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Banks Competing for Your Loan |
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- American Express
- American Home Loans
- Bank of America
- Bank One
- Citibank
- Countrywide Home Loans
- E-Loan
- E-Trade
- Federal Trust Bank
- First Bank
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- First USA
- Fleet Financial
- IndyMac
- J.P.Morgan Chase
- LoansDirect
- MBNA America
- Mellon Bank
- MortgageSelect
- National City Bank
- PNC Bank
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- Providian Bank
- Sovereign Bank
- Sterling National Bank
- SunTrust Bank
- Synergy Bank
- Travelers Bank
- United Savings Bank
- Washington Mutual
- Wells Fargo Bank
- Zions Bank
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Optimize Your Home Loan |
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For most homeowners, the mortgage payment is by far their biggest monthly expense. Are you paying too much? Can you save by making informed decision?
Find out the answers here and start saving now.
Which Mortgage is Best?
Stay away from paying points when you plan on being a short-timer in a home. An Adjustable Rate Mortgage (ARM) can be a better choice in a short-term situation.
Borrow using 30-year mortgages and pay them down aggressively by making additional principal payments then hamstring household budget with a 15-year note.
ARMs are attractive when short-term interest rates are trending lower. With the Federal Reserve cutting the target Fed Funds rate aggressively, there isn't a whole lot of room left for short-term rates to trend much lower.
Seventy-five percent of home buyers opt for a fixed-rate mortgage. They don't like the uncertainty surrounding changing mortgage payments due to changing interest rates.
You can choose a hybrid mortgage by selecting a 3/1 ARM or a 5/1 ARM where the interest rate remains fixed for three years or five years before it starts to float.
Getting your home purchase mortgage is quick and easy with LendingTree, even if you've had credit problems in the past.
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Can You Lower Your Payments by Refinancing?
Here’s a quick way to tell if it’s worthwhile to consider refinancing. Get a rate quote for a “no-cost,” no-points mortgage. If it is lower than the rate you are paying now, that’s a good sign that you would save money by refinancing even if you decide to pay the closing costs. That’s because the interest rate for a no-cost loan is raised to cover closing costs. That gives you a kind of apples-to-apples comparison. No-cost refinancing is a good option for folks who don’t plan to stay in their home for more than four to five years. If you stay longer, you will ultimately spend less by paying the closing costs and taking the lower interest rate.
Refinance your home loan to lower monthly payments, to pay-off loan sooner or to cash out.
Shop for low mortgage rates at BestRate.com. Let the bidding lower your rate. You complete one application. Up to 4 lenders bid on your loan. You choose! You Win! Get Mortgage, refinance or debt consolidation loan.
Click here to learn more.
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Tap into Your Equity.
The equity in your home (what it’s worth minus what you owe) can be a good source of low-interest funds for major purchases. Consider refinancing (a good first choice), a home equity loan (a feasible second choice), or a home equity line of credit (the most flexible, but the one with the highest interest rates) to generate cash if you need to finance home improvements or have other major expense for which you would be taking on debt.
Or, if you are carrying a lot of high-interest debt, you can use your equity to reduce the interest you are paying. The interest will be tax-deductible, too. Just don’t go overboard. Mortgages are “good” debt, but they are still debt. Don’t abuse your equity. Remember, the collateral for these loans is your home.
The second mortgage, home equity loan or line of credit can be used for debt consolidation, home improvement, major purchases, investing and education.
Put your biggest investment to work with a home equity loan from LendingTree.
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Personal Finance |
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Drive Down Your Cost of Financing a Car
The options can be as mind-boggling as a new-car lot, but some souces -- like online services -- offer clear advantages.
So you don’t have the cash, but that clunker of yours has gotta go. Congratulations -- you’re joining the 80% of the nation’s car buyers who have to borrow money.
So now comes the really tricky question: From the myriad financing options available, which one should you choose? Should you take out a personal loan, use one of the auto manufacturer’s special financing deals or take out a home equity loan? And these are only a few options.
This is not a cop-out, but the answer is: It depends. Consider the pros and cons of the most commonly used financing methods.
If you read all of the personal-finance books out, most of them will tell you that you should secure your financing before you enter the car showroom. The reason for this is that if your dealer is brokering a loan from a bank or another financial institution, they may be taking their cut.
Home equity loans have become a popular way to purchase cars. According to Branch, about 13% of all home equity loans are used at least in part for this purpose. The reasons are twofold: First, many people have sufficient equity in their homes to come up with the sums of money necessary to purchase a new car; and second, home equity interest is tax-deductible, while interest on a typical consumer loan is not.
You can get either straight home equity loans that let you borrow a certain amount, or a home equity line of credit (HELOC). A HELOC offers you the option to borrow up to a certain amount against your home’s equity at any time. It’s like a revolving line of credit, in which you’re offering your home as collateral. Don’t ever forget that last point: You’re using your home as collateral.
For someone in the 36% federal, state and local tax bracket, an 8.5% home equity loan paid off over five years would save you about $1,921 over a comparable car loan from your bank. But make sure you actually pay off your home equity loan as quickly as you would your car loan or you may lose your home equity loan interest payment advantage.
In the end, how you pay for your new car depends on how you use the car and how long you’re willing to keep driving it before you turn it in for another one. In terms of the best deals on regular consumer loans, your best option is probably a home equity loan, as long as you don’t overextend yourself.
After that,
the online services seem to offer the best rates. The one exception may be special manufacturer’s offers to move their car inventory.
Your last choice should be a personal consumer loan. The rates typically are higher and there are no tax advantages.
Shop for Better Credit Card Deals
Choosing the right credit card can save you hundreds of dollars. Here’s what to look for in a card and how to find it.
"Choosing the right credit card can mean several hundred extra dollars in your pocket," says Gerri Detweiler, a credit consultant and the author of "The Ultimate Credit Handbook." "So it's clearly worth your time and trouble to do it."
Before you start shopping, know this rule: Two is definitely enough. People who apply for mortgages or other large loans will discover that their credit scores are actually lowered if they have too many credit cards. The theory is that if you have several credit cards, you could easily run up bills too sizable to manage.
The key here is to first, understand how you use your credit card. Then,
find the card that fits your lifestyle.
Shopping for Home Loan
Borrowers are concerned with their interest rate, their closing costs, and the speed with which a lender can put money in their hands. Lenders who start using new products will presumably be able to offer quicker closes on cheaper loans, and that's why
it makes sense to keep shopping, even if the loan you own isn't very old.
While shopping, make sure you demand the lender offer a good faith estimate of closing costs, and stick with lenders that hold those down, too. Sometimes as much as 2 percent of the loan amount is buried in miscellaneous fees, including document preparation, title recording, and even photocopying and Fedex charges. It doesn't make sense to save on the loan if you're going to blow it all on the closing.
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