Buying a house is a major financial decision that must be viewed from many perspectives to determine if the timing is right, if the investment is prudent, and if the Buyer is financially capable of fulfilling his potentially long-term obligations. Assuming the Buyer is qualified, the investment decision then hinges upon the condition of the market and whether the property under consideration can easily be resold at a profit in a reasonable period of time.

Buying a house is a lifetime dream, but home equity is also an important long-term consideration in anyone’s personal financial plan. For the average American family, the equity in their home represents nearly thirty-three percent of their personal net worth later in life. That asset value will gain in importance as college educations for children come and go and retirement approaches. The long-term resale value for a home depends on a variety of factors, many specific to the individual property under consideration. The time-honored phrase of “location, location, location” drives home this key point, but there are a set of market factors that affect the investment decision that cannot be overlooked as well. Here is a quick review of these items:

• The Economy: If the economy is healthy, then there will be a considerable supply of buyers willing to buy or trade up in the market. Prices typically will rise under these conditions. One of the problems contributing to today’s real estate market sluggishness is that average disposable income has actually declined over the past decade. Home values generally rise in tandem with disposable income. Until this metric improves, demand will continue to be weak and many consumers will not be able to meet their current obligations. However, as the Dollar weakens, foreign investors may abound. For example, the “AUD/USD” and “NZD USD” currency pairs have appreciated nearly 30% over the past five years, such that properties in our market may appear cheap to Australians and New Zealanders;

• Interest Rates: One benefit of a weak economy is the prevalence of low interest rates. Mortgages at reasonable rates can be found for the creditworthy, whether fixed or adjusting. The timing is now for this factor, but as the economy improves, inflation may become an issue. Our central bank will then consider raising rates to quell price appreciation. The impact of higher rates is typically to reduce home values or lower the value of home that a buyer can afford;

• Government Policy: Congress is presently reviewing the budget and determining how to deal with our nation’s massive deficit and public debt. There remain many issues dealing with mortgage-backed securities and assets held on the balance sheets of banks, but consideration is also being given to modifying the interest rate deduction for home mortgages. Changing these rules would make owning a home that much tougher and force many more homes onto the open market for resale;

• Inventory of Homes for Sale: There are close to nine months of homes to be sold on the real estate market today. The “shadow inventory”, those homes that are in or should be in foreclosure by banks, represents another year of homes that could flood the market and cause another severe reduction in present home values. New home starts are the lowest in history, due to lack of demand and construction financing.

Another real estate “selling” season is quickly approaching, and agents and sellers are combining their efforts to achieve success. Buyers should remain cautious. It is still a Buyer’s market, regardless of the urgency that an agent may suggest.

When looking for loans money borrowers should be aware of loan sharks. Loan sharks are a bunch of unscrupulous money lenders who are constantly on the look out for vulnerable borrowers who are desperately looking for some source of money to help them out in their time of financial crisis. They are illegal, unlicensed money lenders who offer unsecured loans at very high interest rates to individuals who are is urgent need of money. Such loan sharks often operate closely with organized crime networks that assist them in extortion using either coercion or force.

The reason why the borrowers approach the loan shark is because their poor credit history, which is a major reasons of not getting the loan sanctioned from a legitimate sources. A poor credit history means no loan approval from banks and credit unions, in which case, the borrower approaches a loan shark to borrow money at an unreasonably high interest rate. Any bank or certified lender would consider a borrower’s credit history as a reflection of his capability for repayment of a loan. These loan sharks take advantage of the borrower’s vulnerable situation and many times even resort to unscrupulous practice of deceiving the unsuspecting borrowers with undisclosed costly additions along with the loan which makes it difficult for the borrower to keep up the repayments. As a result, the borrower is forced to take a second loan from the same loan shark in order to clear off the first loan and this keeps continuing.

Payday loans are offered to people who have bad credit histories, with several savings bank and credit unions offering small loans at affordable interest rates, such as the payday loans. There are also many registered and legitimate money lenders who offer loans to borrowers with bad credit history. Such a lending practice is referred to as sub-prime lending which is usually done through cash transactions. The difference is that these lenders offer loans at a fixed interest rate and operate within the prescribed guidelines.

As a result, today there are many laws functioning, which regulate the interest rates on loans and any lender who violates these laws is heavily penalized. Although loan sharking was highly practiced during the19th century, but after the regularization of loan approval system, the U.S government has been able to successfully curb this menace.

So far, I have done two smartest things in this year. One is I started with a Roth IRA for myself and my wife. I chose Fidelity because the startup fee was relatively low and my 401K is with them. I dumped a lump sum amount of $2500 into FLATX for my wife and FSEAX for myself. It would have been more beneficial for me if I had it started sooner due to seeing it getting compounded. Now I just have to keep up the habit of contributing yearly.

The other smart thing that I did this year and I will do it again in the next year is getting taxes done early. We got our tax refund. It’s a lot easier to get it done ASAP and out of the way. There’s no more scrambling for receipts and papers like it happened last year.

However, apart from these two smart things, I did one stupid thing and that was to chase past returns. I assumed that the emerging markets will stay hot. I calculated my last year’s return and put 40% and 50% in the funds I bought positions in and got excited. I bought the hype of a growing economy in China, and an oily beast in Brazil. I was under the impression that these two economies of the world will do better than the United States over the next few years in the financial realm. I was aware that past results don’t predict future success and realize that it’s risky but I figured that I have a long investing career ahead and it was time to go for big returns now.

I admit that I was tempted with the thought of making more money in quick time, even though everything I read is contrary to making fast money. Investing can be very boring. It is important that you get a well diversified index fund with very less fees and invest systematically, the same amount no matter until what you’re done working. I agree I wanted to be a little flashy and take a shot at some bigger returns. I understand what it happens if I try to jump at things that sound almost too good to be true. We will see what happens over the next few years.

By the way, I saw my 401K recently pasted a landmark of $20,000. My goal is to have at least $30,000 in there by the time I reach the age of thirty.

What is the smartest or dumbest money move that you have made this year?

If your auto insurance company is asking you to pay excessive money and you think that you have no other option than paying the insurance company than you are wrong. Well there is nothing wrong in continuing with the same provider as long as you are satisfied and the provider meets your requirement. If not than you have all the rights and option to move to a different provider with whom you would feel safe and satisfied.

If you are not satisfied or annoyed regarding your premium in that case you should immediately make an enquiry and question your company about the rising premium, in that case you will find that the rising premium is not actually affecting you which sometimes can be quiet intolerable. So in order to avoid intolerance you may make a decision say either by asking for a rebate or you can change your company.

When you have decided that you are buying auto insurance from a different insurance company, it would not be a bad idea to move to a different insurance provider, provided you have compared the quotation more than once with the other.

The motive of changing the insurance provider is that you want to save money as much as you can. Comparatively there is nothing to be surprised if you find out that there are various companies offering you the auto insurance deal at a lower price.

If there is a rise in your car insurance premium, then it is not compulsory to pay it. However the decision is yours what you want to do? Some people will stick with the same provider and others will make a move to for a good cause. I guess nobody likes increase in price, so people would love to change the insurance provider in order to save a huge amount of money in the long run.

Sometimes we need loans to fulfill our utmost requirements when we don’t have enough time to relax. There is an easy solution to it with instant decision loans which is planned to meet the urgent requirements. It can easily resolve the problems without having to wait till the next payday.

Instant decision loans also known as personal unsecured loans are offered for a short term to fulfill the emergency finance requirement of the borrower. They are known as unsecured loans because they do not require any collateral or security for approval. It also does not need any heavy paper works at the time of processing.

Loan provider will review the monthly income of the borrower as the major benchmark for approving the loan. The basic criteria to get approved for the loan is that a person should be above 18 years of age and should be employed. S/he should be earning a minimum salary of $1000 on a monthly basis. The borrower should also have an active checking account for immediate cash transaction after approval.

Instant decision loans are offered in the range of $100 to $1000 depending upon the monthly income of the borrower and can be paid back within 15 to 30 days. Its short term characteristic gives the amount at higher interest rate. However, you can negotiate with your loan provider for a lower rate.

There is no credit check procedure for getting approved for an unsecured personal loan. People with bad credit can easily apply for such loans. You should always try to pay back the loan within time to avoid high interests and penalties.

You can easily apply for the unsecured personal loans from different lenders on the internet. Make sure that you have understood the terms and conditions of the loan before applying for one. You just need to fill the form on the lender’s website and wait for the approval. Once you get approved, the loan amount will be electronically credited to your checking account within 24 hours and you can use it in the same day.

To get a loan from the bank one must have good credit. You may also find it difficult to secure a student loan in order to attend college. These are few problems that you will experience without having a credit history.

It would be more difficult for you to rent an apartment and even find employment. This is why it is very important to have credit card to begin to build your credit. The student credit card offers that are available to you can help you with the process.

There are many offers designed for students, all you need to do is compare the offers. If you do the comparison you will see that these cards do not require credit history. They can help you to build a positive credit history by making payments on time.

Some of these cards will offer you cash back and others will offer reward points. There are many other options that would be ideal for a student. This means you can get more of the things you love without the work. There are also credit cards that provide you with the ability to automatically redeem your points when you reach the appropriate level.

If you have any doubts, then it would be better or a good idea to submit a couple of applications and keep the cards that you are approved for. Take advantage of these student credit card offers by applying for the cards that you find with the most benefits.

Taking this approach will help you to get the miles you need for a free vacation. While other students are saving for a vacation during the spring, you will be able to take one for free. You will be able to use the rewards that they offer in order to benefit you in the future. You can use a credit card to charge your tuition, even if you already have the money, and then pay the card in full when the bill comes.

With the student credit card offers you take advantage of, you can start working toward showing the banks that you are financially responsible. This can help you to go shopping and buy books for your classes. Every student should have a card available to them. However, it is important that you be sure to pay the balance off on time. This will help you to build a positive credit history.

The reward for this responsibility can be cash back or free miles and a positive credit history. This history will help you to secure more affordable loans and save money. Apply for these cards now and you will be enjoying the rewards in no time at all.

After conducting research into UK tenants, the housing charity Shelter has found that over the last year there has been a massive 50% increase in the amount of people paying their rent with credit cards. It appears that give the current economic climate, people are finding harder than ever to pay their rent and therefore are borrowing money to keep a roof over their heads.

The foreseeable problem is that once these tenants have maxed out their credit cards they will have exhausted all their options in terms of paying their rent, as paying with a credit card is seen as a last resort when it comes to rent. With the economy still in disarray the chances of getting a good rate on a personal loan, a pay rise or a better job are slim, meaning many tenants might face the prospect of not being able to pay the rent at all.

Of course not being able to pay rent is a devastating problem for the tenant but it can be equally damaging for landlords. Even for landlords who have asked for multiple references and credit checks, there is still the risk that their tenant will be made redundant and unable to pay.

There is however one way tenants can protect themselves from this situation and that is with Rent Guarantee Insurance. As simple as car or home insurance, Rent Guarantee Insurance pays out when tenants cannot pay their rent. Basically companies such as Just Landlords will charge you a small premium and if your tenants can’t pay their rent then your insurance will instead.

It may not be something you want to pay for long term or for all your tenants, but given the current economic climate it might just be worth covering a few of your less reliable tenants as who knows what could happen in the future!