Category: Money

Loan Options Available if You Have Less Than Perfect Credit

loan approvalMost people will encounter a time in their lives where they fall short on cash and need to borrow to cover their expenses. If you have a savings established you simply have to make a quick withdrawal. However, if you have no savings set up for emergencies and your credit is less than perfect you may think that you have no options. Luckily there are lenders willing to loan money to people who have a lower credit score, as well as other options available.

Short Term Loans

When you think of short-term loans, you may think that the only one you will qualify for is a very high-interest payday loan. Thankfully, there are payday loan alternatives. There are online lenders who offer low-monthly installment loans to people with less than perfect credit. And, unlike a payday loan, you have several different repayment options.

Title Loans

If you own your vehicle, there are lenders who are willing to use your car as collateral against a loan. Depending on the Blue Book value, this type of loan can give you access to more money than a short-term loan.

401K

If your company has a 401k plan and you are a contributor, you can borrow up to 50 percent of the vested amount. Since you are borrowing the money from you, the chances for a quick approval are very good. The best part about this type of loan is that while you will pay interest, you pay it back to you.

Pension

While you should never touch a retirement fund. If an emergency arises and you need the cash to prevent losing your home or your vehicle, and the company you work for allows it can give you access to a lot of cash in a lump sum. If you are less than 59.5-years old there is an additional fee of 10 percent plus the 20 percent withheld for the IRS.

Borrowing from Family

If you don’t have a savings account, a 401K or a pension that you can withdraw from, you can see if a family member is willing to give you a loan. If someone in your family does front you a loan, remember to treat it the same as you would any other lender. Come to an agreement before accepting the loan and then stick to it. It’s very easy to put a family member on the back burner and pay other bills first. Make every effort to repay per the terms agreed on and if you should have a rough month contact them and advise them when the next payment will be. This way you’ll stay on good terms should you need their help in the future.

Take on a Part-Time Job

If you find that you are having trouble making ends meet often, you may need to find a way to bring in more money each month. If you have a talent, you can sell items or services to fill in the gap until you reduce your overhead. If not, you may need to consider taking on a second job for a while to get you on your feet.

Hard times can happen to anyone. Maybe you lost your overtime or you have extra expenses like school or medical bills. Whatever the reason, there are many ways to dig out from under and get on an even platform. If your monthly expenses are very high, look at your bills and see where you can make cuts, even for the short-term. For instance, if you have a large cable bill, go to basic service. Also, if you eat out often, reduce it to once a month as a treat, brown bag your lunch for work and use coupons when going food shopping. By pulling in your belt, you will have the money you need to cover your expenses and work towards improving your credit score.

Why it Pays to Have Your Fingers in Many Pies When You’re Self Employed

freelance moneyThere are so many great benefits of being self employed. Flexible hours, you can work from wherever you want and there’s no superiors to answer to. You can really fit your work around your life, instead of trying to fit your life around rigid work hours. However there is a downside, self employment work can be unreliable and unlike regular employment you don’t have a set paycheck that lands in your bank each month. Things can be a little up and down, which is why it’s so worth having a number of different options available to you for earning money. If you’re having a slow month, you can always pick up one of the others. Here are some ideas.

Run a Business

For most self employed people, their main focus will be running some kind of business. You could be baking cakes, making clothes, buying and selling things online or something else completely. Either way, this is a great way to make money when you work for yourself. However you could experiences peaks and troughs with your profits throughout the year, and if you’re having a quiet few weeks or months, you could earn extra money with the following methods.

Start a Blog

It takes time to build a blog, but if you start one up and publish regular content (even once a week) it will grow. Later down the line, your blog can be a real cash cow- sponsors generally pay well to have their content or links posted on your site and so it can be a quick and easy way to earn some extra money. Plus you can link your blog to your main business, and use it as a promotional tool as well. Blogging brings with it all kinds of opportunities, and so it’s well worth setting one up, even if it’s not your main source of income.

Freelance

It’s always worth signing up to a freelance site, that way if your business or blog is slow you can pick up some extra work. There’s almost always work available, and you can work on it any time you’re free to boost your bank balance. Whether you’re a writer, app or website designer, illustrator or something else completely, your skills will be needed online and freelancing gives you the ability to earn cash from home in a legitimate way.

Stocks and Trading

If you’re interested in finances then chances are you’ve took a keep interest in crypto currency over the last few months. While Bitcoin is still the one you hear most about, there are lots of others that can give you opportunity to earn well. Look at these Ethereum facts for example. While there’s always an element of risk when it comes to investing, as long as you’re smart about it it can be a good way to secure yourself some extra cash.

Don’t risk a slow financial month leaving you in the lurch. When you have bills to pay and other expenses to cover, when you’re self employed it pays to have your fingers in many pies. That way, you can always make up the necessary amount each month in your bank.

Financially Handling The Life Of A Landlord

property lord of landThe life of a landlord is a life of intense micromanagement. In order to keep many tenants happy, you are required to ensure that everything is maintained well from week to week. Not only that, but it’s a strange business to be a part of. There aren’t many other industries in which things may proceed routinely and without necessary interference for months, only to have every problem surface in one fell swoop. If you’re not prepared, you can be overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of responsibility you have to deal with.

Financially handling the life of a landlord could be considered another thing entirely. It’s important to know that while profitable, a landlord must invest as carefully as they profit. The income flow is relatively stable, but the outgoings could differ wildly from month to month. There are many reasons as to why this is, but seemingly less methods to control those fluctuations. In order to manage your finances well, it pays to know how to operate. Within time you will get the hang of this, but new landlords especially can find themselves overcome with financial burden in a business they once assumed to be smooth sailing.

The following tips may just help you make better decisions in this field:

Take Money Matters Seriously

Many landlords prefer to cultivate slightly less-than-ideal tenants so they do not risk a tenant leaving. This is because that can often lead to a lack of income for a month or many months as new tenants need to be found. This can be relatively wise. A tenant who pays on time might not clean as well, and that’s certainly more ideal than a supremely clean tenant who never pays on time. However, taking money matters seriously is essential. After all, you’re not in this business for the charity of it.

A good way to strike a happy medium between legal backing and solid tenant relationships is to lay out exactly the methodology your tenant must follow. You can clearly define these terms in your tenancy agreement template. This means clearly laying out late payment charges, perhaps asking for a form of security income in case they do not pay (such as a guarantor,) or even asking for months of rent in advance. It might mean asking for lower, more frequent payments to keep the cash flow effective, or even to ask for tri-yearly instalments to cover the future.

Taking money matters seriously is important to be respected as a landlord. Let one-time slide and you can, unfortunately, set yourself up for this to be the norm. It’s always best to cover yourself, so try to ask for at least one month’s rent in advance before your tenant moves in. This gives you a buffering time to evict if they neglect to pay on time, and keep your cash flow active. As a landlord you must always be thinking about sustainable income, and plan in advance for this.

Set Limits

As a landlord, you must also invest in your properties. This is a no-brainer. While it might be that the light bulbs should be replaced by a tenant, the bigger responsibilities are yours to handle. After all, this is your property. Now, you should set some hard and fast limits here. Let’s say the sofa in your property has a spring loose, and your tenants are demanding a new one. It might be perfectly reasonable to simply repair the sofa using a professional upholstery service, rather than outright spending thousands on a new fixture.

It might be that you choose to steam clean a mattress rather than purchase a new one. After all, as long as you’re providing a habitable, nice and clean standard of living, you should not be troubled into wasting money on unwise investments. It can also be wise to adjust rent over time to stay more compatible with inflation and the rising cost of living.

It might also be that within your contract you stipulate that utility usage is on an unlimited tariff. Of course, this should be subject to fair use. For example, a tenant who keeps their heating on full blast over the winter might find the property wonderful and comfortable to live in. When it comes to reading the electricity bill, you might have an argument to give. ‘Fair use’ is the sacred mantra for all tenants offering a form of unlimited payment. This allows tenants to stay responsible for unfair action, and prevent you from wiping your monthly profits simply trying to pay the bills.

Also, consider damage. Damage to property is something that is completely on the shoulders of your tenants. While you might allow for a lick of paint or cleaning out of good investing faith to cultivate the relationship, deeper damages may require you to bill the tenants or punish their security deposit. Do not be afraid to do this in the interest of being a ‘friendly landlord.’ You are a business, not a charity. Your tenants are allowed a license to your home, but it’s still your asset, and any damage could be considered vandalism within punitive laws if not rectified financially.

With these correct limits set, you have a much greater chance of setting the clear parameters within which your tenants operate.

Savings & Excess Funding

Things will go wrong. It might be you experience a hefty leak in two of your buildings on the same morning, and the carpet damage will take professional care to fix. It might be that you need to relocate a certain tenant to ensure their home is fixed. In these instances, heavy investment is required. This can be debilitating. However, if you’ve been smart about this, you will likely have at least a buffer of savings for you to dip into and try to improve your standing.

Financially handling this might be difficult, but by nesting away your profits you can potentially keep the sustainable profit going long term. Just as someone investing in automotive repair to allow them the potential of getting to work and earning, you must keep a ‘sustenance’ funding supply of sufficient breadth. This ‘rainy and annoying day’ fund will give you the means to keep your assets working for you, rather than against you. It also helps sustain tenants who see you take affirmative action in their interest.

With these small tidbits of advice, financially handling the life of a landlord will become that little bit easier.

Moving Across The World Shouldn’t Cost You The Earth

moving costsAre you planning on moving abroad sometime soon? Whether you are moving for work and a new position or because you just want to try and start a new life in a new country, there are going to be some big financial burdens that could stand in your way. In fact, the cost of moving to the other side of the world can be so big that some families end up spending their entire life savings on the move. But does it really have to be so expensive?

Thankfully, you might not have to take out your entire savings to pay for your new life abroad. There are some ways you can make the transition a lot more affordable. Read on to find out more!

Ask For Moving Costs To Be Reimbursed

If you are moving because you have got a new job or your current firm wants you to relocate, there is a good chance that they will be able to help you with your moving costs. If the company haven’t mentioned anything to you as of yet, it’s worth asking them to find out if they can contribute to the costs. Sometimes, they might pay for your moving company or shipping costs. Even if they don’t cover all of the costs, they should still contribute a small amount as they are the ones making you move!

Hire Specialist Removal Firms

A lot of work and effort goes into packing up your whole life and shipping it to another country. Not every moving firm will be able to help you with this. But there are some international removalists that specialise in long-distance moves. It’s really worth hiring one of these firms as they will have a lot of experience in this kind of thing. They will advise you on the best form of shipping for your belongings, and will be on-hand to help with the practicalities of moving at each end of the journey.

Be Flexible With Your Moving Date

If you can be, it really is worth being as flexible as possible with your moving date. After all, the price of flights will go up and down depending on the time of year. If possible, you should try and wait to move until your destination’s low season. This will be when fewer tourists will be traveling there, so flights should be cheaper than in the high season.

Consider The Best Way To Transfer Money

It’s not just the practicalities of the move itself that could end up costing you big time. There are some hidden costs that you might forget about, such as transferring all of your money into a foreign bank account. Ideally, you need to wait until the exchange rates are in your favour so that you get as much for your money as possible. Even if this means waiting for a few weeks after you transfer your money, it will be worth it so that you don’t lose out on quite as much cash.

Follow these tips and your move abroad won’t be so pricey!

The Fatal Mistakes that Will Kill Real Estate Profits

estate profitsInvesting in real estate is a sure thing, right? It’s really easy isn’t it Wrong and wrong again. Sure, if you are good at it, investing in real estate can be a very safe investment, but it is by no means a sure thing, and it can be pretty tough going if you aren’t prepared for it.

That being said, you shouldn’t be put off from such an investment because investing in property can often be the safest option. What you should do is avoid making the following fatal mistakes that will kill your real estate profits and make your life more difficult than it needs to be:

Not Casting a Wide Enough Net

The worst thing you can do when investing in real estate is not spending enough time looking at enough properties. If you’re too eager to get started and you just throw all of your money at the first promising property you find, you’ll probably end up with fewer returns and more problems that you would have if only you’d taken your time.

Choosing a Property Because You Love It

It might seem like buying a property because you love it is anything but a mistake and that might be true if you plan to live in it yourself, but if you’re buying it as an investment, you need to put your serious hat on and choose your property because it’s being sold at a good price, it’s in a neighborhood that’s up-and-coming, and you can actually make some money from it. Sure, if you love it, that’s a bonus, but it should never be the sole reason that you buy.

Thinking Your On Flip or Flop

Flip or Flop is undoubtedly entertaining TV, but if you think that your property investment project will be just like the ones on the show – you’ll buy at a ridiculously low price, renovate the building to an amazingly high standard in a ridiculously short period of time and sell it on for a ridiculous price, you’re in for some major disappointment. Although that kind of stuff can and does happen, it’s uncommon, and unless you’re a skilled investor with lots of construction skills and lots of time and money, your journey is likely to be a lot more slow and steady.

Not Using a Property Management Company

Property management from Opulent Real Estate Group takes all of the hard work out of your hands and ensures that you can find good tenants quickly and that any repairs or issues are solved quickly, usually with very little input for you. A lot of real estate investors think they can manage their portfolio by themselves to save a little money, but it soon becomes evident that they are out of their depth and things can go south quickly. Don’t let that be you and hire a property management company.

Not Doing Your Due-Diligence

It should go without saying, but you must do every check it is possible to do before you buy a property. If you don’t do that, you might be surprised (and not in a good way) by damp, bad neighbors, a new development that sees the value of your property plummet and so on!

Avoid these fatal mistakes and a decent real estate investment profit you are likely to make!