0% Balance Transfer for 24 Months

Posted by | Posted on 03-03-2011

The Discover no fee balance transfer offer expired yesterday, meaning there aren’t any balance transfer credit cards out there still offering 0% APR with no fee.

But they’ve decided to extend their promotional 0% balance transfer for 24 months indefinitely, which was slated to expire as well.

This is one of the best balance transfer credit cards available at the moment because it offers 0% APR for a full 24 months.

That means you won’t pay any finance charges for two years, which certainly gives even the most debt-riddled consumer plenty of time to pay off their debt without being hit with unnecessary interest.

The only downside to this offer is the 5% balance transfer fee, but it definitely beats paying the standard credit card APR, which typically ranges from the mid-teens to the 20% range and higher.

Let’s look at an example of the potential savings:

Though you would have to pay $125 in balance transfer fees in our example, you would save $41 per month and $500 a year by avoiding credit card finance charges (using simple math).

So as you can see, it’s a very effective way to save money and get out of debt.

Take advantage before this deal disappears as well.

Related:

Symbolic Vote Passes to Kill Mortgage Programs

Posted by | Posted on 01-03-2011

Republicans in the House of Representatives voted Thursday to kill two new programs intended to help prevent foreclosure, arguing that government initiatives to help people stay in their homes have failed.

The effort to end the programs was largely symbolic, since it has little chance of passing in the Democratic-controlled Senate.

The Republican-led House Financial Services Committee voted along party lines to end the programs. One, called the “short refinance” initiative by the Federal Housing Administration, requires investors in mortgage-backed securities to agree to reduce the amount owed by at least 10 percent for homeowners whose houses are now worth significantly less than the original purchase price.

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The committee also voted to end the Emergency Homeowners’ Loan Program, which would provide $1 billion for zero-interest loans to help homeowners who have recently lost their jobs.

“We should not waste taxpayer dollars on failed government programs that do not work and actually make things worse for struggling homeowners,” Spencer Bachus (R – Ala) said in a press release. “These programs may have been well-intentioned, but they’re doing more harm than good.”

Democrats countered that the programs should be tweaked, not scrapped. And they criticize

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Low Credit Scores Can Equal Higher Mortgage Payments

Posted by | Posted on 28-02-2011

While many Americans are excited about the money theyll get back from their tax returns this year, they could increase their savings more by learning how to correctly manage their finances. Consumers commonly spend time reviewing their recent purchases, balancing their checkbooks, and creating a budget. However, even these individuals may forget to check their credit report regularly.

Industry experts often compare credit reports and credit scores to grades received on report cards. This is because having a low score or bad information on these documents could force consumers to pay more for financial products and services, MSNBC reports.

Over the life of a $300,000 loan, the kind typically associated with a home mortgage, having a higher credit score can mean big savings, the news source says. For example, a FICO score drop of 120 points, which may occur from one or two late payments to lenders and credit card companies, can result in consumers paying $100,000 more during the life of their loan.

Consumers can benefit by checking their credit reports.

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Community Businesses Face Bankruptcy Across the Country

Posted by | Posted on 28-02-2011

Small businesses are often what forms the core of the community, whether that community is a small town or Beverly Hills, and bankruptcy has hit such businesses hard in the last few years.

Across the country, small businesses have strained to stay afloat under a struggling economy. And when a business must file for bankruptcy protection, often a piece of the community goes with them. Such is the case with a survey of businesses that have recently filed for bankruptcy.

In Perry, Iowa, for example, a town of under 8,000 people, a local institution that touched the lives of countless members of the community has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection.

The Perry Tea Room saw many a Mother’s Day celebration and gatherings of generations of women enjoy the fine service and the sense of tradition. The article in the Des Moines Register reporting the bankruptcy called the Perry Tea Room, a “cultural touchstone.”

“A lot of daughters and a lot of grandparents went through that place,” said Brian Witherwax, the bankruptcy attorney for local owners Vicky and Dwight Taylor. “It was e

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Consolidating credit card debt- Something You Should Learn

Posted by | Posted on 28-02-2011

If you are looking for methods for consolidating credit card debt, you would find that the theory might be a bit complicated. However, you might also find that the actual business is straightforward indeed.

Many people have reflected that consolidating credit card debt can bring them plenty of benefits indeed.

One of the most interested and most attractive reasons is that the interest rate can be saved. This can help you to reduce the amount spent on paying the money. Therefore, you can earn your own livings at a faster period of time. You might need to repay all the money in 10 years without consolidating credit card debt, but 4 years with it. Then, you might be able to save money for 6 more years so that you can have a better life.

Of course, there are also something helpful to attract people to pursue debt consolidation. For example, you would find that this kind of work can help you to reduce the complexity in managing the debts. Read more…

More Stupid Mortgage Rules from the Government

Posted by | Posted on 25-02-2011

One of the problems with the mortgage business is that too many regulatory fingers are in the pie. Not surprisingly, none of these entities talks with any other entity. The current issue on the table is that of compensation of loan originators, or more specifically, mortgage brokers.

It is probable that the genesis for this is the “Yield Spread Premium,” or YSP. It is no secret that in the old days many disreputable mortgage lenders – not just mortgage brokers – used YSP as a way of making more money off the customer. Even though this compensation was disclosed on the HUD-1 closing statement, most borrowers didn’t understand how to read the statement because the last regulation was poorly written.

What could and did happen is that the lender would quote a loan origination fee of 1 point but then when he locked in, the pricing would be such that in addition to getting one point from the borrowers, he would get an extra half point from the lender. He wouldn

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