Buying a home for the first time will always be very scary. What if you don’t like the house? What if you chose the wrong location for your house? What if the additional monthly expense of buying a house makes it much more difficult for you to make both ends meet? These are just some of the concerns that make home buying difficult for first-time buyers.

Choosing the Location

Choosing the best location is, of course, one of the most important factors that you have to consider. For those with children, it’s best that you choose an area that has schools. Just see to it though that these schools have good rating.

Aside from schools, it will also be advantageous for you if you choose homes that are near parks and playgrounds. This’ll give your children a good place where they can have some fun and, at the same time, get a little bit of exercise.

For working parents, it will also be very advantageous for you if you purchase a home near your workplace. This will save you from a lot of time commuting to and from work, and this will also give you more time with your family.

Choose What You Can Afford

It’s a new house, so, yes, you would definitely want it to be your dream home. However, you should know that your budget will limit the way you want your home to be. You have monthly expenses to think of, savings to put in the bank, and a fund to set aside for emergency purposes. These expenses can limit your house options.

To make it easy for you, you need to have your credit history checked and preapproved. Preapproval will give you a good idea of what you can and can’t afford, and checking your credit history will also show you if you have problems with it. If there are problems or discrepancies with your credit history, you need have the issues resolved as soon as possible so there won’t be any problems when you do get a housing loan. Knowing your credit history and getting preapproved, taking into consideration all your monthly expenses, will help you find a way for the housing loan to fit into your budget.

You can also make use of a mortgage calculator so you can find out just how much your monthly payment will be and how much it will make an impact on your monthly income and budget.

Of note; it’s tempting to purchase your dream house, but if this is going to be a nightmare on your finances, then settle for something that you can afford. You don’t want to commit to something that you can’t afford to pay. You’re only going to end up with more problems if you do so.

Choose a Good Company

Choosing a good lending company and good home builder is also key to buying your new house. For this reason, always take a look at the reputation of the companies before choosing one. Compare the services and offers of the different company, and always check and see if they are licensed and registered to offer their services. It will also do you a lot of good to check their testimonials and see how they work with their clients.

Jennifer Dalley is a freelance content provider who writes for home builders. Through this article, she hopes to help first-time buyers purchase their own homes.

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Do you feel like your drowning in debt? If you answered yes, one of the most effective ways to get to the root of the problem is seek the guidance of a debt counselor. It is very difficult to look at your spending with an open mind when you are trying to take control of the spending and the debt without an unbiased professional’s help. The first step identifying where the problem lies is to schedule a debt consultation. During your appointment, an experienced debt counselor will help you come up with a plan to tackle your debt, but you must be prepared if you want the appointment to go right.

How to Prepare for Your Upcoming Debt Consultation

When you are being counseled about your debt, the counselor will give you personalized advice that is tailored to help guide you out of your current situation. To give you advice, the counselor needs to know exactly how much pay you take home, how much all of your living expenses cost, and how much you owe all of your creditors. Only you know who you owe money to and how serious your situation has become. While it is only natural to try and downplay the situation in your own mind, you should never try and downplay your debt to your counselor. Here are some things you can do to prepare for your consultation so that you have everything you need to come up with a feasible debt reduction plan:

• Do not accept any new credit card offers or loans. The key is to stop digging yourself into debt, and taking out new lines of credit will not help the situation.

• Gather documentation that the counselor will need to review your current situation. These documents may include: billing statements, past due invoices, recent receipts, judgments, all letters from your creditors, titles to your cars, property deeds, and credit card statements. If you do not have any of these on hand, access your accounts online and print the account summary page.

• If you love to make work easier for everyone involved, make a list of all of the credit cards you have. In the spreadsheet, you can put the current account balance and credit limit. This will help your counselor see which cards need to be tackled first to repair your credit.

• Bring pay stubs from the last two pay periods. If your income varies, try bringing at least three months worth of cancelled checks. This will help the counselor assess how much you are taking home and what percentage of your income can be used to payoff debt.

Debt counselors can help you choose the best debt relief option for your situation. What is right for one person may not be right for the next. Bring everything that you need to help your counselor assess your situation. With all of the right documentation and the right mindset, you can pay your debt down and put your mind at ease.

This post was provided by Heather Graham, a personal finance expert. He recommends the consumers proposal process for those facing dept problems. André Gabbay et Associés Inc. can help with debt consulations.

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A lot of people tend to think the only reason to have insurance at their current residence would be if they own a home. However, insurance is a very important thing to have when you are renting an apartment, as well. This type of insurance is not only going to cover your valuables but will also cover you if there are injuries within your home, whether they be to you or someone who is visiting.

Do I Need Renters Insurance?

It is common for renters to ask questions such as, ‘Why should I get renters insurance, I don’t have anything worth protecting?’ You may say that now but at the end of the day, there is always something worth protecting, even if all you have are the clothes on your back. When you know you’re covered, you’ll be able to go to sleep at night and leave for work each day, reassured by that fact that your most important items, no matter what they may be, are safe; and so are you.

So, What Exactly Does Renters Insurance Protect Me From?

A lot of people simply don’t understand what they need to be protected from, so they tend to avoid getting renters insurance or put it on the back burner, as if it’s something that can wait until a later date. The sad (yet realistic) truth is; life doesn’t wait around for us. Sometimes bad things happen and it’s better to be prepared for them than to have them appear out of nowhere.

While you may not realize this, most apartment complexes do not have coverage that extends to their leasers. They most likely will have a basic form of coverage; protecting their property but not necessarily anything or anyone that you have inside your building at any given time. This is why it’s always a good idea to read the fine print and ask for proof of what type of coverage they have before signing any paperwork and moving in.

Helping You Pay for Unexpected Expenses

Renters insurance can help pay for the expenses that come along with a break in; such as replacing that laptop or television that was stolen (or broken) by an attempted thief. If there is some form of natural disaster and your home is no longer habitable, renters insurance is commonly going to pay for any living expenses over the short term. Many complexes are actually going to require you to have some form of renters insurance, and will typically even suggest a company to go with to help you get the ball rolling. Choosing a policy ASAP is important because every day that passes without coverage could potentially lead to tragedy.

Renters Insurance Isn’t Just About You

Another really good reason to consider purchasing insurance, even if your landlord does not require you to do so is because it will cover you if anyone is injured while spending time inside your apartment. While the last thing we want to imagine is someone we care about suing us for being hurt, this is actually a fairly common occurrence, especially if said person does not have any other way to pay for their medical bills, surgeries and other reasons for doctor visits.

Features and Benefits May Vary

It can be very easy to select the first plan you find as a way to avoid ‘wasting time’, but it is imperative that you take your time and really think through the whole process. There are many features that you may not even realize are available until you begin researching your local options and figure out what exactly you’re going for.

Some companies will actually replace your items that are lost or damaged (as long as the event is covered within the guidelines of your policy). What about those items that you store in your car, bringing with you to and from work? Those can also be covered from damage or loss; as well as injuries that are outside of your residence (much of the time, this is not going to cover car accidents). If you’re able to, consider grouping all of your insurance policies (life, renters, and maybe even your car insurance); putting them in a bundle because this can save you a pretty penny each month.

Discounts aren’t always advertised, so don’t be shy about doing a bit of digging to see if there are any hidden deals you can find for yourself. Ask around, too, because oftentimes family members or friends will already be aware of companies that have special offers that may apply directly to your situation.

George Smith-Davies is a journalist cum blogger and is well aware of insurance related problems. He says that you must always find out more information about the insurance company you want to deal with. To know more about content insurance, you can connect with him on Google+.

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The insurance industry is footing an ever increasing bill for the devastation being caused to thousands of homes and vehicles across the UK as a result of climate change. The huge rise in payouts over the past decade or so for risks such as floods could render the insurance industry unsustainable if the current trends continue.

The insurance industry is being urged by the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) to step up their efforts to engage the government and policymakers on the issue and increase awareness of the dangers climate change poses. It is feared that without swift action insurers will be unable to offer cover to residents in high risk areas of the UK as well as oversees.

The CII recently published the third in their series of reports looking closely at the impact climate change is having on the insurance industry. The report put forward three visions of the future, devised by leading climate change and insurance experts, and the risks each posed for insurers and society as a whole.

Best case scenario

This favourable scenario looks at the future in a world that has managed to harness renewable sources of energy effectively and successfully minimise the amount of green house gases produced by the burning of fossil fuels. Governments across the world have been able to develop infrastructure sufficiently to ensure there are early warning systems in place to allow them to counter any climate risks without the destructive consequences such events bring today. In this scenario insurers encourage the development of sustainable practices by incentivising their customers financially.

The middle ground

In much the way the insurance industry is headed at present, this scenario bases its premise on a limited endeavour to introduce sustainable practices and sporadic efforts by governments to increase the use of renewable energy sources. In this scenario the insurance industry would be left with little choice but to withdraw cover from high risk locations prone to extreme weather conditions.

Worst case scenario

In this scenario only very little effort is made to increase the use of renewable energy sources. This would push the climate of the earth beyond the point of redemption, whereby efforts to increase sustainability in the future would be essential, but their implementation would be extremely costly and would only have limited success. The insurance industry would be unable to meet the costs of such an increasingly turbulent natural environment, with freak weather events and localised devastation becoming commonplace.

Although these scenarios are future predictions and far from definitive, they have been created based on detailed analysis of current and historical trends. The consequences of neglecting to act now and allowing our climate to become increasingly tempestuous are clearly severe, and potentially irreversible.

Claire White is an employee of ConstructaQuote, one of the UK’s leading insurance comparison sites, working with some of the UK’s leading insurers to find businesses and private customers alike great prices on a wide range of insurance products .

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The economy over the past few years hit millions of consumers hard and as a result, many are trying to fix the damage that was done to their credit reports. Without a good credit score, it can be nearly impossible to rent an apartment, get a checking account or even find a job.

Before you agree to work with any credit repair agency, there are five facts that you need to know.

Do Your Research on Credit Repair Firms

Be wary of any credit repair company that solicits you, whether it’s through email, direct mail or by phone. This is a multi-million dollar industry and unfortunately, you can’t automatically give a company your trust simply because they sound legit.

It is vital to do your own research on a credit repair firm before proceeding. First and foremost, you should never have to pay for this service until the promised work has been done. Avoid any company that requires you to make an upfront payment in order to “fix” your credit. Even if they claim they will be incurring expenses on your behalf in order to contact your bill collectors and the credit bureaus, you don’t have to pay anything before they do the work. In fact, the Credit Repair Organization Act has made it illegal for these companies to charge you in advance.

Another red flag to look for is a credit repair company that encourages you not to contact the three main credit bureaus, Experian, Equifax and Transunion. Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, you, the consumer, have every right to contact the bureaus and dispute any information that may be invalid.

Understand Your Rights

Before you work with a credit repair agency, it is vital to fully understand your rights as a consumer. The Fair Credit Reporting Act and the Credit Repair Organization Act both contain information that you need to know in order to protect yourself, both from debt collectors and from shady credit repair companies.

The CROA states that credit repair agencies must provide you, in writing, your legal rights and how they will go about repairing your credit, the amount of time they estimate it will take to accomplish this, and how much you will have to pay to complete the work. Any guarantees they make must be made in writing.

Promises They Can’t Keep

If a credit repair agency tells you that they can remove all of the negative information from your credit report, this tells you that they are not being honest with you. Only negative information on your report that is invalid can be removed. Even if you pay off your debt, the entry will remain on your credit report for a period of up to 10 years.

The dispute process provided by the three main credit bureaus is designed to ensure that all of the information on your credit report is accurate, whether or not it is positive or negative to you. You cannot dispute a debt that is legally yours and have it removed from your credit report. If this was true, no one would have any negative entries on their credit reports.

Creating a “New” Identity

Another common “promise” you may run into with some credit repair agencies is that you can create an entirely new credit identity and you won’t have to worry about your past mistakes. This is completely false and fraudulent and you may end up facing prosecution as a result of this tactic.

If a credit repair agency urges you to apply for an Employer Identification Number (EIN) or encourages you to falsely claim identity theft in order to get a new social security number, this is your best indication that you are dealing with a scam artist. Unfortunately, many consumers find this out the hard way, after they are already in legal problems due to lying on loan applications or misrepresenting their social security number.

Understand Your Options

Don’t get disheartened. Just because there are a lot of wolves in sheep’s clothing doesn’t mean that all credit repair options are bad. There are reputable credit counselors out there who can assist you in legally repairing your credit and getting your life back on track.

The author who contributed this article is Chase Sagum, Financial and Business blogger. Check out more of his content at www.lexingtonlaw.com.

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