Foreclosure Rescue or Illegal Land Grab? Watch Out For This Scam

Imagine for a minute that you’re struggling financially and that you’re falling behind on your mortgage payments, worried that you might lose your home.  Out of the blue, help materializes out of nowhere in the form of a foreclosure rescue firm, which promises to help you obtain a refinance loan and climb out of debt.

All you have to do is pay them a fee, put the foreclosure rescue company on the title to your home and you’ll be good to go.

Sounds easy, doesn’t it?  Here’s the catch:

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Need to unlock your home's equity - but have a few questions? Why not consider a free private email consultation with me, Darrin Roseborsky? There's no obligation or commitments to worry about. Just helpful answers to your questions. Use the short form in the top-right corner to get started. And in a few minutes, you'll have the answers to all of your questions.

Bad Credit? 5 Debt Consolidation Mortgage Loan Fees To Watch

When you have bad credit your options for improving your financial situation can be somewhat limited.  Debt consolidation mortgage loans can be an excellent way of retaking control over your finances, but if you pull the trigger on one of the debt consolidation loan offers that could be filling your mailbox, you run the risk of getting much more than you bargained for.

A common problem that people with poor credit run into with their finances is one that affects even people with good credit: life happens! 

You don’t intend to have financial difficulties, to get laid off from your job, or to have other challenges beyond your control.  When things do happen, your Read more

Will Refinancing Hurt Your Credit Score?

Here’s a good question that came through last week about whether or not refinancing your mortgage can adversely affect your credit score.

Question: Will refinancing my mortgage wind up hurting my credit score?  I have bad credit – not the worst ever, but still not good.  A friend of mine told me that refinancingwould ding my credit score for about 30 points.  

If that’s the case, would I be better off not refinancing right now?  My wife and I are thinking about selling our house and moving within the next few years and we want our credit to be as good as it can be. Thanks, Rob in Ontario

Answer: Hi Rob, your situation isn’t as unusual as you might think. Lots of Canadians have problem credit from missed and late payments, spotty work histories after layoffs, and other problems that they think might make it hard to refinance their home mortgage loan.

Here’s the lowdown: Read more

Hang Tight or Loosen Up? What Direction are Canadian Lenders Going?

Canadian Bank regulators are beginning to show signs of frustration with some of the Canadian lenders that received huge injections of cash designed to encourage lenders to loosen the purse strings a little bit and let the mortgage market thaw.  

Lately, some Canadians have run into a brick wall when trying to refinance their existing mortgages or obtain brand new mortgage loans.  So will the new year bring more of the same – or will the cash finally start to flow?  

And what exactly will these decisions mean to you? In this insightful article in the Star, the author explains the short- and long-term credit market in Canada.  To read it for yourself and form your own opinion.

http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/556259 

Refinancing Smart. 5 Tips For Battling A Crappy Economy

You may be testing the waters right now to see if the temperature is right for you to take the refinancing plunge or if you should wait for the credit markets to thaw a little more. Refinancing is a smart move – under the right set of circumstances.

Here’s how you make the best decision for your financial situation while positioning yourself for success.

• Analyze your overall situation: Is your employment picture clear? Nobody wants to take on new debt if they’re not convinced of their ability to repay the loan. However, if your employer is making noise like there might be a layoff coming at some point in the future, it might impact your decision, especially if you’re considering refinancing your mortgage and pulling additional cash out of your home to pay off other bills. Read more

Your Personal Finance: 5 Step Year-End Action Plan

We’re coming up on the time of year again when we start taking stock of the past year and planning for the next one.  If your personal finance goals largely went unfulfilled this year, it’s time for you to take a step back, re-evaluate your goals and make plans now to make 2009 the year you take control of your personal finances.

Here’s your personal finance - five step action plan - you can implement today that will help cut debt and get you on the path to financial recovery. Read more

Shared Home Ownership? Can You Still Use Your Home Equity?

Here’s a question we get often at HomeRefinanceCoach.com.

“I have a shared ownership. Can i still use equity?”

Before we dive into the answer to this question, let’s first define the term “shared ownership”.  Basically shared ownership is when two or more people own equity in a property.  Most often shared ownership of home equity is between 1. siblings 2. business partners.  These arrangements are the most common.

So can you still use your home equity in this scenario? Read more

How Many Choices Does Your Mortgage Broker Give You?

Does your mortgage broker have your best interest at heart when making loan recommendations – or is he or she more intent on trying to fit you into a loan package that may not be the best solution for your situation?

Whether you are in BC or Florida, a good mortgage broker will have multiple loan options for you that will take your wants, needs, and financial goals into consideration.  Otherwise, you’ll run the risk of not reaching your financial goals nearly as quickly.  

To help prevent this from happening, there are a number of steps you can take as a smart borrower:

• Ask Questions – You may feel a little uncomfortable asking your mortgage broker tough questions, but as a smart loan consumer, you owe it to yourself and your financial future to get the right answers before making the decision to move forward with a home equity loan.   Read more

Debt Consolidation Using Equity: 2 Common Questions Answered

Debt consolidation: It can be a very useful tool in your financial toolbox when debt related interest rates get too high and monthly cash flow dissapears.

For those of you who are new to the term debt consolidation, in a nutshell debt consolidation is a loan that allows you to consolidate many other debts into one, lowering your monthly payments, interest rates, and freeing up more money each month.

Hundreds of questions come through each week from our visitors here at HomeRefinanceCoach.com, and many of them are about debt consolidation through refinancing, equity loans, or second mortgages. 

So for today’s post I thought we could answer two of them.   Read more

3 Secrets to Home Refinance Bliss

If you’ve been shopping for a home refinance loan of any kind, you’ve probably noticed that your options seem to be shrinking these days.  Regardless of whether you’ve looked at institutional refinance lenders and their “take it or leave it” inflexibility or a mortgage broker that could have multiple options available to you, the field is definitely shrinking.  

In many cases your best deal will come from a mortgage broker who can shop the market for you.  Here’s how to get the best home refinance loan in Canada, at the best rate, that’s custom-tailored for you – and your needs:

3 Secrets To Home Refinance Bliss…

1. Ask questions – The number one question that should be first and foremost in your mind is a simple one.  Ask how long they’ve been in business and what types of loans they specialize in.  Some mortgage brokers prefer to handle only commercial loans and others prefer residential loans, such as a home refinance loan.  And there are many mortgage brokers that are equally comfortable with either one.  

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