would like to convert that equity into actual money you can use, a cash out refinance From Majestic Home Loan may make sense for you. Here are some of the key things you should know. What is a cash out refinance? A cash out refinance is when you take out a new home loan for more money than what you owe on your current loan and receive the difference in cash. For example, if your home is worth $300,000 and you owe $200,000, you have $100,000 in equity. With cash out refinancing, you could receive a portion of this equity in cash. If you wanted to take out $40,000 in cash, this amount would be added to the principal of your new home loan. In this example, the principal on your new mortgage after the cash out refinance would be $240,000. When is a cash out refinance a good option? A cash out refinance makes sense in a number of situations: When you have the opportunity to u...

STAYING ON TOP OF YOUR PAYMENTS - TIPS FROM THE PROS

We all have our own monthly obligations and expenses we must consider each month. Many of our expenses are mandatory while others are by choice. We need to pay our mortgage each month. The electricity bill. Mobile phone. Insurance. Car payment. These are just a few of the monthly bills we have to pay but when we add in additional discretionary spending, especially just after the holidays when we might have spent more than we had planned, making monthly payment on time can be a bit confusing even overbearing at times. At other times of the year, expenses are more easily handled and bills paid on time when discretionary spending is lower. Yet keeping track of all these bills and making sure there are no payments made after the due dates can be a challenge sometimes. Here are a few tips to keep you on track. Set Up Auto-Pay This is the most convenient way to make sure your payments are made on the due dates. Remember, even though credit reports only show late payments when they’re ...

The FHA Refinance: Streamline or Traditional?

Did you know you had a choice when refinancing an existing FHA loan? You do. You can refinance the traditional way or you can choose the “streamline” option. Which one is right for you? Your loan officer can review your situation to help guide you through the process and choose the right program. Refinancing an existing FHA mortgage is in fact getting a brand new mortgage, you’re not modifying the existing loan. That also means you don’t have to use the same lender when refinancing an FHA loan. But the FHA program has refinancing options that other loans don’t have. The streamline is so-called due to the easy of qualifying and much less documentation required.  With the streamline, there is no appraisal required. This means even if you owe more than what your home is worth you can still refinance to get a lower rate or switch from a variable rate to a fixed. With a streamline, there is no employment verification, either. Your lender doesn’t need to contact your employer to ver...

Boo! Is Your House Ready for Halloween?

You know they’re coming. Those ghosts and goblins creeping around in your neighborhood asking for candy. Your doorbell will ring and you’ll hear a chorus of “Trick or Treat” for hours. To get you in the spirit of this fun holiday, let’s talk about getting your house ready for Halloween to entertain your trick-or-treaters or entertaining guests with your very own Halloween party. Here are some ideas you can put to use. Your Lawn. Let the fall leaves stay where they are for the next couple of weeks then rake them into a pile. Stuff an old pair of blue jeans with newspaper and have them stick out of the pile of leaves. Top it off with a pair of old boots. The party store down the street sells fake spider webs. This spooky stuff is cheap and makes a great spooky look. You can also make fake headstones out of heavy cardboard and a can of gray sprain paint. Prop them up with a wooden stake. A blue floodlight makes the finishing touch. Your Front Deck or Porch . It’s time to head to t...

Refinancing Your VA Loan: Traditional or IRRRL?

Are you finally getting around to refinancing your VA mortgage? Maybe you put it off waiting for rates to fall further but decided the time is now? Or maybe your hybrid mortgage is about to adjust soon and you’d like to switch from a variable rate to a fixed? You have more options than you might think when refinancing an existing VA loan and your loan officer can help you choose which is your best option. Here are the main differences between a traditional and an IRRRL transaction. First, you may not be familiar with the IRRRL acronym. IRRRL stands for the “Interest Rate Reduction Refinance Loan” and commonly referred to by lenders as a streamline. They do so due to the reduced documentation needed when refinancing an existing VA loan. The IRRRL does not require a credit report check or an appraisal. This simply means there are no minimum credit scores required and there are no valuation issues. If you owe more on your VA loan than the property is worth, you’re still eligible. It’...