The House Team Of Mortgage Intellingence asked:


Just imagine  as you’re going through your favourite coffee drive-thru this week  that a well-dressed gentleman stops and offers you $11,000 for your medium double double. Who would hesitate? We’d take the cash. It’s not so far-fetched. In fact, if you take that coffee budget and apply it to your monthly mortgage payment  a mere $30 extra per month -you could save yourself about $11,000 over the life of your mortgage.

Most of us can accept the idea that we must borrow money to purchase a home. We look for the best mortgage, and then just keep doling out the money for as long as it takes to pay it off. Most Canadians choose to amortize their mortgage over 25 years. That’s a long financial commitment, and it could more than double the cost of your home. But with good planning  and a few smart tactics  you should be able to enjoy your mortgage-burning party much earlier.

Here are a few strategies for fast-tracking your mortgage:

1. Increase your monthly payments. Rather than choosing your amortization period first, ask yourself how much you can afford each month. For example, you may feel that you can afford $1,000 per month. You’re delighted when your $125,000 mortgage only demands an $800/month payment (at a 6% interest). But make a monthly payment of $1,000 instead, and you’ll shave 8.75 years and almost $46,000 off your total interest cost.
2. Take advantage of lower rates. In addition to reducing the overall interest component of your mortgage, you can take the opportunity to pay down more principal faster  simply by maintaining your original payment. You should even increase your payment if you can, to reap the benefits of the cheapest mortgage money in memory. Again, you could take years  and thousands of dollarsoff your ontario mortgage.

3. Tie mortgage payments to your pay schedule. Many Canadians are paid on a bi-weekly schedule. If you accelerate your payments to bi-weekly instead of monthly, you could improve your own cash flow and fit in an extra payment each year. That means that you’re paying off principal faster  leaving you with less interest to pay overall. It doesn’t seem like much but  like putting your coffee budget to work  the bi-weekly strategy can have you mortgage free four years sooner, with almost $22,000 in savings.

4. Use any bonuses, tax refunds or “found money” to pay down principal. This is especially valuable in the early years of your mortgage. If you receive an annual bonus or other lump-sum compensation, see if you can put it against the principal. An extra $1,000 per year is a great way to fast-track to mortgage-free!

5. Consolidate your loans into a new mortgage and use the savings to boost your payments. If you’re a homeowner with some equity, you can use your mortgage to consolidate your other loans: student loans, car loans, etc. Add the money you’ve been spending on loan payments to your mortgage payments, and you could see big savings in overall interest.

With ontario mortgage rates at historic lows, you should take the opportunity to get an expert mortgage analysis from an independent mortgage broker with access to mortgages from a wide spectrum of lenders. You’ve got a great opportunity to put some fast-track tactics in place. You’ll remember what a good decision you made at your mortgage-burning party.

Apurva Shree asked:


When you decide to take out a debt consolidation mortgage, many undecided issues may confront you. In such a situation a debt consolidation mortgage calculator comes in very handy to help you decide the size of loan, its interest rate and the period of payback.

Let us first understand the basic terms.

Mortgage

Mortgage is a method of using property as a security while paying debt. Mortgages are usually associated with loans secured with real estate. In many countries, it is normal for a mortgage to fund a home purchase.

Debt Consolidation
Simply put, debt consolidation is taking out one loan to pay off many others. This allows you to secure a fixed interest rate and to have the convenience of servicing only one loan. You may be interested in debt consolidation if any of the following situations applies to you. Firstly, you want to consolidate your debts into one easy to pay monthly installment. Secondly, you currently pay more than one interest rate on your loans which is making your payment terms complex.

Debt Consolidation Mortgage

Debt consolidation mortgage is another term for an adverse credit mortgage. This is a mortgage designed for people with impaired credit. Whatever be your situation, you will need to decide the loan package best suited to your needs. There are many debt consolidation loan companies, which offer free advice to customers who are in need of a loan. You can locate a number of such companies on the internet. In addition to various loan packages, they also provide you an online debt consolidation mortgage calculator.

What Is A Debt Consolidation Mortgage Calculator?

Debt consolidation mortgage calculator is a handy online tool, which lets you calculate how much your monthly mortgage payment is likely to be. All you need to do is to enter the following data. Mortgage amount, Years left on mortgage, Annual interest rate, and in just few minutes you will get the appropriate rate of interest that you need to pay on monthly basis.

However, what will happen if the interest rates change? The mortgage calculator can still help you compute the revised value of your monthly payment. You have to select the interest rate change from the drop down menu and your screen will display the revised costs. It is as simple as that.

Nonetheless, it is important to remember that the figures shown are only a guideline. The exact cost will depend on the type of mortgage you own.

Wayne Hemrick asked:


Filing for bankruptcy in the United States is not as easy as it once was for the individual. People file for bankruptcy for many reasons, but the main reason is that a member of the family has become chronically ill, and the family has gone into great debt due to medical expenses, and can no longer keep up with the balance due.

Although there are six types of bankruptcy, most families file for one of two types: Chapter 7 or Chapter 13. Chapter 7 bankruptcy covers individuals or businesses, and the debtor sells off his or her non-exempt property, the proceeds of which go to pay off the creditors. Some people have no non-exempt property, so due to this circumstance they are not required to sell off anything. In return, the debtor’s debt is canceled, except for certain kinds, such as some taxes and support for a spouse. Chapter 13 bankruptcy helps the individual debtor who still has some type of income. It garnishes the future wages of the individual debtor for three to five years, in return for which the debtor gets to keep all of his or her property. In 2005, consumer lenders convinced Congress and the President to turn into law the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act. Debtors must now pass a Means Test to qualify for bankruptcy under Chapter 7, and must take credit counseling, no matter what the cause for the bankruptcy.

All things considered, it might be a better option for many to look into debt consolidation over bankruptcy. Many people are seeking this type of help, and if you are a mortgage broker, then you have the products that they are looking for to help them avoid bankruptcy and begin to dig out from under their debt. These people are eager to learn about your loan products; all you need to do is find out who they are. One easy way to achieve this goal is to get qualified mortgage consolidation leads.

As you compare lead origination companies, you will discover the keys to recognizing quality loan debt consolidation leads. You will want leads that are not enticed to give their contact information because they will receive a prize for doing so. Instead, you want leads that want you to contact them with vital information to help them solve their debt nightmare. Another factor to consider is that reputable companies dealing in loan consolidation leads will also guarantee the accuracy of the contact information of the leads, and that the leads should have a high amount of unsecured debt they wish to extinguish. That, along with exclusive rights to each of the debt leads, will ensure a high closing rate for you, and bankruptcy relief for your new clients.

Wayne Hemrick asked:


Successful loan officers know that one easy way to increase their client base is through using debt elimination leads. They are successful because they spend the majority of their valuable time presenting their loan products to interested prospective clients who then decide to purchase from them. The key to making loan debt consolidation leads work in your favor is to ensure that you are purchasing high-quality leads. To do otherwise is to waste much time and money, so it pays to look at several factors that make a lead worth buying.

First, you should only buy leads from a company that sells leads one time. Unscrupulous lead sellers wring more money out of their leads by selling them to more than one customer. What this means is that even if the lead is highly qualified in terms of what you have to sell, this person is being pounced on by several salespeople. All of them are trying to make a sale, and it results in many potential new clients deciding not to go with any of the salespeople whom they perceive as “pestering” them. Leads that are unique to you alone, on the other hand, are excellent because they allow you the time you need to understand your new client’s needs, and then you can meet them capably by offering them appropriate loan products. This improves your closing rate dramatically.

Any leads you wish to purchase should have been carefully screened by the lead generating company for several indicators that will improve your odds of making a sale. One is that they have checked and can guarantee that each lead has a high amount of unsecured debt, most often found with credit card use. This type of debt is dangerous to carry because of credit card companies’ ability to raise minimum payments without warming, and a new client with lots of unsecured debt will be very interested in your solutions to his or her debt issues. Leads should also be screened to verify that all contact information is accurate. This is a basic feature that you might assume could be taken for granted, but unfortunately some lead generation companies are not thorough in this regard. Inaccurate telephone numbers and e-mail addresses can be impossible to correct with call-screening and spam blockers that are available to the public, so you will want to see if anyone from whom you wish to purchase leads will provide you with a guarantee as to their accuracy. If not, you then know you should take your business elsewhere.

A few specific questions answered in advance of a purchase from a lead generation company can save you a lot of wasted money, so be sure to ask.

Paul Hata asked:


Debt Consolidation is the process of bringing together ones debts from various sources, amalgamating or consolidating them into one single debt usually at a lower rate of interest. The resultant single debt is also known as a debt consolidation loan.

This process of debt consolidation has become very popular in the recent times because of the flexibility and simplicity it offers to the takers.

Debt consolidation becomes an irreplaceable tool when an individual or business is indebted by high interest loans and is interested in replacing them with a debt consolidation loan that carries a lower interest rate.

Debt consolidation has also become popular because of the ease in making one payout instead of many which can again be negotiated to be weekly, fortnightly or monthly.

Debt consolidation involves very common debts like credit cards, mortgages, student loans etc. The most common of these is credit card debt since this debt carries a very prohibitive rate of interest usually nearing 20% p.a.

Debt consolidation has become popular in Australia since Australia has always been known for its high interest credit cards.

An Australian holding two or three credit cards being charged at about 20% p.a., would only be happy to manage and consolidate his owing at 7-10% interest bearing debt consolidation loan.

Not only, would he would save a lot of money in the process, he will have lesser monthly payments to bother about.

Debt consolidation works with almost all kinds of loans available in Australia today. Another reason why debt consolidation has caught on in Australia is because of the highly competitive marketplace with products having extremely higher rates of interest.

Debt consolidation in Australia is still growing in popularity, since the number of lenders is on the rise. Australians with loans taken at higher rates of interest are replacing them with lower interest ones making use of the honeymoon period bearing further lower interest rates to pay off the old debts.

The awareness of the advantages of debt consolidation has become wide-spread especially in regard to:

- Negotiating with their creditors for paying less,

- Getting a debt Consolidation Loan,

- Going thru the debt agreement with a magnifying glass in case of trouble

Debt Consolidation loans available in Australia are of various kinds and are widely classified as per objectives. They are debt consolidation, mortgage consolidation and bill consolidation.

As the types signify a normal debt consolidation loan is used to pay off personal debts like personal loans and credit cards.

A mortgage consolidation deals with getting all your housing debt under one loan thereby reducing mortgage payouts and offering flexibility of a negotiated and single payment.

Bill consolidation on the other hand deals with a loan that amalgamates all due bills into one single loan and again offers the flexibility of negotiated and lesser payouts.

In case of need, the advice is to do your calculations and shop for the best debt consolidation loan and options in the market before deciding on one.

Various lenders offer various sops from time to time. It is up to you how you can turn them to your advantage.

Gerald Mason asked:


Many homeowners consider the possibility of using a mortgage to consolidate existing debt.

If you have already repaid your mortgage, you can take out another primary mortgage.

Taking out a second mortgage is an additional option to consolidate debts for those homeowners who still have a primary mortgage.

How sound of an idea is it to use a mortgage to consolidate your debts?

You should never use a mortgage to consolidate your debts if the interest rate for your debt is lower than the interest rate you would have on a mortgage.

This would mean that you are paying a higher cost for the mortgage than you were paying on your debts. This is not a sound financial decision.

There is a slight exception to this rule.

If you your current debt has some kind of introductory rate that will expire and leave you with an interest rate that will be higher than that of the mortgage, then a mortgage to consolidate debt is worth considering.

There are other factors, in addition to interest rate, that you should take into account when you consider using a mortgage to consolidate your debt.

When you have less than 20% equity in your home, you are required to pay private mortgage insurance.

If these premiums plus the amount of your mortgage without consolidating your debts is the same as or less than the amount of your mortgage with consolidating your debt, then you do not incur extra costs by consolidating.

However, if the private mortgage insurance causes your monthly payment to increase, then consolidation is costing you.

A lot of homeowners make the mistake of thinking only about the monthly payment of their mortgage in addition to what they are paying on their debts without consolidating in comparison to the mortgage with debt consolidating.

Take into account that when you consolidate debt with a mortgage, you are paying it over a longer period of time, which accounts for the lower monthly payment.

Before you apply for a mortgage, you should find out your credit score.

Chances are if you are having trouble with credit, then you have a less than perfect credit score.

Remember that your credit score will affect the interest rate and terms you receive on a mortgage.

If your credit score is below 600, the likelihood of you receiving favorable loan terms is low; not impossible, just low.

Keep in mind that when you use a mortgage to consolidate your debt, that the debt is not eliminated. Instead, you are transferring your debt from one form to another.

The best way to determine what it will cost you to consolidate your debts using a mortgage or pay them straight out is to use a mortgage calculator as well as a debt repayment calculator. Logic can be flawed, but numbers never lie.

Bankrate.com has calculators that will assist you in both of these calculations. Use the calculator to test out different loan amounts and mortgage rates to get a good picture of how much consolidating will cost you.

IC asked:


Only a few years ago, the prospect of a debt consolidation mortgage was often hailed as the way forward. And it’s clear to see why. Homeowners were getting in to increasing unsecured debt – in 2007, all debt in the UK (around £135tr) exceeded GDP for the first time (around £133tr) – while interest rates were temptingly low. In October 2003 for example, the base rate stood at just 3.5 per cent. As a result, many homeowners were persuaded to borrow more of this cheap money against their homes – which of course were rocketing in value – and pay off more expensive unsecured debt like credit cards. This became known as a debt consolidation mortgage.

How does a debt consolidation mortgage work?

But, really a debt consolidation mortgage is just another name for a remortgage or a further advance. The reference to ‘debt consolidation’ is simply what the homeowner does with the money released. A remortgage means when you switch lenders and increase your borrowing in the process, whereas a further advance means sticking with the same lender and deal but borrowing more against your property. Either of these types of further borrowing is widely referred to as a debt consolidation mortgage.

What are the pros of a debt consolidation mortgage?

A debt consolidation mortgage is very useful in terms of the fact it keeps all of your borrowing in one place. This means there are fewer Direct Debits to organise or fewer repayments to miss as, clearly, you have fewer creditors. Another bonus of a debt consolidation mortgage is that, while mortgages rates are not as low as they once were, they are still a lot cheaper than the rates payable on credit cards, store cards, overdrafts and personal loans. This means that your debt consolidation mortgage will leave you safe in the knowledge you will not be paying eye-watering rates of up to 30 per cent APR on any borrowing.

What are the cons of a debt consolidation mortgage?

However, equally there are some downsides to a debt consolidation mortgage. The first one is that the one new loan you have secured against your home, is payable over a longer period than the five-year term of a personal loan for example, meaning that what you save in the rate of interest, you may pay anyway in the length of time the debt consolidation mortgage runs for.

The other downside to a debt consolidation mortgage is that, when you are upping the loan secured against your home, it relies on the fact that house prices are going to go up, as they have done over the last 10 years by 197 per cent, according to Halifax figures. But these days are over. Both house price indices from Halifax and Nationwide building society are predicting that house prices will stall at 0 per cent by this time next year (January 2009). So you could find your debt consolidation mortgage has upped your mortgage to a greater chunk of your home’s value than you originally thought.

A debt consolidation mortgage is worse news still if house prices fall as it could put you in negative equity faster than the natural decline of house prices would have done. Being in negative equity will often prevent you from moving home as your mortgage – alongside your debt consolidation mortgage – is now larger than the value of the house.

Seeking help from an experienced broker like TMBL is therefore always a good place to start before taking on the serious borrowing that is a debt consolidation mortgage.

DavidB asked:


Is your credit less than perfect? Are you seeing more and more bills come in that you are unable to pay on time every month? Are you ready to get rid of that debt and start a debt free lifestyle but wondering how you can do that with the bad credit you have acquired? If this sounds like you, then you should know that there is help around the corner. There are debt consolidation loans for bad credit that you can look into to becoming debt free. You will find that many places that allow you take out a loan for your debt, when you all ready have bad credit know the risks that are involved and that is why they take the precautions that they do. Let us look at what those precautions are.

Simple Signature Loan for Debt Consolidation

Depending on just how bad your credit is, you may or may not qualify for the regular signature loan that you can get for debt consolidation. There are some places however, that will allow you to take out a loan so that you can be on your way to becoming debt free. Nevertheless, they also look at your credit. If your credit is really bad, you may be declined. But no worries there are still many more options for you to consolidate your debt with a loan for bad credit.

Collateral Loan for Debt Consolidation

So your credit is just too bad for the ordinary signature loan for debt consolidation. Let’s look at the collateral loan for debt consolidation. When you take out a collateral loan, you are putting something up that in the event that you do not make your payments on the loan, the company can come and collect whatever it is that you have put up for collateral. Let’s say you put up a vehicle for collateral. The company that you take out your loan with will come and get your vehicle if you do not make your payments. This in return allows the company that gives you the loan the chance to take a risk on you. They will not lose any money from your non-payments in the event that you did not pay.

Second Mortgage Loan for Debt Consolidation

So you own your home and you would like to take out a second mortgage on your home as a debt consolidation loan for bad credit. Many mortgage companies will give you the opportunity to take out a loan and have a second mortgage on your home. However, you have to make sure that your first mortgage payments have been on time and are current as well as up to date. So that could make a huge difference. It makes sense though, if you cannot pay your current mortgage payments, what makes you think that you can pay your second mortgage payments?

As you can see, there are several ways to get a debt consolidation loan for bad credit. There is the signature loan for the credit that is not so bad, the collateral loan for the credit that is not so good and the second mortgage loan that you can look into as well.

Brian Jenkins asked:


A debt consolidation loan is a process of taking out one loan to pay off several other loans. There are advantages to doing this, such as financing the loan at a lower interest rate, or extending the life of the loan, both of which will lower your monthly obligations. Sometimes people will roll a variety of unsecured debt obligations over into another unsecured obligation. This is most common when someone transfers credit card account balances from several different credit cards to one credit card that has a lower interest rate. This is not, however, what most people think of when they consider a debt consolidation loan.

Most often, a debt consolidation loan involves taking a variety of unsecured debt and transferring it over to a loan against secured debt. To put into simple terms, the credit card or other debt is rolled into a loan taken out as a second mortgage against a home. The home serves as collateral against the debt. By providing the home as collateral, the borrower can obtain a lower interest rate than if he were attempting to consolidate his debt with no collateral. This is because the lender can force the sale of the home, through foreclosure proceedings, if the borrower does not repay the loan.

The Dangers of a Debt Consolidation Loan

Debt consolidation is not always the best decision for financial woes. While it is true that consolidating your debt can free up some money each month, there are many risk factors as well. The biggest, of course, is that you are switching from an unsecured debt to a secured debt. If you do not pay unsecured debt, you account may be turned over to collections, or you may even be drawn into a lawsuit, but it is unlikely that your financial history will be devastated. If you cannot repay a debt consolidation loan in which you have used your home as collateral, you will face foreclosure.

Foreclosure proceedings are devastating on a variety of levels. A foreclosure on your credit history is a huge black mark, which can take years to eliminate. The bigger blow, of course, is the loss of your home. It seems impossible to imagine, but, if you do not make the payments on your debt consolidation loan, even if you continue to make your mortgage payments, you do face losing your home.

Another, less apparent, problem with debt consolidation loans, is that by eliminating “dumb” debt, it is easy to forget it ever happened. Once those expensive dinners and spur of the moment shopping trips are rolled into a debt consolidation loan, and you are not looking at multiple credit card statements each month, it is very easy to fall into the same financial trap. In fact, by some estimations, up to 70% of people who consolidate their loans will find themselves with some amount of unsecured debt again in the near future. If you have not made plans on changing your financial future entirely, it does not make sense to consolidate your debts.

When Does Debt Consolidation Make Sense?

You should not let the pitfalls of debt consolidation loans scare you off. They do make sense for many people. If you have acquired a significant amount of debt that you need to pay off, such as through medical bills, it makes sense to consider a debt consolidation loan. Also, if your credit card debt can be ruled as youthful extravagance, and you are ready to change your ways, then debt consolidation can provide you with a financial option.

Only you can make the decision on whether debt consolidation loans make sense for your particular situation. What you should realize, however, that they are not free. Debt consolidation loans are subject to closing costs just as a traditional mortgage. You can sometimes reduce these by taking out the loan through the same lender that holds your current mortgage. Also, if you are struggling to make ends meet now, ask the lender what your monthly payments will be under the debt consolidation mortgage. If they are not substantially lower, either pass on the debt consolidation loan or ask if the repayment terms can be extended. It is one thing to risk a missed payment with unsecured debt, but in the case of a debt consolidation loan, where your home is on the line, you need to make certain that you can meet the repayment schedule.

Once you have weighed the pros and cons of debt consolidation, it will be easier to make a decision. For some, the benefit of paying off their debt is worth the risk of using their home as collateral, but for others, the risk is too great. It is a very personal decision, and regardless of your decision, it is important to have all of the facts about debt consolidation before taking the plunge.