19 May 2013
Personal Finance

How To Improve Your Chances Of Getting A Mortgage

The following article is a guest post.

MortgageIf you are looking into buying your first home at the moment, the thought of whether or not you will be granted a mortgage no doubt fills you with dread. Thankfully, there are a few things you can do to improve your chances of gaining that first time buyer mortgage. Keep reading to find out how to make yourself more appealing to the lenders.

Credit scores
Analysts have spent the last few years predicting that it is only going to become tougher to get a mortgage as lending criteria is tightened – meaning that those with poor credit scores will stand less chance of being able to buy. To stop this happening to you, the first thing to do is to get a basic version of your credit report. There are many providers who will be able to provide you with this for free or at minimal cost. Once you have received it check through your entire report to ensure that all the information included is correct. If you find an error, contact the credit reference agency to get them removed.

Responsibility
One of the main factors lenders use to decide whether or not they can trust you to repay your debt is how you have handled credit in the past. If you have a long history of taking out credit and paying it back in line with the agreed terms, you are much more likely to receive a first time mortgage as lenders will see you as a safer bet than someone without any credit history at all.
This means that if you have never borrowed at all, lenders have no idea how good you are at paying back, and may well refuse your mortgage application. If you are in this position, the best practice is to take out a credit card, use it a few times a month, then ensure you pay off your balance to avoid paying interest. This will help build up a positive credit history for you, and your chances of receiving a mortgage are greatly increased.

Deposits
Although smaller deposits are increasingly becoming common place, the fact still remains that the larger the deposit you can make the better the chance you have of receiving a mortgage. It is recommended you attempt to save up at least 10 per cent of the total price of your new home if possible to improve your chance. Raising a larger deposit will also mean you get access to lower mortgage rates too.

Speak to different lenders
Despite all of this, remember that all lenders are different, so just because you have been turned down by one doesn’t mean you will by all. To improve your chances considerably, speak to a mortgage broker before you go to a bank. They are likely to know which banks or lenders are right for you, so a quick chat with one of them should help you navigate the process.

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14 May 2013
Saving Money

Secrets of Success: Tips on DIY Designer Drapery on a Dime

Porch with white curtainsThe following article is a guest post by Jay Harris. Please see his bio at the end of the article.

Although we would all love showpiece-quality homes, not all of us have the budget for a professional interior designer. Even if you decide to start with something small like designer window treatments, the minute you throw the term “custom” into the mix, dollar signs start popping up everywhere!

Fortunately, you can make your windows look like they were touched by an interior designer without actually having to pay one. With some insider secrets and some out-of-the-box thinking, you can have your window boxes dressed to the nines in no time.

Fabrics for Highlighting Function and Form

In the way that couture gowns and tailored suits look expensive because they were literally made for the person wearing them, you can apply the same philosophy to your windows: even though they look custom, they don’t have to come with a custom price-tag.
When dressing up your windows, lightweight and loosely woven fabrics reign supreme. This is due, in large part, to the way the light filters through them from outside.

But always remember to add a lining. With lightweight materials hanging over a light source, you run the risk of being able to see the back of the fabric when the light shines through. Therefore, like a good slip can make or break a starlet’s red carpet walk, so can a window lining prevent you from seeing anything other than the front of the fabric you have so painstakingly picked out!

Measure Twice
The most important tip to keep in mind is to measure twice, cut and drill once. When customizing your own window treatments, the amount of fabric you need depends on the type of treatment you plan to use and also the way you plan to hang them to cover your windows. Here are some of the basics:

Roman Shades:
First, decide whether you want an inside mount or an outside mount.

For inside mounts, the shades are mounted within the frame of the window (inside the casement). This type of mount provides a clean, custom, built-in look and is a way to leave attractive trim or woodwork exposed and the maximum amount of wall visible around the window. However, if your window frames aren’t deep enough (minimums range from ¾” to 3″ deep, depending on the type of shade), you should consider an outside mount.

To measure for inside mounts: measure the inside width at three locations (top, middle and bottom) and take the smallest of the three numbers – this is your ordering width. Next, measure the inside height at three locations (left side, middle and right side) and take the largest of the three as your ordering length.

Outside mounts are attached to the wall, ceiling or trim/molding surface surrounding the window and are most commonly used when your windows are shallow or when you wish to hide a less attractive window. One bonus to using an outside mount is the optical illusion effect of a larger window, so this is a good choice if your windows are on the smaller side.

To measure for outside mounts:
Measure the entire width you’d like to cover (the window itself plus the casement or trim) plus extra to allow for light seepage (1-1½” per side, 2-3″ total), giving you the ordering width.
Measure the overall height you will cover. This is the ordering length.

Drapery:
Drapery hangs from rings attached to a rod that is mounted above the window frame and extends beyond the sides of the window itself. Whenever possible, to make the entire treatment area look larger and to allow for maximum light and window views when the drapes are open, extend over the edges of your windows as much as 6-12″ per side.
When measuring for total width, measure the entire width you want to cover (which includes the extra per side allotment) and account for the fullness of the fabric. For grommet and ripple fold drapes, use width x 2.0 for your total width. For pleated drapes (pinch and tailored), take the width x 2.5.

For measuring the length:
Be sure to take into account the distance from the hardware to the fabric (determined by the size of the rings you use to hang your drapes);

Hang the drapes as high as you can to create a more dramatic look and enhance your ceiling height;

When you will be leaving them open and want to hide uneven floors or add to the custom look of your drapes, add an extra 1-3″ of length that will “break” on the floor;

When you will be opening and closing them frequently, leaving drapes approximately ½” off of the floors will protect the hems and allow for easier maneuvering.

Now that you are more fully equipped to tackle this DIY project, what types of window treatments are you leaning toward? Do you have any other ideas for cutting costs without sacrificing quality?

Author Bio:
Jay Harris is a Home Depot sales associate and contributes regularly to Home Depot’s blog, where he provides advice covering everything from roman shades to casement windows.

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13 May 2013
Personal Finance

Safe Ways to Earn Money in Your Retirement

Retirement FundAre you nearing retirement or have you thought about retirement lately? Financially speaking, I think that retirement is one of the craziest transitions in any person’s life. Think about it. All your life, you’ve been earning money, then earning more money, and still continuing to earn money. All the while, you’re stashing a small portion of it away for your retirement which seems to be in the very distant future. Your savings grow and your nest egg REALLY grows (hopefully)! Then comes that point when it’s time for you to retire and you realize that you’re suddenly not going to make money anymore. Nope, you’re actually going to spend your lump sum very slowly, and hopefully have some by the time you pass away.

Isn’t that just crazy! If I had $500,000 and I found out that I spent $50,000 in a year, I would absolutely freak out! If I kept that up, then I’d really only have enough money to live for 10 years after retirement, and that’s assuming that I don’t have any major ailments or physical accidents. Living off of a large sum of money can be quite stressful, so it’s important to plan it out very carefully. Let’s review some ways that you can still earn some money on that lump sum even after you’re retired.

The Annuity

I’m sure you’ve heard of the term ‘Annuity’ before, but do you really know what it means? Since many people are accustomed to earning a paycheck at regular intervals, many retirees like to invest a lump sum of their retirement account into an annuity, which pays a certain amount of interest (usually fixed) and pays you back your money once a month for a certain period of time, and sometimes for life! The interest isn’t amazing (it’s typically 2% or so), but it’s quite safe when investing with a reputable company, and you get a nice consistent paycheck as well.

Checking Account

Many people don’t think of a checking account as a good investment, but credit unions are offering 3-4% interest on their checking accounts. For my local bank, they only require you to have a regular direct deposit (which could be your annuity), you need to make 10 transactions with your debit card, and you need to check your online account at least 4 times. That’s it! And, you can earn up to 4% on $15,000 (some credit unions may pay on a higher amount than this too), which equates to an extra $600 a year. Now that’s pretty simple.

Bonds

Bonds are typically not thought of as a great investment because they don’t yield high returns, but they are very low risk and perfect for a retiree. Now, there’s no absolute guarantee that you’ll get your initial investment back, but if you choose a high-graded bond, it’s quite certain that you’ll earn your principle back and earn a little bit of interest on top of that. Play it safe in your retirement. You’re not going to earn 20% on your investments, but since you spent the time to build up a nice nest egg, you really shouldn’t need to.

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