My finance tips

Archive for May, 2010

Why Should You Buy A Property?

House prices are skyscraping but still you can enter the buying market. There are five good reasons you should think of buying a house.

Do you think property is an asset? Its simply not true. You buy a house so that you have a roof over your head. Whether the price of the property is going up or down should not affect you. As long as you like the house you can make repayments and like the area nothing else really matters. The only way of making real money is you decide to sell the house at some stage and keep the profits or downsize and do the same. A growing proportion of people do downsize. According to a research one in three house sales involve people selling up to move to a smaller property. Nearly 54 of the people are selling their property because they are not able to pay mortgage amount and not because they want equity from their property as cash in hand. A further 15 sell the property because they have split up from their partners. Some 20 are retirees over 60. They also plan to sell their property to clear all their debts. Only 12 buy a smaller property and also have cash in hand which they often recycle it giving their children a leg up the property ladder instead. Property is not a cashgenerative machine. Even if people think it is it will take nearly 20 years.

A house should be treated as a shelter and not as an investment no one wants to buy a property whose worth is far less than they paid for it only a couple of years before. While buying a house you put most of the money that you have saved in your lifetime. Facts tell that property does not perform as well as shares over the long term but it does retain its value over the years. But still people purchase a home for their old age or to lead a hassle free life. The average UK property cost was 30000 in 1983 but now the value has increased to 160000. Your focus on buying a property should not be for a short period but look ahead at least 25 to 30 yearsroughly the amount of time it takes to pay your mortgage amount.

Between 1989 and 1995 millions of people where found paying off mortgages that were greater than the value of the homes they were living in. Many people had their homes repossessed as they were not able to pay the mortgage amount. Some borrowers would walk into lenders offices and hand over the front door keys and walk out again. It was not negative equity that led to repossessions but due to economic conditions like rise in unemployment rate high inflation and interest rates went up to 15. People who were able to pay home loans negative equity never affected their life. Lenders launched mortgage products on the market that allowed borrowers keen to move to do so. A significant effect of negative equity was that prices were falling fast. The reason could be because people bought starter homes that noone wanted or because they lived in parts of the country that were badly affected by worsening economic conditions.

When property prices are rising people buy the property thinking that if they dont buy now they have to pay even more in the future. There is residential property shortage in UK which will be resolved by next decade. Each year the number of homes built is about 20000 less than what is needed. By 2021 there will be 2.1 million more married people in England counterbalanced by5 million more single adults and a further 1.5 million divorced. Most of the net increases in household numbers come from one person households. The key driver for household information is the relationship between income and affordabilitywhat a person earns relative to prices in the market. If the multiples of income to property prices rise from 3.5 to nearer 5 times earnings many people will not be forming households: they will live at home or in rented accommodation.

If you plan to live in a rented accommodation you will not be able to take a decision about how the place should look like. You will yearn for something that is uniquely yours where you can express your own personality. If you buy your own property you will never have to put up with someone elses good taste again.

About the writer:  RonVictor is a Expert author for UK auction list and property auction. He has written many articles like Uk property auctions property auctioneers property in uk and Property auctions. For more information visit: http://www.propertyauctionzone.com contact me at ron.seocopywritergmail.com

Money Transfer Advice For Security And Savings

With over 175 million people living outside of their country of origin the growing usage of migrant workers and the continuation of globalisation the money transfer market looks set to continue its current growth levels of 1012 per year. Currently the market is already worth over 250 billion with more and more companies organising new and innovative services for transferring money alongside some more traditional money transfer companies.

Some of the more well known money transfer companies are: iKobo Western Union icici MoneyGram and Egold. For newcomers to the money transfer market it can be a little overwhelming at first. There are a variety of methods that these companies use to transfer the money not to mention bank transfers and paper transfers. For this reason it is important to make an informed choice about who you are going to transfer your money with it is far better to make an informed and safe judgment than to just use the first money transfer company that you come across.

Whilst we all want to get the best value for money transfer it is a good idea to remember that the cheapest option is not always the best option. With that in mind here are a few points worth bearing in mind whilst arranging your money transfer:

What exactly is the money transfer fee and how is it calculated?
What is the exact exchange rate that they are using?
How will the money actually get into the hands of my intended recipient?
How soon will the funds be made available?
Is it possible for the recipient to be able to collect the funds from different locations?
Are there any extra fees for using credit cards? Exactly how much will they come to?

If they are able to answer the above questions quickly and easily then the chances are the company are well organised and capable of transferring your money. However save your receipts all signed documents are proof of the money transfer and would be useful if there was to be a dispute.
Furthermore here are a few more questions you may wish to ask the company:

If the money is not received by the specified time/date will I receive any compensation?
What rights do I have if this situation were to occur?
Does the recipient have to pay a fee aswell?
What rights do I have if the money is not received at the promised time?
If the recipient is unable to pick up the money transfer for some reason what is the refund policy?
What ID is acceptable for the recipient to provide in order to collect the money transfer?

Now of course having dealt with the safety concerns how about saving a bit of money aswell. Here are a few top tips to consider:

Consider a delayed transaction. These are often significantly cheaper the only difference is the money transfer can take 23 days. This should not be a problem if there is no emergency.

Think about performing a direct bank to bank transfer although generally these are slower this can often save a considerable amount consult your local bank for details of any particular bank codes that you may need.

Don’t forget to watch out for hidden exchange rate costs. This is often where the money transfer companies will make their money on you. They don’t always make it clear exactly how much they are charging and for what.

Be aware that different companies charge more money for sending to different locations so depending on your situation this could increase the fee dramatically.

Try not to use a credit card if possible as this may also add an extra charge for you as you will have to pay the cash advance fee. Furthermore try and find a company that offers a flat rate fee as opposed to a money transfer company that charges a percentage as this tends to be a better deal.

Finally Check the newspaper or online for the latest rates and cross check them with what the company are offering you. You may find you are losing money compared to what you should be getting so don’t be afraid to find a new company if this is the case.

There are a lot of new companies starting all the time and a great variety of ways for you to transfer your money so make sure you check out all the competition to find the one that suits you most your needs and your budget. So having considered all the above safety factors and money saving tips there is no reason for you not to be able to transfer your money in timely and costeffective manner.

About the writer:  Money Transfer Review provides FREE money saving comparison charts safety tips and money saving advice for all your money transfer needs. Simply click: Money Transfer to discover more.

Debt Help: What Is Available?

There are many different types of debt help available to help people deal with different kinds of financial problems.

It is important to understand the options available to you before deciding what action to take.

Debt advice

‘Debt advice’ could mean anything from budgeting tips to pointers on how to negotiate with creditors. Many organisations offer free debt advice.

If you contact a professional debt adviser they should be able to offer you tips on how you can improve your current financial situation today and how you can look after it in the future.

A professional debt adviser should also be able to tell you whether a debt solution could help you and if so which one may be best for you.

Debt management plan

A debt management plan might be suitable for you if:

1. You can’t make the agreed monthly repayments to your unsecured debts
2. You need to reduce the amount you pay each month
3. You’re looking for an affordable way out of debt

Debt management involves negotiating with your unsecured creditors asking them to accept reduced monthly payments based on your current disposable income income minus essential expenditure.

Debt management can be done on your own or through a professional debt management company.

Debt management plans can be flexible which means that if your circumstances change and you find your payments are difficult to make then your debt management organisation may be able to reassess your circumstances and negotiate with your creditors again asking them to agree to new lower monthly repayments.

However it is important to note that creditors are not legally obliged to accept any changes to an existing repayment plan; nor are they obliged to stick with them.

Also when you enter a debt management plan you are defaulting on an original agreement. This will show up on your credit rating for 6 years meaning the cost/availability of credit could be affected for that time.

You should also be aware that if you reduce your monthly payments you will be paying your debt off for longer. You may end up paying more overall this way due to the interest added to your debt each month.

Debt consolidation

Debt consolidation could be the right solution for you if you wish to turn multiple debts into one manageable debt.

It involves taking out one loan in order to repay what you owe to your existing creditors. Instead of making several payments to several creditors each month you will now have just one monthly payment to make to one creditor.

With a debt consolidation loan you may also be able to reduce the amount you pay each month by repaying the loan at a slower rate than you would have otherwise repaid your debts. However be aware that this may lead to you paying more overall due to the interest.

Debt consolidation would not be suitable for people who don’t think they could commit to making regular loan repayments.

IVAs Individual Voluntary Arrangements

An IVA is a formal agreement between a borrower and their creditors designed to give them an affordable and realistic way out of debt. It is often seen as an alternative to bankruptcy.

An IVA might be suitable for you if you:

gt; Have unsecured debts totalling around 15000 or more

gt; Don’t think you could repay your debts in a reasonable amount of time

gt; Want to avoid the risks associated with bankruptcy such as losing your home

Basically if you can commit to making regular fixed monthly payments for a fixed period then your creditors will allow you to reduce your monthly repayments so they reflect what you can realistically afford.

In order for the IVA to go ahead it must be accepted by creditors who collectively ‘own’ 75 or more of your debt. If it is accepted it will normally last for 5 years. Once the IVA has come to a successful conclusion any remaining unsecured debt will be written off.

However an IVA also has its disadvantages. For example it will remain on your credit report for one year after completion which could make further credit more expensive/difficult to obtain. And homeowners may be required to release some of the equity they own in the 54th month of the agreement in order to repay more of the debt.

About the writer:  If you require any further information regarding debt management or any other debt solutions that might be available to you you should contact a debt advice specialist.