Finance Slocum Bank

Find Help for Homeowners at the Alabama Housing Finance Authority

admin — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 13:49:18 +0000

According to RealtyTrac, a web-based mortgage and foreclosure research firm, Alabama has approximately 300,000 foreclosure defense filings as of January last year. Currently, Alabama ranked No. 40 among all states in the country that has the highest foreclosure rate. To put a stop on this alarming trend, the Alabama Housing Finance Authority is making tremendous efforts in providing help for homeowners, especially those families with low to average monthly income. There are plenty of loan modification programs offered by the same government agency, this includes but not limited to the following:

First Step Housing Program- Funded by tax-exempt loan revenue bonds which gives troubled homeowners a long-term mortgage plan with competitive interest rates. The easiest program to apply to because of its flexible eligibility qualifications. Mortgage Credit Certificates- Provides help for homeowners by decreasing their federal tax liability to save as much cash for their monthly mortgage payments. Rural Alabama Mortgage Program- Offers long-term mortgages with low-interest and principal rates to homeowners living in rural areas. Step Up- This type of program provides moderate income homebuyers a loan that will help pay off the property’s down payment. To qualify, you have to provide proof that you can afford the other subsequent costs of buying a new home such as monthly mortgage payment, closing costs, etc. Habitat for Humanity- Aims to award new homebuyers a low-cost house in the area. The Alabama Housing Finance Authority will pay off the Habitat affiliates in a lump sum in order to construct your new house. You will have to pay off the amount paid to your contractor by the AHFA in a form of monthly mortgage payment.

There are other loan modification programs offered by the AHFA, you may contact them at 800-325-AHFA OR 334-271-6785 for inquiries and to help you submit your application. For more information about the different help for homeowners by the Alabama Housing Finance Authority, you may log on to their website at www.ahfa.com, you will find virtually everything you need in the site and you may also find a debt counselor online to give you sound professional advice regarding your case. For clarifications and assistance, you may drop by at their office or mail them at PO Box 230909, Montgomery, AL 36120. Keep in mind that there are plenty of help for homeowners like you in Alabama; you only need to contact the right people and keep in touch with your mortgage lender during the process. The agencies around you can only provide opportunities to get your loan modified; your lender is still the one in authority whether to accept your request or not which is why you must always keep them informed.

How to Use the Google Finance Search Tools

admin — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 01:28:11 +0000

Stocks and the stock market is a fast-paced world to keep up with. In order to stay ahead of the game, you’ve got to be organized, aware of what’s going on, and have easy access to the latest financial news. The Internet has quickly become the number on means of getting and sharing information immediately. This is crucial for keeping up with finance. Furthermore, websites like Google.com have additional tools and resources to stay updated and informed about the financial market. Google Finance is a branch from Google.com that focuses solely on the financial information and news that is so vital to you.

To access Google Finance, click “more” at the top of the page on Google’s homepage, then click Finance. On the home page of Google Finance is five tools that will help you stay updated and organized. Here’s a brief description of how to use each of these tools:

*Markets*

This is a great way to get a quick overview of the current position of global markets. The top section, “Market Summary” shows articles from leading stock market analysts and is updated quite frequently. You will see a link to the original article, a summary, who provided the information, when it was posted (in minutes), and include a picture of any grafts or images were included in the article. This is a great way to see what the latest news is, and decide from there if you want to read the full story.

The next section in the “Markets” tool is the top news stories relating to the market. Under that is the “Sector Summary” showing the increase or decrease percentages for stock in certain sectors, like Basic Materials, Conglomerates, and Energy. The last section in “Markets” is a basis analysis of market trends, including for categories:

* Popular-showing the trends for the most popular, most researched corporations and businesses.
* Price-showing the top 5 stocks that are currently gaining and losing percentages.
* Mkt Cap-showing the top 5 gainers and losers with the highest market cap.
* Vol-showing the top 10 stocks with the highest volume.

*News*

Basically, this is a listing of all the news stories about the market. The news is listed in the order that they were posted with links to the original article, a summary, and the company that provided the information. To the right is a subsection of “Top Stories”, to see the most popular news stories.

*Portfolios*

You must have an account with Google to use this section. This is where you can organize your current stock investments. You can add ticker symbols of the stocks and mutual funds you are purchasing or watching, add transaction data, etc. You will then be able to track your progress and see recent activity in your stocks.

When you add a stock to your portfolio, either to watch or buy shares, you will then see a basic preview of the stocks, and have the option to see the overview, fundamentals, performance, and transactions (shown is separate tabs) for each stock.

*Stock Screener*

This tool will help you get information on current stock. You can search for stocks based on their market cap, P/E ratio, Dividend yield, and 52w price change, or a combination of all or some of these criteria. You will then be shown a list of matching stocks in alphabetical order below. Each stock is a link to a page summarizing this stock’s detailed information, like shares and recent activity, etc. From here you can click to watch the stock, which automatically adds it to your portfolio. Under the basic summary is a listing of related companies that you might also be interested in, including their current status.

*Google Domestic Trends*

This tool will show you trends of searches performed on Google by US users, compared to the actual sales in that area. Since the majority of Internet users use search engines to gain information, and Google is the number one (by far) search engine used, this could be a valuable resource. You can compare the rise and fall of searches performed on Google to actual purchases to see a different prospective on the popularity of certain markets. There are several market sector categories to choose from, like computers and electronics, durable goods, and real estate.

For all your finance and stock market needs, check out Google Finance!

Housing Loan Unemployed – Finance for the Cherished Abode

admin — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 19:08:29 +0000

Loans for unemployed help one to be a homeowner who has a low income or is unemployed. It extends housing loans for constructing, rehabilitating and buying housing purpose structures. It’s difficult to get a house loan for the one who is unemployed since there is nothing which can be kept a security for repayment. Unemployed cannot promise such a condition, therefore to cater to these segment loaning market have devised housing loan for unemployed.

ARE YOU TEMPORARILY UNEMPLOYED?

No problem, still you can get unemployed housing loan. Housing loan for unemployed has some of the exquisite benefits attached to them like low interest rate and easy repayment terms. People who are homeless and have very low income due to unemployment and living on government benefits can apply for housing loan unemployed.

Housing loan for unemployed is typically a secured loan. Since you are investing a lifetime of your saving for unemployed housing loan, a prudent decision becomes the prime requisite. If you want to check credibility for housing loan for unemployed, you can contact various firms either physical or online.

HOW TO APPLY

Application is an easy procedure where in you are required to fill a simple form stating your requirements and personal details. It is always sensible to ascertain whether you can make repayments comfortably on housing loan before applying for housing loan for unemployed. Taking housing loan that you cannot repay will just prove to be an additional burden on your already tight position. However, if you are unemployed with a hope of going back to job then you can apply for housing loan for unemployed. To check affordability you can take the help of housing loan calculator. This will help you to decide if should go for it.

The amount and rates of interest rates are variables depending on the type of loan (secured or unsecured) and on your credit history.

So an unemployed status should not deter you from having your own house…