| Peter Boutell, Lending a Hand: This loan pays off sooner without ...
A new loan program introduced in the United States two years ago is revolutionizing the way homeowners are paying off their mortgages. It combines the flexibility of a home equity line of credit with the idle cash that sits in your checking account to pay off your loan sooner without changing your spending habits. The loan is called the "home ownership accelerator" As we all know, you can pay off your mortgage faster and save tens of thousands of dollars by simply increasing your payment each month with a conventional mortgage. However, that requires discipline and a tightening of your personal budget. Also on a conventional loan, once you have made extra payments your money is locked up permanently unless you refinance. By using the cash that sits in your checking account, the home ownership accelerator will automatically lower your principal due on your mortgage.
Refinance Loan Financial Solutions
Before finalizing on any particular Refinance loan it is important to have a clear financial objective in mind. This means that you have to learn about everything from when you should refinance to how you can increase the value of your home. All these things will make you more aware and confident to choose the most appropriate loan. Ultimately, the decision is up to you to decide which the best refinance loan option for you. There are multiple ways with which you can opt for your refinance loan. These are - Adjustable Rate Mortgage (ARM) to a fixed rate Mortgage .
Homes Foreclosure Rate In Atlanta One Of Highest In Nation
Despite a vibrant local economy, Atlanta homeowners are falling behind on mortgage payments and losing their homes at one of the highest rates in the nation, offering a troubling glimpse of what experts fear may be in store for other parts of the country. The real estate slump here and elsewhere is likely to worsen, given that most of the adjustable rate mortgages written in the last three years will be reset with higher interest rates, said Christopher F. Thornberg, an economist with Beacon Economics in Los Angeles. As a result, borrowers of an estimated $800 billion in loans will be forced in the next 12 months to 18 months to make bigger monthly payments, refinance or sell their homes. A big reason the fallout is occurring faster here is a Georgia law that permits lenders to foreclose on properties more quickly than in other states.
More consumers choose fixed rate loans: BankWest/MFAA
Fixed interest rate home loans are now more popular than variable rate loans, according to consumer research by BankWest and the Mortgage & Finance Association of Australia (MFAA).
The latest MFAA/BankWest Home Finance Survey found more people are likely to choose a fixed rate (28.3 percent) than a variable rate home loan (19.9 percent) if they borrow or refinance in the next six months.
A large number (31.6 percent of respondents) are taking an each way bet on interest rates, saying they would select a mixture of both.
Phil Naylor, chief executive of the MFAA, says that while the survey found a much lower expectation of interest rate rises compared to six months ago, people are not leaving it to fate.
"Coming off the back of three rate rises last year, most new home loan borrowers are choosing the security of a fixed rate home loan, or opting for a split loan to maintain flexibility and hedge their bets against changes in interest rates," says Naylor.
Iowa business briefs: Wells Fargo ends subprime product
Wells Fargo & Co. on Monday said it stopped offering a popular subprime mortgage product in response to market and regulatory pressure. Wells Fargo Home Mortgage is based Des Moines.
The company, in an e-mail to Reuters, said it ended on Friday retail offerings of so-called 2/28 loans, which made up 65percent of all subprime mortgages last year.
Payments on these mortgages are based on rates that are fixed for two years and then are adjusted twice a year for the remaining 28 years if the loan is not refinanced.
VeraSun Energy buys three ethanol plants
VeraSun Energy Corp. announced Monday that it will acquire three ethanol plants with a combined annual production capacity of 330 million gallons a year from ASAlliances Biofuels LLC for $725million.
Homeowner bailout is state's mistake
The homeowners who signed these mortgages must be held accountable somehow ("State to refinance troubled mortgages," July 11). Yes, the mortgage companies may have taken advantage, but if the homeowners had hired an attorney or did their homework, there wouldn't be a problem. This is like rewarding stupidity. These are my tax dollars, which I am getting no benefit from because I was smart enough to sign a 30-year fixed 5.5 percent loan. If I lose my job tomorrow, I could easily end up in foreclosure since the maximum unemployment is way below my current earnings. Where would my help come from? Probably no one. In the future, maybe I should be stupid, too, and just let Mr. Patrick worry about it. Anthony Ellis
Beverly
Talk about rewarding bad behavior.
SPREADING SUBPRIME PAIN
Her mortgage payment is increasing about $200 next month, and she's worried she can't afford it. Her plight is an example of the pressures rocking the mortgage industry - pressures rippling through the economy that contributed to last week's stock market swoon. Reid-Williams tried for months to refinance the house she bought in Yeadon eight years ago, but recently decided against it - to avoid a $4,000 penalty for paying off her existing loan early, she said. This is quite a contrast from two years ago. When Reid-Williams refinanced in 2005, it seemed like the lender was coming to her rescue with money she needed to pay off her car and other bills. When it was too late, she read the fine print. "What did I just do?" she recalled asking herself.
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