September 2006

You are currently browsing the articles from MyQuo.com written in the month of September 2006.

Banks Want To Loan You Money

I’m getting ready to make an offer on my first house in a couple days.  In preparation for that I’ve been looking into my financing options.  Anyone who is in the mortgage business can tell you, financing more often than not is a tricky process in home purchases.

My case is no different.  I have to do a no documentation loan because I am having documentation issues.  You see, I’m self employed and have been so for less than 2 years, so I don’t have 2 years of tax returns for the lenders to look at.

A no doc is not really an issue for me as I’m not as concerned about the interest rate on the loan as others might be.  Take a look at http://www.myquo.com/my-plan-to-buy-a-house-in-6-years/.  Since I will be aggressively paying off the mortgage, a higher interest rate will not cost me as much money as a 30 year loan would. Plus, I always have the option of refinancing at a lower interest rate in the future.

I was stressing myself out about my ability to get a mortgage however.  I was afraid that lenders would not want to loan out money to me and that I wouldn’t be able to buy the house.  Fortunately, a friend of mine fixed my view on the matter.

It is important for everyone who is seeking a loan to realize that: banks want to loan you money.  In fact, loaning people money is what their whole business model is based on.  Once you get it in your head that the bank wants to sign you to a loan, you will be realize that you are in the drivers seat.

I originally was going to do my mortgage through Navy Federal.  I was looking for a 100% financing, no documentation loan.  The best they could offer me was a 80/10/10 loan.  That means that I would have to come up with a 10% down payment.  This was something that would be very hard for me to do.

The solution was simple, go work with another bank.  You see, just like many sectors of our economy, the banking industry is very competitive.  Just because one bank is not willing to give you a loan, does not mean that another won’t also.  The reality is that most loans can be done.  It all comes down to how much you are willing to pay for it.

My buyer’s agent has recommended a couple of lenders to me.  Both of which are willing to offer me a 80/15/5 loan.  Although I was hoping to get a loan with 0% down, I have no problems with a 5% down loan.  I’ll probably end up with a better interest rate with a 5% down loan anyhow, so I should be better off in the long run.

Realizing that I was in the driver’s seat in the loan application process has helped me greatly.  Once you realize you are in the driver’s seat also, you will find that the process is a little less stressful.

Written by admin on September 14th, 2006 with no comments.
Read more articles on Thinking About Money.

Borders Book Store Coupons And More

My wife and I are avid readers and one of our favorite things to do is go browse in a book store.  Buying a new hardcover book is something that we both enjoy.  The problem is that these books are very expensive.  Luckily for us, we found out that we can often get these books for 25-30% off using coupons.

I didn’t even know that a major book store chain like Borders would offer coupons, but they do.  In fact, they regularly offer a 25-30% off coupon on 1 book.  Considering that many hardcover books cost $20, a 30% savings equates to a $6 savings.  Saving $6 for a few minutes of searching is well worth the effort.

So where do I find my Borders coupons?  I do a search for them at fatwallet.  They pop up frequently so keep checking.  There are many coupon sites out there, so you may have some luck searching there also.  Here is a link to a post on fatwallet on 9/7/06 for a 30% off coupon:

http://www.fatwallet.com/t/18/650701

Do you spend more than $200 at Borders every year?  If you do you should really consider getting a borders rewards card.  With the rewards card 5% of purchases go into a holiday account.  When your account reaches $10 you can use that towards your next purchase.  It’s not a lot of money, but it’s a free $10 if you are going to buy the books anyway.

Believe it or not there is actually a Borders Visa rewards credit card.  If you do a lot of shopping at Borders you may want to consider getting the card.  This is because this card is a 3/2/1% cash back credit card.  The 3% cash back applies to purchases made at Borders.  Just so you know, 3% is a very good percentage for cash back.

The credit card is not a bad card to have at all.  This is especially true if you purchase a lot of books.  There is no annual fee and they are running a promotion right now that gives you a $20 Borders gift card and 1000 bonus points on you first purchase if you sign up.

If you really do spend a significant amount of money on books every year you should consider the coupons, rewards cards, and credit cards that Borders offers.  If you don’t take advantage of these programs, you are leaving money on the table when you leave the store.

Written by admin on September 13th, 2006 with no comments.
Read more articles on Saving Money.

No older articles

Newer articles »