Finance Articles

Beg, Borrow Or Steal, Make That Mortgage Payment

One of the most common things I hear when a prospective client contacts us for a mortgage refinance is "I just missed a mortgage payment and I want to refinance before it's too late". When I ask them about their credit, most of them reply "Oh I pay everything on time, I just got behind this one month on the mortgage".

It breaks my heart to tell them that in many cases, it already is too late. The reason is simple if you really think about it: If your home is your biggest investment, your greatest potential asset and your largest current liability, there is nothing more important than showing that you are able to make the payment on it every month. If you are in a cash crunch, you're better off missing or underpaying almost any other payment, such as a credit card bill, even your utility bill, instead of missing or even delaying your mortgage payment, because missing one mortgage payment can cost you tens of thousands of dollars over the years.

When you miss a mortgage payment, your credit score may not go down dramatically. But your mortgage credit quality will take a serious beating, and you'll carry it around for years. When you start out with a mortgage, regardless of what your FICO credit score is, you are rated an "A", meaning you make your mortgage payments on time. If you miss a payment, and even if you're just late enough to qualify as 30 days late, the lateness is recorded and you will become an "A-" or a "B". Just one mortgage lateness can keep you out of the refinance market for up to two years by automatically locking you out of the lowest payment programs such as Option ARMs or low-rate fixed mortgages, and you can forget about stated income programs, you will now have to prove where every penny comes from and you'll need more of them too. If it sounds a bit like high school, it is, but this time its for keeps. Keep missing or delaying payments, and you'll quickly see your mortgage quality decline to a "C" or "D", which could prevent you from refinancing entirely by eliminating your eligibility from even standard rate programs. I have seen customers who started out at 6% wind up at 10% or more solely because they chose making payments on cars or credit cards over making their mortgage payment on time.

This hurts the most when you refinance or are ready to buy a new house, because you are usually borrowing more money than you were previously, either to pay off bills or make home improvements, or because you're getting a bigger house. So not only are you moving to a higher balance, but your now derogatory mortgage credit will force you into a high rate. If you need the cash to pay off bills and improve your credit urgently, or to purchase a home in a new area because you are relocating for work, you can wind up in a horrible Catch 22, very often disqualified for financing entirely, or with financing so unaffordable that you would rather not.

So what can you do about this? If you do better with automatic payments, sign up for direct debit payment with your lender, or arrange for your bank to automatically pay your mortgage every month on a specific date which far enough ahead of the due dates for your other bills that you won't be tempted to pay something else. The day after payday is a great day to do it. And the date should be far enough ahead of your due date that the bill is paid and posted on time. It might hurt that first month, but it will even out once you get used to the new schedule.

And if you are even thinking that you might miss a mortgage payment, call up a loan officer, and not one who works for your current lender, and get refinanced today. Not only will this put a little extra cash in your pocket and help you pay off your other bills, but it will usually allow you to go a few extra weeks without making another payment out of pocket. In fact, for qualified borrowers, we even have Zero Payment & Zero Interest for 90 Day loans which are perfect for people who are at risk of missing their next payment. Because there are no payments for up to 90 days, this is a very popular product amongst our customers. Option ARMs and Fixed-Rate Option ARMs (Hybrids) are also excellent products for people who are having trouble making ends meet temporarily, but expect to get back on their feet within a few month sor a few years, respectively. Loans generally take 15 days to close, so you really need to think ahead a little bit, which is hard for all of us. But instead of freezing up, or scrambling around looking for money, call up an experienced professional and get out of that jam before you get into trouble. You're better off dealing with the issue in the present instead of regretting the past. And no matter what, make sure you satisfy your mortgage payment obligation. Everything else on your credit report can be repaired, negotiated, but not your mortgage lates. Don't wind up in a situation like many of my callers are in, ready to dance but too late to the party, plan ahead and as always, protect your financial future today!

Tristan Hunt is a seasoned financial professional with a wealth of experience in the mortgage industry, advising clients on debt consolidation, refinancing & investor loans. Phone: 800-515-8443 Website: http://www.RefinanceOne.net

Other Article Sites

findabook.com  moneycd.info  a-mortgage.info   about-lemon-laws.info  aboutstudentloans.info
all-about-publishing.info  auctions-articles.info  bestcollege-university.com  bestispconnection.com
biblefolder.com  blogger-website.com  books-used.info  brokers-guide.info  buywindows.info  cable-dsl.info
career-miner.com  carpel-tunnel.info  cashinaflash.info  cashloanreviews.info  casinobell.com  chat-house.info
clearmycredit.info  collegeloantips.info  crones.info  depression-articles.info   dirnic.net  dishguides.info
divers-below.com  expodog.info   financewizz.com  fire-insurance.info  getgood.info  handleit.net   it-idea.info
health-supplies.info  hosting-right.com  insidealert.com  insurance-facts.info  jobs-employment.info
justgood.info  lookgold.net   lowcost-travel.info  money-source.info  myhostzone.info  numisblog.com
peoplesearchfinder.info  pr-articles.info  realeas.com   refinancing-guides.info  spyware-remove.info
telelot.info  the-law.info   toppaid.info  travel-deals.info  travelcorrect.com  wedding-guide-site.com
your-blog.info  your-credit.info

Need Investment Advice?
Everyone would like their money to be working as hard and as profitably for them as possible The problem is that, with generally low rates of interest, hoarding any spare cash in the relative security of a bank or building society account is not going to achieve a very attractive return

CRAFund Advisors is Now Community Capital Management: New Name Represents Manager's Community-Based Investment Style
CRAFund Advisors, Inc. has changed its name to Community Capital Management, Inc. to better reflect the focus of its unique, community-based investment approach. The Ft. Lauderdale, Florida-based investment manager, founded in 1998, has become one of the nation's largest fixed income money managers focused exclusively on securities that finance community development activities. Since inception, through institutional clients' separate accounts and through the mutual fund it manages, The CRA Qualified Investment Fund (CRAIX), Community Capital Management has directed the purchase of at least $2 billion worth of bonds that have financed hundreds of thousands of affordable housing units, supported affordable healthcare, contributed to environme...

Analyst Initiates Coverage on Abcourt Mines Inc. with Buy Recommendation, 50% to 100% Near Term Upside Target Investment Opinion
Silver-Zinc and Gold mining entity Abcourt Mines Inc. (TSX VENTURE: ABI) (PINKSHEETS: ABMBF) with in excess of one billion US dollars zinc resource, is identified in newly issued analysts report with 50% to 100%+ near term upside valuation.

Tax foreclosures property investment could be a nightmare investment
The term ?Tax Foreclosures? is a legal procedure or process that is expected to occur if a buyer defaults on a loan or the taxes applicable on the property, which he lends for mortgage. The lender or lending institution takes back the hold of the property because of irresponsibility of the borrower in paying off dues and applicable taxes or loan applied on mortgaged property for whatsoever reasons. Therefore it is in the best interest of the borrower to pay off all the dues and applicable taxes prior to agreed period of time so as to make sure that no legal action, such as auction of his/her property in public, is taken against him/her. The most notable thing for a borrower is to that he/she must keep all the documents with him/her meeting ...

How To Never Get Ripped-Off When Getting A Mortgage
It's no secret how many Americans are losing or are about to lose their precious piece of the "American Dream." They're about to be homeless because of the "smoke and mirror" tactics shrouding the mortgage industry. I'm going to blow the lid CLEAN OFF these nasty deep pockets of profit, make tons of enemies in the industry and protect you in the process.

How To Choose The Best Accounting Software For Your Business?
With more and more people self employed and setting up businesses from home accounting software are becoming much more of a necessity. If your business is lucky enough to be growing rapidly you may have trouble keeping a track of all your finances. If you don?t want to spend every evening yourself going thorough the accounts you could pay an accountant to do all this for you, but this is costly and not feasible for small businesses that are starting out. The best way is to buy reputable accounting software. And if you get this right is could be a major investment for your business. But you don?t want to spend a lot of money on accounting software only to find out that a few months down the line your business is growing so rapidly and your a...

Searching For Entry Level Finance Jobs
After four long years of study, I recently graduated from college with a Bachelor's degree with a concentration in Finance. I

Investment Discipline
One of the great "secrets" of successful people is discipline and it doesn't make any difference whether it is manufacturing, processing, servicing or investing in the stock market.Before you can have that discipline you must have a successful plan and stick with it.

Mill River Labs Launches TradeVibes Beta, Announces Seed Investment by Ron Conway and Others
PayPal alums founded TradeVibes.com, the first structured wiki for company information, to take on Dow Jones and Dun & Bradstreet. Innovative product enables easy discovery and evaluation of startup companies.

ZipSearch! Launches Improved Website for Quality Mortgage Lead and Insurance Lead Conversion
ZipSearch!, one of the nation's premier providers of mortgage leads and insurance leads just launched a new and expanded website with features that improve lead conversion, expansive authoritative articles and tips, a blog with expertise and news from the founder, and even better support for clients.

Online Investment Secrets And Tips
When it comes to online investment tips, everyone could benefit from tips. Most people are new to online investing, and are not very familiar with the way things work. The online world of investing can be cruel, but also very rewarding. When it comes to investing online, the tips you will find below are designed to help you make the most out of your experience.

Free Accounting Software: Tips On Getting An All Easy And Practical Software
Most of the free accounting software are not high end accounting software, but simple, easy to use accounting software. These free software cater to the needs of home users or small business houses. Basically they focus primarily on the management of simple accounting. In fact with a free accounting software you can easily perform the tasks performed by a paid accounting software.

Cap And Collar Rate Mortgage
A capped rate mortgage has an interest rate that cannot rise above a pre-determined level for a specified period of time. After the capped rate period expires, the interest rate of the mortgage reverts to the lender?s Standard Variable Rate (SVR).

Mortgage Leads, Good Return Policy