Determine Your Needs Before You Search for a Personal Loan
Knowing what you need, not what you want makes a big difference.
Even folks with bad credit still need to get a loan every now and then. This is where a personal loan can come in handy. The funds can be used for debt consolidation, to pay off your car loan, or fulfill a personal debt. How you use it isn’t the focus – the fact is that you need a loan.
Even if a traditional lender has turned you down, you can still apply online and get the funds you need. In fact, a personal loan can be just what you need to prevent you from having to file for bankruptcy. Very often, personal loans are better for you than unsecured credit cards, which often have extremely high interest rates.
A guaranteed online personal loan usually comes with an easy application process, and you can usually get your money within 24 hours. For larger amounts, you may need to put up collateral to secure the loan. Collateral loans are better than bad credit loans or no credit check financing, because the interest rates in those circumstances is often very high.
You should note also that payday or cash advance loans require quick repayment, often in as little as two weeks. If this isn’t enough time for you, then you could face rollover fees and high interest payments.
To find the best personal loan for you, you can use a search engine online and type in your zip code and the type of loan you’d like. You’ll get a multitude of answers, and you should be sure to read all the information about each lender that you can, before you make your choice.
You should have two goals in mind when searching for the right personal loan: get the loan and repay the loan according to the agreed-upon terms.
Refinancing your home: Is it worth it?
Make sure you know the facts before you sign
Refinancing your mortgage is like taking out a new loan at a new, lower rate. The terms change, and most lenders require that you have at least 10 to 20 percent equity in your home before you can refinance.
But how do you know if it’s worthwhile for you to refinance? How do you tell if the difference in interest rates is enough to make financing worthwhile?
Refinancing may make sense if you have a second mortgage or home equity loan with a higher rate. It also makes sense if you want to take advantage of lower interest rates to shorten the term of your loan in order to pay off your loan much sooner.
But sometimes it just doesn’t make sense. If you’ve had your mortgage for more than 10 years, you could end up paying a lot more if you refinance. After 10 years, you should have begun chipping away at the principal, and if you refinance, your payments will once again go against interest. So evaluate your situation carefully, and consider the total interest cost over the life of the loan.
If you are considering a refinance, think about how long you plan to be in the house. If you aren’t staying there long, you could lose money.
But if you’re going to be there a while, figure out how long it will take to pay off the cost of refinancing and start saving money. To do this, deduct the new payment from the current payment to find out what your monthly savings would be. Multiply this figure by your combined state and federal tax rate to get your tax cost, and subtract that figure from your monthly savings. Divide the total of all the fees and closing costs by your net monthly savings after the tax adjustment. This will show you how many long it will take to pay off the refinance.
The bottom line is this: your house is your home. It’s not an ATM. Using it as such is dangerous. If you must refinance, make doing so worthwhile.
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