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DID YOU KNOW?

	Are you still renting a home or apartment for yourself or your family? If so, you're losing money. Think about these three ways you lose money by renting: 1. You're paying for someone else's mortgage payment. You're missing out on the appreciation that the property gives to the landlord. Appreciation is a term used in accounting relating to the increase in value of an asset, which means in real estate terms, added value to the property. Over the past five years, houses appreciated significantly, making many new real estate investor multimillionaires. 2. Tenants don't get to freeze their monthly housing expenses like home buyers can. Of course, many home buyers get mortgage payments with adjustable interest rates and their payments go up over time. However, these payments will not go up over the long term like rising rents. Just think about how much an apartment costs today compared to ten years ago. A two bedroom apartment in Lake Elsinore, California leases for $1,000 today. The exact same apartment rented for $325 in 1996, when it was brand new. Home buyers who had low monthly payments in 1996, who did not refinance their mortgage, enjoy low payments and don't have to worry about rising rents. 3. Renters don't benefit from tax advantages. Home owners get income tax deductions. Tax deductions for interest costs, for instance, save tax payers thousands of dollars. Emotional Satisfaction of Home Ownership Besides losing out on making money with real estate, renters don't get the same satisfaction of home enjoyment that benefits home buyers. Many landlords won't allow you to paint your walls in colors that you desire. Also, you won't feel like fixing up the property with custom window coverings and you get little say in flooring materials. Because you can't make your personal statement, you won't feel like you're HOME as much as home owners who feel emotionally connected to their property. How to Buy Your First Home The biggest barrier to home ownership is often accumulating funds for a down payment. People think they have to have thousands of dollars for a down payment. However, if you have good credit and a decent job, you can get a mortgage for a home with zero down. And you can finance some of your closing costs as well as ask the seller to help you pay a good portion of your purchase costs. With today's mortgage finance plans, you may be surprised to find out how much of a home you can afford with payments similar to what you currently pay in rent. You may have to go out of the major metropolitan areas to buy a home. That's why so many people commute in Southern California. Affordable housing costs much less in outlying areas. But so do the rents. If you're renting an apartment for $2,300 in Los Angeles, you could buy a $500,000 home in Wildomar. Our daughter just purchased a home in December 2005 and her mortgage payment, for a 3,000 square foot new home, costs less than $2,300. With her tax savings, she will pay even less than renting a small apartment closer to downtown L A. If these amounts sound high to you, check your local area. Perhaps your monthly rent is only $1,000 and houses cost less than $200,000. Talk to a mortgage loan officer and see how much of a home you can afford. If you're renting, make one of your priorities to buy your own home. Copyright © 2006 Jeanette J. Fisher

It is critical to develop a reasonable repayment plan if you ever intend to pay off your outstanding debt. Many people do not even want to think about the repayment plan, because it involves looking at income and balances owed and establishing a budget to live within, none of which is very fun. However, the repayment plan can give you a sense of ownership over your debt, empowering you to take the steps necessary to get yourself out from under your debt. The repayment plan is both the light at the end of the tunnel and the train taking you through to that light.

Why have a repayment plan

Many people do not want to think about the extent of their debt or the nature of their repayment plan. They figure that they will pay what they can each month and then the debt will eventually be paid off. However, without a repayment plan, the debt never seems to go away. This can be overwhelming and discouraging, leading to increased debt, rather than reduced problems. A repayment plan will make the debt more organized, easier to control and less of a strain on the emotional resources of the person who owes the money. This sense of empowerment is the major reason that a repayment plan helps those who take the steps necessary to paying back debt.

Starting the repayment plan

The most difficult part of the repayment plan is the starting of it. Gathering up the will and energy to begin the repayment plan can be draining. However, once you have made the commitment to starting the repayment plan, you are well on your way to ridding yourself of your debt.

In order to start the repayment plan, you need to do some research into your own personal credit history. The first step in the repayment plan is to contact each of the three credit reporting agencies and to obtain a free credit report from each of them. You will go over this credit report, correcting any errors with the agencies, at the start of your repayment plan. The credit report will show how much money you owe to each lender. You will then contact each lender and verify the amount owed as well as the interest rate on the loan. You should also find out your credit limit on each of your credit cards. The key to the repayment plan is organization of all of this information.

Beginning repayment

Once you have all of the information organized, you will be able to see where you owe the bulk of your money and who is charging you the highest interest rates for what is owed. For any credit cards with exorbitant interest rates, you will want to contact the company and negotiate a lower rate or consider balance transferring to a card with a lower interest rate. Much of the repayment plan consists of reducing what you pay in interest each month in order to be able to more quickly pay down the balance of your debt.

Life on a budget

Living on a budget is not fun but there’s no way around it while you are in debt, so you need to make the mental commitment to do so. Take into consideration your monthly expenditures, including not only fixed monthly bills but also money used for groceries, entertainment and other standard expenses. Subtract this amount from your monthly income and you have the amount left to budget between savings and your repayment plan. In case of emergencies, you will use your savings, not your credit cards, for expenses. Sticking to this repayment plan will allow you to eradicate your debt and begin to live out from under it once again.