Hampton Roads Business & Marketing Blog

There are all kinds of ways to handle money problems. As in, not-enough-money problems. You can ignore bills that are due, and pay the penalties later. You can cut back on expenses (but often and in the short run, it may be too late for that). You might be able to take on more work for more money, but the extra cash might take weeks to arrive. Another option is the cash advance loan, an online way to borrow money from your next paycheck. It is an increasingly popular option.

But how do cash advance loans work? Basically, the lender looks at your income stream to determine if you are a good bet for a loan. If you’re 18 years of age, have been in your job for more than one month and if you have a bank account, you qualify for cash loans. The lender knows you will receive a paycheck on a set date in the near future and consequently will be able to repay the loan on that date.

Why should a cash advance loan make sense for you? Several reasons may apply:

• It’s your money – This really is just your pay arriving early. You may have earned the amount of your loan already in the past days or weeks.

• An easy to manage loan – The paperwork in this type of loan is non-existent, actually. You apply entirely online (with a digital copy of a recent pay stub or bank statement), and the repayment is done by debit on your bank account.

• Simple, done in 20 minutes – The entire process of applying for and receiving the loan can be completed in a lunch break, from the privacy of your personal computer.

This may be just one way to handle money challenges. But the increasing popularity of cash advance loans suggests it is a very good way.

If you’ve just written a book and have decided to self publish it, congratulations. A great book marketing plan is the next essential step. As a self-publisher, you can be a very successful author, given that you have “skipped the middleman,” and taken your destiny into your own hands, so to speak.

Although it’s certainly “easier” in many ways to have your book promoted if you find a publisher first, this is a hard road to go for many authors; it is much easier and quicker to self publish your book at the start, as a means to establish a track record. Once you are successful with your book, it’s much easier to find a publisher who would be willing to invest. The likelihood is that you will enjoy self-publishing enough to never give it up.

Build a website about your book

In fact, you should be building your website at the same time as you are writing your book. You want to have it ready to go once you’ve got a book to sell. Your website will be the central location for people to go to when they want information about your book, or to read samples of it.

It’s all about who you know

In other words, build relationships from the very first day you begin to write your book. Get online and begin to talk about your book with others; there are many writers communities online where you can get help, encouragement, feedback, and simply a sense of community as you work through this usually solitary practice of writing a book.

As you work on your book and talk about it with others at the same time, you should begin to notice that there are a few people that stand out from the others. Lots of people online are “wannabe writers,” so how do you make yourself stand out from them? First of all, when you post, make sure you treat every post as though you were talking about your book with an esteemed colleague, such as an editor, publisher, and so on. There is a lot of “junk” out there, such that many people post gibberish that shouldn’t see the light of day Make your posts stand out. Be remarkable and authentic. Make sure that everything you send out is professional and knowledgeable sounding.

Comment on related forums, blogs, and websites

Once you’ve got yourself ingratiated with several of these communities, begin posting on these like-minded sites; it’s not always necessary to talk about your book directly (in fact, this is sometimes completely forbidden), but do include a sig line with every post. Your sig. line should contain sample links of the book itself (so that people can read a sample of it before they buy), and links to your website so that people can go and purchase your book directly from there — or be linked to the source of your choosing.

Remember, you’re the professional — so write a press release

Many authors overlook that they must treat publicizing their books with as much care as they did writing them. Get a press release and send it out wherever possible, so that the world knows your book has been released. Have a publicist edit or write your press release to make it professional, containing all the key elements.

Article writing means more exposure

Don’t give away your book’s central focus with your articles, but do write and post articles on as many free websites, professional newsletters, and so on as you can find. This will further increase publicity, so that people will go and read the sample link you posted — and then buy your book.

There is a right way and a wrong way to use online payday loans. We will explain how these loans are beneficial, but also how they can quickly turn against you. Payday loans are designed to help you get through the month from one pay period to the next. An example will be worth more than a description.

You earn $2000 each month. Your bills are $1500 leaving you with $500 each month, of which $400 is invested in your retirement account. This leaves you $100 in ready savings. Unfortunately an emergency occurred last month, wiping out your savings. This month another emergency has occurred. You will have the money for this emergency, but you get paid bi weekly and you are not due to be paid for another week. Thus you decide to seek a payday loan from an online source.

You know the interest rate or APR is 365 percent. It means the periodic rate is 1 percent. With seven days left till you get paid you will be charged 7 percent, plus a 25 percent fee. Still, when you get paid you will have the money to pay off your payday loan and to pay the bills you have for the rest of the month.

This is how to use a payday loan. If you cannot afford to pay the payday loan off it will continue to accrue interest. If we use the example above you would accrue 1 percent interest each day you have the outstanding loan. It will quickly become double what you borrowed from the company and become a difficult loan to pay off. You may even find your other expenses are getting harder to pay.

Like most loans from a bank or other financial institution payday loans are best used by a responsible person who knows they can pay the amount they request back within the allotted time. In this way the fees remain fairly low, and they are also able to deal with the emergency. Since other loans can take months to obtain and stock investments can take more than a week to be taken out and sent to you, using online payday loans may be the only option. They are quick cash options in that you apply for the loan and receive the money in the same day by direct deposit. When using these loans weight the advantages and disadvantages to decide your best course of action.

Many people may have been enjoying mortgage rates that are lower than what you have right now, but it isn’t easy to say so.

Why? Simply because getting lower mortgage rates isn’t that easy. First, you have to think about the refinancing schemes that mortgage lenders will provide you in case you want to lower your rates. Lending companies wouldn’t give you something good without the necessary qualification.

So the next step is for you to consider if it is high time for you to refinance your mortgage. Some people think that refinancing their mortgage will be a lot easier to do because of the financial history they have built with the company. Most of them believe that refinancing is always a good choice of getting lower rates.

In some ways, refinancing a mortgage can be a good idea, but it still depends on the situation or on the type of mortgage that you have.

Lending companies may no longer need new research on your properties or a simple property assessment. In most cases, lending companies are also willing to give lower rates.

All of these things are easily provided to those who wish to refinance their mortgages because lending companies believe that it is easier to maintain a paying customer than to find another one.

So the question now lies on whether it is time for you to refinance or not because not all refinancing schemes are created equal. This goes to show that every refinancing scheme may differ from the others and would entirely depend on the kind of program you wish to pursue.

For instance, would you like to have a plain refinancing scheme for your mortgage? Or would you like to have lower rates and still cash out to pay down other debt?

Before you can decide on such things, it is best that you consider first the reasons why you are refinancing your mortgage in the first place. Here are some of the common reasons consumers make whenever they decide on refinancing their mortgages:

1. To gain benefit from an enhanced credit rating

Some people are lucky enough to get mortgages in spite of their bad credit rating. However, they may have to suffer the consequence such as having higher interest rates.

As time goes by, these consumers try to build up their credit rating by paying their dues on time. Nevertheless, having high interest rates can be very expensive to maintain. That is why they opt to refinance and desire for lower interest rates.

In this way, refinancing now could be the best time for you to save more than to continue paying higher interest rates in spite of your good credit rating.

Besides, maintaining higher interest rates may only bring you troubles considering the fact that at any point in time, you may not be able to sustain higher interest charges.

2. Modify your loan

If you have chosen an adjustable mortgage rate in the first place, you may find it reasonable now to get a fixed-rate mortgage considering the discrepancies on the interest rates.

Adjustable rate mortgage may appear very low at some point in time because they are primarily dependent on the different factors that affect the interest rates set by the Federal Reserve.

But then again, adjustable rate mortgage can change a maximum of twice a year. So that goes to show that interest rates such as these can change from time to time. So to speak, you can get either a lower or a higher rate depending on the kind of adjustable rate mortgage you have.

On the other hand, fixed-rate mortgage can give you lower rates in the end because they don’t change whatever happens.

So if you want to convert your loan into a fixed-rate mortgage, you have to refinance your mortgage.

3. Get a lower interest rate and cash out and pay other debts

Some consumers want to have a better deal. They want to refinance their mortgage but would also like to cash out at closing so that they can use the money to pay their other debts.

It is like hitting two birds with one stone. There are some people taking charge of their home equity whenever the prime rate is lower than the standard rate of a fixed-rate mortgage with a 30-year pay out plan.

Financial experts say that getting home equity is the better option at this point because the rates will be cheaper. However, as time passes by, cashing out and still get lower rates through refinancing schemes is still the best choice.

Refinancing your mortgage to a lower rate and still get to cash out to pay your other debts would simply mean getting more than what you presently have a loan from, and subsequently taking the change.

For instance, you have an existing loan of $50,000 on a $90,000 house. You have decided to get a lower interest rate on that loan and still get $10,000 cash to pay off your car loan.

Through cash-out refinancing, you can easily get your heart’s desire by refinancing your mortgage from $50,000 to $60,000. In that way, you were able to lower your mortgage interest rate on your standing balance of $50,000 and still get cash as you wish.

With all these things, refinancing might just be the answers to your prayers. You see, it really pays to know the difference. Don’t just take somebody’s word for it. Work on it…now!

Buying a house is both exciting and scary, especially for the first-time buyer. Most people prefer to factor in timing, in order to get the best rates. But other than being able to understand market trends, there are other things you need to look at to see if you qualify for that home mortgage.

You have a steady source of income. Examine carefully your current cash flow. Qualifying for a home mortgage means you are capable of a long-term payment commitment so you will need to consider your situation years from now. Try to foresee future expenses, plans, job movements and changes.

You have enough money saved to last you at least three to six months in case your income source is cut or interrupted. This means that you can continue to pay for your mortgage (along with other bills) and the lender has nothing to worry about.

Your debts are under control. Sure you still make monthly payments on that student loan and that credit card and you still haven’t paid up the car loan, but if your debts are consistently paid with no bad marks at least a year or two from today, then you’re looking good. That means you can be trusted.

Your monthly total debt payments (mortgage, loans, credit cards) remain below or well below 38% of your gross monthly income. This shows the lender that you are capable of paying responsibly and that a home mortgage will not drive you to bankruptcy.

If your credit history is less than perfect, it will not automatically disqualify you for a home mortgage, but a good history means paying lower interest rates and monthly mortgage payments. Before talking to a lender, check your history from one of the three credit bureaus. There might be some errors you need to correct or you might want the best arrangement that can lift your credit rating a notch higher.

You can afford to pay downpayment. You will need a sizable amount of cash to pay downpayment for your house of choice. That’s 20% of the total price. You may also choose a low or zero downpayment scheme, but it may not be cost effective in the long run.

Decide to buy when you’re ready. A house is probably the biggest financial decision you will ever make in your life so be sure you go into it when you yourself feel that you can handle the responsibility. All that timing in order to qualify for a home mortgage really depends on you.