Home Loan Tips

The home buying process can seem complicated, but if you take things step-by-step and you know how to choose the right home loan, you will soon be holding the keys to your own home!
 

Ten steps to buying a home

1. Figure out how much you can afford. What you can afford depends on your income, credit rating, current monthly expenses, down payment and the interest rate. The calculators can help, but it is best to visit a lender to find out for sure. A housing counselor can help you figure out how to manage and pay off your debt, and start saving for that down payment!
   
2. Know your rights
   
3. Shop for a loan. Save money by doing your homework. Talk to several lenders, compare costs and interest rates, and negotiate to get a better deal. Consider getting pre-approved for a loan.
   
4. Learn about home buying programs.
   
5. Shop for a home. Choose a real estate agent, Wish list - what features do you want, Home-shopping checklist - take this list with you when comparing homes.
   
6. Make an offer. Discuss the process with your real estate agent. If the seller counters your offer, you may need to negotiate until you both agree to the terms of the sale.
   
7. Get a home inspection. Make your offer contingent on a home inspection. An inspection will tell you about the condition of the home, and can help you avoid buying a home that needs major repairs.
   
8. Shop for homeowners insurance Lenders require that you have homeowners insurance. Be sure to shop around.
   
9. Sign papers. You're finally ready to go to "settlement" or "closing." Be sure to read everything before you sign!
   
10. The House is yours now. Have Puja or hawan.

Terms used in Housing Finance

• EMI: Equated Monthly Installment till the loan is paid back. It consists of a portion of interest and the principal
• Floating Rate of interest: Rate of interest which varies with the market lending rate. This means that there is an element of risk of paying more than budgeted amount in case the lending rates goes up.
• Monthly Reducing balance: In this system interest reduces monthly with repayment of Principal amount
• Annual Reducing Balance: In this system principal is reduced annually at the end of the year so you end up paying interest even for the portion of principal you have actually paid back.
• Fixed rate of interest: Rate of interest remains unchanged throughout the period of the loan.
• Processing charge: It's a fee payable to the lender on applying for the loan.
• Prepayment Penalties: When loan is paid back before the agreed term of the loan, then banks/ institutions charge penalty for the prepayment.
• Commitment Fee: Some institution charge commitment fee in case the loan is not availed within a stipulated period, after it is processed and sanctioned.
• Miscellaneous Cost: It is quite possible that some lenders may charge documentation or consultant charges.

Making Money Through Blogging

Blogging for profit has been around since the early part of this decade but for some bloggers, blog monetization is often taken for granted. Especially when the global financial markets started crashing one by one last year, the diversification of how blogs can earn money became a must.

• Banner Advertising – The granddaddy of online business model still works today, despite the ad spend slowdown. Of course, advertisers are attracted to popular, high-traffic blogs.
• Pay Per Click Advertising – A democratized method since this requires more focused niches, this is perhaps the most common way bloggers earn. Ad networks like Google AdSense, BlogAds, and AdBrite provide relatively easy way to monetize blogs.
• Paid posts/reviews – An ethical grey area for most bloggers, this will surely be affected by the recent FTC announcement about blog reviews and testimonials. This type of regulation is not new, but may blaze the trail for other governments to implement their own version.
• Getting hired as a Blogger – Bloggers can also take the “Professional Blogger” route by getting hired to blog or join a blog publishing network. This is most stable ways of making money but the most restrictive if you ask me.

For some people, this is obvious but new bloggers who have just entered into the fold must be reminded that there’s more to earning online than just Google AdSense.