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What is a stated income second mortgage? A stated income second mortgage is one that does not require the borrower to prove income stated on the application. This is most advantageous to self employed and contract workers who receive a 1099 instead of a W-2 as they would have a difficult time proving their income. Stated income mortgage loans are the most commonly used and usually the least expensive of the no documentation types of mortgages.

Mortgage lenders understand that it is difficult for individuals who are self-employed or operate a one-person firm to verify their income. Different types of no income loans are offered including state income or no income verification loans.

Inquiries should be made to a loan officer as to the types of reduced documentation information required to secure the loan. Lenders may require anywhere from 3 to 6 month reserve for principal interest taxes and insurance (p.i.t.i.). If the monthly p.i.t.i. payment is $ 2,000 a month; the lender may require proof of assets anywhere from $6,000 to $ 12,000.

A fixed rate second mortgage is a way to refinance higher adjustable rate second mortgages or home equity loans. If the interest rate on the second mortgage is below the adjustable rate, lower payments monthly would be a benefit of the second mortgage.

Home equity loans can serve a number of purposes. They can be used to reduce credit card debt, consolidate high interest credit lines, make home improvements and pursue educational endeavors.

Stated income lines are available to all borrowers but the lenders usually require the borrower to have a minimum credit score. The higher the credit score the better the interest rate offered.

A stated income second mortgage loan is suitable for borrowers who have no verifiable income and have assets to meet minimum reserve requirements of the lender. The stated income on your application must be reasonable in terms of your assets. Qualifications for no income verification loans require the borrower to have a minimum credit score. While it varies from lender to lender, most lenders will require the borrower to have a credit score above 580.

The lower the credit scores the higher the interest rate the lender will require. If your credit score is high you may be able to take advantage of a fixed rate second mortgage before the interest rates increase above 7%.

Consideration is usually given to the tax consequences of the different types of loans. A tax adviser should be consulted before a borrower commits to a mortgage whether he is a first time buyer or an experienced homeowner refinancing.

There are two nightmares plaguing our society today. The first is buying a gem of a car, and the second is getting stuck with an expensive refinance mortgage loans. Which is yours?

Jumping Into Quicksand

It is unwise to hurry a loan with insufficient information. Before you can extricate yourself from the mess, you have already sunk neck-deep into the quicksand of an expensive refinance mortgage loan, lured by the promise of lower interest rates.

Failure to understand how a refinance mortgage loan works, and the neglect of reviewing and comparing the features of different loans, including the policies of the various lending companies can result in 15-30 years of painful payback.

Ideally, a refinance mortgage loan should give you the advantage of lower monthly bills compared to the existing loan you will close. Of course, the longer the loan repayment period the lower the monthly dues, but if you sum it up, you will find out that you are paying not only double your loan but also triple.

A 30-year fixed rate switched to a 30 year adjustable rate, will lower monthly bills but after the honeymoon, get ready to pay more. If you were not aware of this, then it is high time to go to the bottom of a refinance before getting another loan.

Always check the going rates and compare these with your present loan. You might be paying a higher monthly bill even if you got a loan with lower interest rates.

Did you get the right refinance?

Did you refinance just to have lower monthly mortgage payments? An astute borrower goes for a refinance to maximize available options that would work for their advantage.

One way to make refinance work for you is to switch from an existing credit to pay off your loan without living with the stress. If your current loan is a 30-year fixed loan, switching to a 30 or 40-year fixed refinance mortgage loan, you will get a lower monthly bill. A 30-year adjustable exchanged for a fixed 30-year will have you paying lowered monthly bills.

It may sound odd that switching a 30-year fixed rate loan to a 15-year payback will give lower monthly rates and build equity. Your equity is like money in the bank. As the values increases your mortgage payments decreases.

What is the right refinance mortgage loan

It all boils down to being able to pay the monthly bills for a number of years, and the savings you will generate from the new loan. It is a rule of thumb that a new loan must be 2% lower than your existing interest rate. But is this so?

Not always. Some companies will levy charges against you, which will make your loan more expensive in the long run. These charges come in the form of fees that they can think of origination fees, appraisal fees, and closing fees are just examples.

Another mistake when getting a refinance is rushing to get lower interest rates but erasing a number of years of payments made on the current loan. This happens when youve been paying a 30 year mortgage loan, and theres 18 years left pay off the loan, and you refinance to a new 30-year program just for a few hundred dollars deducted from the monthly bills.

So youll end up shelling more money after your refinance mortgage loan. Is that what you want?

Words can be fun. English words are particularly interesting as they are born from a variety of sources. Although it is a Germanic language, about 50 percent of English is based on Greek and Latin. Have you ever thought about the origins of certain words? Take the word “phony,” for example. British crooks once used different secret code words. On of those was “fawney,” which alluded to a gift ring. The thieves would sell these rings, claiming that they were made of actual gold. So, the word “phony” began to refer to anything that was unreal. Another interesting word origin is connected to the word “hazard.” This is derived from the Arabic term, “al zahr.” What does it mean? The dice. The term became related to several games that used dice, in Western Europe. They learned these games during the Crusades, which took place in the Holy Land. Later, the word became associated with danger, because some people cheated with adjusted dice, and gambling was always a risk. Similar to the examples given previously given, a second mortgage home equity loan may also seem complicated. But it is actually fairly easy to learn when it is broken down.

Mortgage Meaning
How about the word “mortgage”? “Mort,” meaning “dead,” is from the Latin “mortuus.” The word “mortgage” itself is from the Anglo-French word with the same spelling. But why would death be related to a mortgage? Sir Edward Coke, who was born in the 16th century, believed that it was based on whether or not the mortgager would pay his debt. If the person could not pay his debt, then the land was taken from him, and became dead to him. But if the person paid off the mortgage, then the mortgage owed became dead to him. That helps to explain how a second mortgage home equity loan works.

One Debt, Two Loans
So what’s the meaning of a second mortgage home equity loan? This type of loan is useful in restructuring your debt. Applying for this loan is much simpler than applying for the original loan. To secure a second mortgage home equity loan, you must have good credit and be capable of documenting your income. And while zero or no-equity loans let you borrow a maximum of 125 percent of your home’s value, be cautious. Those loans have interest rates that are higher, and have stricter standards for qualifying. Two types of home equity loans exist. A home equity loan is a lump-sum loan that, like the majority of first mortgage loans, requires regular payments. However, the closing costs of a second are lower than those for a first mortgage loan. The fixed rates for home equity loans are a little higher than the rates on first mortgages.

Hello, HELOC
The home equity lines of credit, or HELOC, are another type of potential second mortgage home equity loan. The differences include:
* The account can be used as long as funds are available. Think of it like a credit card, with a balance and an available credit line.
* The interest rate can change each month. So this type of second mortgage home equity loan is ideal when low interest rates are available, but are hazardous after interest rates increase.
* After a future time, such as 5 to 20 years, you cannot draw against the account any longer. You will then have to make monthly payments on the loan’s principal and interest.

Words can be fun when we know what they mean and where they come from. Likewise, the second mortgage home equity loan can provide several options after you have mastered what it is.

Did you know if you borrow $100,000 for a mortgage loan, you may pay back as much as $300,000? Yes, its true, and you may pay more than that depending on the interest rate and the number of years it takes you to repay the loan. The amount is even higher if the terms of your loan require mortgage insurance.

There is a solution if you are able to pay something extra each month even if it is a small amount. Lets say you borrowed $100,000 and for your first payment, you paid the regular monthly payment of principal and interest in the amount of $825.00. As a reasonable example early in the term of the loan, $800 may be applied to interest and $25.00 is applied as principal. Your outstanding balance is now reduced to $99,975.00 and the interest for the next payment is calculated on that amount. If you had paid an extra $50.00 with the payment, the $50.00 would have paid two more scheduled principal payments and you would have saved two interest payments. Using the above figures as an example you would have saved approximately $1,600.00. Thats right – $1,600 in interest that you would never have to pay. In addition the interest amount due next month would be calculated on a lower balance.

The terms of the mortgage require a monthly payment of the full amount due for the monthly principal and interest payment. Most mortgage documents allow additional principal payments (also known as curtailments) without penalty; however, you should verify this with the lender or review the loan documents. If there are no penalties, you can save several thousand dollars over the term of the loan plus you dont have to spend thirty years paying off your loan. As we saw with the example above, a payment of an extra $50.00 resulted in savings in the interest. (The actual amount will vary depending on the loan amount and interest rate.)

The earlier you start paying additional sums during the life of the loan, the better. In the early years, the largest portion of your payment is applied as interest with a small amount going to the principal balance. Those small amounts will be easier to pay as additional principal payments and you will see substantial savings in the interest payments that you will never have to pay. As the balance is reduced the scheduled interest payments will be lower as the interest payment is calculated on the outstanding principal balance.

The principal balance will slowly start decreasing and before you know it, you will see a substantial reduction. It would be a good idea to ask your Lender to send you an amortization schedule so you can track your savings. This schedule shows the breakdown of the amount due for principal and the amount due for interest each month.

By reducing your principal balance faster than scheduled you will be able to request cancellation of your mortgage insurance, (MI or PMI) if your loan has insurance. Lenders require this insurance on loans with a loan to value ratio (LTV) of 80% or more. As your principal balance declines, the LTV will decline quickly as well. The Lender should be contacted for more information on canceling mortgage insurance as early cancellation could save you a substantial sum. This is in addition to the interest savings.

So remember, if you want to save money on your mortgage loan, check your loan documents for any restrictions, request an amortization schedule, and ask about the requirements for cancellation of mortgage insurance.

Enjoy Your Savings

Refinancing Your Mortgage Or A Home Equity Loan – Which Is Better?

When it comes time to get the money you need to renovate your home, you have some choices to make concerning the financing of it. Both ways, either refinancing your first mortgage, or a home equity loan, will give you access to your equity. After that, though, a number of differences will clearly stand out. Here is what you need to know about these differences so you can intelligently choose the best one for your needs.

Features Of Refinancing Your First Mortgage

By getting a cash out mortgage, you can replace your first mortgage and obtain your equity. This means that you will have to pay the fees again that you paid when you bought the house in the first place. However, if you wait until the interest rates are down, you can get a better deal than you had before. The amount that you can gain could easily offset the costs of refinancing and save you thousands of dollars over the life of the new mortgage.

The interest rate for a first mortgage is always lower than what you would get for a second mortgage – which makes this the ideal choice. You also will have only one payment each month, which you could even make lower than what you have now by extending the time length on the mortgage. If you already have more than one mortgage, then this is also a good way to consolidate them and get your equity at the same time, as well as reduce your monthly payment.

If you currently have an adjustable rate mortgage that is about to run out of the fixed rate portion, then this should be the way you would want to go. Not only will it give you level payments with a fixed interest rate, assuming you get a fixed rate mortgage, but also your equity for the upcoming renovation project you have in mind. This means you could take care of more than one problem at once.

Features Of A Home Equity Loan

A home equity loan is considered a second mortgage. This means it will give you an additional payment each month. If you can afford the extra payment, this may be the way you want to go. It will also have a higher rate of interest than a first mortgage, and usually has a time frame of up to 15 years for repayment.

You can take out your equity but need to leave enough in there that is equal to 20% of the value of the house. This is true with any kind of mortgage, since you may need to pay private mortgage insurance if you go over this amount.

A home equity loan is mostly fixed rate, but some may also be adjustable. Your loan payments are fully amortizing, and money used for fixing up your home is often tax deductible. This type of loan is seeing some new variations come out recently, so you will want to see what is out there before you choose.

The Choice Is Yours

Obviously, only one of these choices will best meet your needs. After you choose a course to take, you will then want to get a few quotes – whether you choose to refinance, or get a home equity loan. You will need to look them over carefully and consider all aspects in order to find the one that is best for you.

If you don’t want to give a continuous monthly payment for your house and want to save money, you can do it by refinancing your home. If you get a refinance mortgage loan you can easily save your money without paying monthly payments. Under a mortgage refinance plan, your present deal is reinstated with a different deal. It supplies its borrowers with many benefits. It decreases the house payment and releases some of the equity built in a lump sum payment or installments.

Mortgage refinance refers to changing the current loan with some other loan. It is capable of giving a positive edge if your credit history is not up to the mark. Your personal lender must be knowledgeable of your history and can suggest you favorable terms of refinance mortgage loan.

There are various types of refinance mortgage loan which you can find in the market. Through these loans you can refinance your mortgage.

1. Fixed Rate: Here, the interest rate on the base amount is fixed through out the years of the payment of the loan.

2. Adjustable Rate: This type of loan has changing interest rates depending on the market condition. In this type of refinance mortgage loan, there is generally an introductory rate period where the interest rate is fixed for a few years (3 and 5 years are common) at a very low rate. After this introductory period has passed, the rate becomes a true variable rate, focused on the rates of the market.

3. Fully-amortizing loan: Through this loan the monthly payments are changeable with interest rates, and towards the balance.

4. Balloon Home Loan: The interest rate here is fixed for a set period of time. Afterwards, it works as an adjustable interest rate.

5. Home Equity Loan: This is a fixed rate loan allowing you to tap into your equity while giving you a fund to spend. This type of loan is ideal for mortgage refinancing only if you have enough equity in your home to pay off your original mortgage lender.

When applying for a refinance mortgage loan you need to be careful and to be fully informed. You should know that whether it beneficial for you or not:

- While applying a refinance mortgage loan you must understand about that loan and do some research on it. – You must have a full control over your debts, and there is no hidden cost. – Make sure that your repayments will be reduced and not increased. – Your lenders fully inform you about the consequences of the steps you are taking. – You are better off as a result of the solution you have chosen.

Several mortgage companies can be able to assist you through relationship with lenders with a mortgage refinance loan. But make sure about the company’s performance.

Whatever refinance mortgage loan you have chosen, with fixed interest rates or with variable interest rates, you have to study all the related data to avoid errors which may lead to the loss of real estate. It is also important to find appropriate mortgage loan rates and interest rates among an enormous variety of mortgage loan companies and lenders.

Poor Credit Home Mortgage Loans – How To Avoid Borrowing Too Much

When buying a new home, it is essential to stay within a realistic budget, and avoid buying a home that you cannot afford. This is a common mistake made by first time homebuyers. Owning a home involves more than paying the mortgage. With homeownership come unexpected expenses, extra utilities, rising taxes, etc. Here are a few tips to help buyers avoid borrowing too much for a home.

Stay Away from Expensive Homes

If you tour an expensive home that is listed for sale, more than likely you will fall in love with the home. Sadly, millions of people purchase homes that are priced outside their budget. To avoid the temptation of splurging on a more expensive home, avoid touring certain model homes and open houses. Moreover, homebuyers should shun sneaky realtors who persuade them to bid on larger or more expensive homes.

Find a Good Mortgage Lender

Homebuyers with poor credit will likely use a sub prime mortgage lender. When applying for a mortgage quote or loan, select honest lenders. Unfortunately, several mortgage lenders and companies habitually approve loans that are beyond a buyer’s ability to pay. Nonetheless, the majority of mortgage lenders are sincere, and will not approve questionable loan applications.

First time homebuyers may have trouble determining how much house they can afford. Before applying for a loan or beginning your home search, consult an online mortgage calculator. After inputting your income and monthly debts, the calculator will provide a rough estimate of how much you can afford to spend.

Get Pre-Approved Before House Shopping

Shopping for a new home before getting pre-approved is a no-no. For starters, this is the easiest way to fall in love with a home you cannot afford. Instead, consult a mortgage lender and get pre-approved. To pre-approve homebuyers, lenders require information pertaining to income and debts. Once documents are received, they can determine a home price within your budget.

Getting pre-approved before bidding on a home is practical. Regrettably, some homebuyers win a bid, but are unable to secure financing because the home is too expensive. Moreover, pre-approval letters indicate your seriousness to realtors and home sellers. In many cases, this can be a tool for negotiating.

Poor Credit Home Mortgage Loans – Getting Approved With No Down Payment

When applying for a new mortgage with poor credit, you may be wondering whether or not you can get approved with zero down. There are a few factors that will influence this. Consider these points:

1. Poor Credit Will Put More Weight On Your Employment History & Salary – When you are putting less money down and have credit problems, this will cause the lender to look more heavily at the stability of your employment history and income. If your debt-to-income ratio is low and you have been at your job for more than one year, this will help you toward getting 100% financing.

2. Lenders Will Look Closely at Your Most Recent Payment History – Many people have had financial difficulties in your past, but one of the most telling things for a lender, is what your most recent payment history has been like. If you have a bankruptcy that is more than a few years old, but over the last few years have made regular, on-time payments on all of your existing bills, you are more likely to get approved for 100% financing.

3. Consider Having The Home Seller Pay The Closing Costs – If, with poor credit, you are able to get 100% financing, it will probably be quite a stretch to have the lender also wrap the loan closing costs up in the mortgage loan as well. When you make your offer on your new home, consider including in your offer that the seller pay all of the loan closing costs. This is a common practice, and it is highly likely that the seller will agree.

Try pulling a copy of your own credit report to see how bad your credit really is. Make sure you have disputed all inaccuracies on your credit report before you allow a mortgage lender to pull your credit. If possible, pay down as many high balance revolving credit accounts as possible. This can help increase your credit score significantly.

Poor Credit Home Mortgage Loans – How To Avoid Borrowing Too Much

When buying a new home, it is essential to stay within a realistic budget, and avoid buying a home that you cannot afford. This is a common mistake made by first time homebuyers. Owning a home involves more than paying the mortgage. With homeownership come unexpected expenses, extra utilities, rising taxes, etc. Here are a few tips to help buyers avoid borrowing too much for a home.

Stay Away from Expensive Homes

If you tour an expensive home that is listed for sale, more than likely you will fall in love with the home. Sadly, millions of people purchase homes that are priced outside their budget. To avoid the temptation of splurging on a more expensive home, avoid touring certain model homes and open houses. Moreover, homebuyers should shun sneaky realtors who persuade them to bid on larger or more expensive homes.

Find a Good Mortgage Lender

Homebuyers with poor credit will likely use a sub prime mortgage lender. When applying for a mortgage quote or loan, select honest lenders. Unfortunately, several mortgage lenders and companies habitually approve loans that are beyond a buyer’s ability to pay. Nonetheless, the majority of mortgage lenders are sincere, and will not approve questionable loan applications.

First time homebuyers may have trouble determining how much house they can afford. Before applying for a loan or beginning your home search, consult an online mortgage calculator. After inputting your income and monthly debts, the calculator will provide a rough estimate of how much you can afford to spend.

Get Pre-Approved Before House Shopping

Shopping for a new home before getting pre-approved is a no-no. For starters, this is the easiest way to fall in love with a home you cannot afford. Instead, consult a mortgage lender and get pre-approved. To pre-approve homebuyers, lenders require information pertaining to income and debts. Once documents are received, they can determine a home price within your budget.

Getting pre-approved before bidding on a home is practical. Regrettably, some homebuyers win a bid, but are unable to secure financing because the home is too expensive. Moreover, pre-approval letters indicate your seriousness to realtors and home sellers. In many cases, this can be a tool for negotiating.

Personal Finance. Credit Agencies Refused Access To Information About Student Loans

These days, when you apply for a mortgage, loan or other form of credit, the lending industry will automatically scrutinise your personal credit history. In practice, you hardly need to tell them anything as within a fraction of a second, the lenders computers will lock into your credit file held by any one of the big three credit agencies; Experian, Callcredit or Equifax And you’ll be amazed what they know about your finances!

For many years now banks, building societies and other lenders have been providing information about your finances to the credit agencies. They know about every credit applications you’ve made, the occasions you’ve been late or missed paying a loan, mortgage or credit card, the balances on your loans and credit cards and whether you just pay off the minimum each month – even your credit limits! The agencies also accumulated lots of other information about you provided by public records, the voters’ roll and the public register of court actions where all county court judgements are recorded. Their computers then statistically analyse all this information and assess your application. So in this context, the credit industry argues that the more information they have about you, the more accurately lenders can make lending decisions.

Yet within this mass of information, there is one notable omission. Despite representations to the government, information about student loans and their repayment history’s, is not provided to the credit agencies. The data is refused because student loans are a debt to the taxpayer, not a commercial business.

Prior to September 1998, graduates repaid their student loans by mortgage style direct debits collected once the graduate started earning over 15,000. But more than 59,000 of graduates from before 1998 graduates are understood to be in payment arrears to the tune, on average, of around 2,750 per graduate.

After September 1998, the system of collecting student loans changed. These days, repayments are deducted directly from salaries by employers along with national insurance and income tax. This method is far more efficient and avoids the possibility of bad debts.

The credit industry argues that it needs the information on student loans as they can represent a significant strain on the graduates’ finances especially following the introduction of top-up fees which results in the average student loans being much larger. These loans are repaid at the rate of 9% of the graduates’ income in excess of 15,000 and can represent a significant drain on their monthly income.

Therefore, to fully assess graduates’ financial situation the credit industry argues that it needs student loan information. The Association Consumer Credit Counselling Service agrees. A spokes person said, Knowing whether a young person has a student loan and whether it is being paid back, is useful.

Yet despite the pressure to share its information, the Department for Education and Skills remains steadfast in its decision to refuse permission to the Student Loan Company to provide information to the commercial sector.

Even the Citizens Advice Bureau wants this decision changed arguing that lenders need information on student loans to help ensure that graduates avoid taking on so much debt that they can’t maintain their repayments.

But for now at least, the situation remains. The credit industry cannot obtain any history about student loans.