Wednesday, October 31, 2007

When to Buy a Tax Sale List
One of the first things that you have to do to invest in tax lien certificates or tax deeds is to get the list of properties that are in the tax sale. Sometimes you can find this list online, on the tax collector's website. In most counties the list has to be published in the local paper 2-4 weeks before the sale. In states where tax sales are held on the municipal level, most of these lists will be small (less than 100 properties) and easy to manage. But in large cities and in states where tax sales are held by the county, these lists can be quite large. Although you can get these lists for free, there are times when you will want to pay for a detailed tax sale list from a tax sale list provider.
The tax sale lists that you get from the municipality or county do not always have the information that you need. Often, they will not include the address or physical location of the property. Usually these lists will only list the tax ID or parcel number, block and lot, owner of record, and amount due on the properties in the tax sale. It will not tell you things that you need to know before bidding on the property like: the acreage, type of property, assessed value, last sale price, and whether or not there is a mortgage on the property. To find out this information you can either go to the tax collector's or tax assessor's office and look it up yourself, or you can buy a detailed tax sale list that provides all of the tax assessment information, including the physical address of the property.
For smaller tax sales you may want to buy a detailed list. You might think that since the list is small, you could save the money and look it up yourself. I have found that this process is time consuming and that for small lists I am better off buying the detailed list. It saves me a lot of time in my due diligence; I get all the information that I need; and I only have to go out and look at the properties. For larger lists, I would rather do my own research. Detailed tax sale lists that are over 500 properties can cost over $50 and lists that are over 1000 properties can cost over $100. Large counties and counties with big cities can have lists of a few thousand properties and that can cost a few hundred dollars. So how do you decide whether you should buy the detailed list or do the research yourself for these tax sale lists?
First remember that if the original tax sale list has 1000 properties, there will probably be only 500 or so properties left on the day of the sale. Since most tax sale list providers do not update the lists that they have for sale, you will have to purchase the detailed information on all 1000 properties even though you will probably only use half of the information. If you choose not to buy a detailed list, then you may be doing research on a lot of properties for nothing, since half of them will not be in the tax sale.
So here's what I do. If there is an easy way to get the assessment information that I need, that is if it is available online, I wait until about 4 or 5 days before the sale, get an updated list from the tax collector, and then I get the assessment information on the properties. To make it even easier, I limit the properties that I research to only certain areas that I'm interested in investing in. I may limit it to only 3 or 4 townships in the county and to only certain types of properties. If the assessment information is not that readily available, I'll buy the detailed list. Some list providers will allow you to filter the list by property type, thus you only buy information on the type of properties that you are interested in.

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Joanne Musa works with people who want to build an extremely profitable portfolio of tax lien certificates or tax deeds FAST. She is the creator of "Build Your Profitable Tax Lien Portfolio," an 8-week teleclass on how to invest in tax lien certificates and tax deeds for maximum profit. To find out more about the steps involved in building your profitable tax lien or tax deed portfolio, go to http://www.taxlienlady.com/ProfitablePortfolio.html .


The Truth About Self Certification Loans
Ten years ago if you were self employed you were very limited to the deals that were available to you. Lenders tended not to like it if you couldn�t prove you income when apply for a secured loan or mortgage.
Things have changed, because they have had to. With more and more people starting their own business and companies opting to contract staff on a self employed basis, lenders have had to change policies. Now many more lenders have had no choice but to offer self certification loans and mortgages in order to service more customers.
With a self certification product you can state your income without having to provide payslips. Such loan and mortgage products are available with specialist and some high street lenders.
The hook is that with self cert loans you will normally have to pay lager deposit and slightly higher interest rates than a standard borrow would. You should also be prepared to incur slightly higher fees as well.
Different lenders will have different criteria. Some will be more concerned about affordability, others with job title and credit history others will require accounts, accountants letter or bank statements.
Whether you are with a specialist lender or a high street one, you will generally need a minimum of a 10 per cent deposit (some 5 per cent). In most cases the bigger the deposit you put down the lower the interest rate will be, because you are reducing the lenders risk. You will also pay more fees when putting down a small deposit.
Self Certification loans and mortgages used to only be available through specialist lenders, but this is now changing. A handful of dynamic lenders have realised that they need to include the self employed into their mainstream products.
Even if you do not have three years worth of accounts, do not think that a self certification product is your only option. Lenders are now embracing more sophisticated credit scoring techniques to better weigh up the potential lending risks.
Another bonus for the self employed, is that if you can get together a 25 per sent deposit then you will be able to approach most lenders and choose from their mainstream loan products. Also because of the size of the deposit you are putting down, many of the fees will be crossed out.
Although self cert loans are a lifeline to many legitimate people there are a small number of borrowers that take advantage by lying about their income. Over inflation of income in order to have access to more lending or get on the housing ladder is not only illegal but also very dangerous. People that do this will often find that eventually they fall behind on their loan repayments and can face repossession. It pays to make sure that you are always honest on your application.
The key rule is to ensure that your mortgage loan repayments are going to be affordable. Flexible mortgages are great for the self employed that might have seasonal spikes and dips in their income. They allow you to overpay, underpay and take payment holidays if you wish to.
The best way to ensure you get a good deal and the right product is to use a good broker. They will have access to a number of lenders and products and be able to advise you on the best cause of action.
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Chris Cooper enjoys writing on all areas of personal and business finance. He works for Any Loans who are specialists in Self Cert Loans.


Now buying a car is quite easy
Thanks to car loan, purchasing a car of one’s own has become quite easy. What was out of reach only a few years back has become easily affordable now. While some people prefer to go for the new, classy cars, others keep them satisfied with the used or old cars. Whatever type of car may be the choice of a person; he can finance it with a Car Loan. Depending on his requirement, he can take out an amount and return it in small parts.
Those who are fascinated by the splendour and comfort of swanky cars may need to borrow big amount to buy one. It is recommendable for them to go for secured car loan. It is taken by offering collateral. Any property of significant value can work as collateral. However, no other property gets as easy acceptance as a home with sound equity in it. Collateralisation of the loan will bring in some handy facilities for the borrower.
Low interest rate, big loan amount, long repayment term, small repayment instalments are chief among them. However, the risk of property repossession is the loophole of this loan. Unlike the secured one, risk of losing the collateral is not there in unsecured car loan. In fact, it requires no collateral and gets approval quickly. Less documentation and instant money lending are its main benefits. It also saves you the amount of money spent in collateral assessment.
The automobile industry is witnessing the supply of cars at short intervals. Brits are also crazy about updating cars constantly. Not all of them are fortunate enough to buy a trendy car in cash. Obviously, many of them turn to Car Loan to finance their car. Lenders are also responding equally by making various deals available on this loan. This, in turn, provides the borrower with the opportunity to go for the most suitable package through comparisons.

About The Author: The author is a business writer specializing in finance and credit products and has written authoritative articles on the finance industry. He has done his masters in business administration and is currently assisting ecar-loans as a finance specialist.
For more information about Car Loan please visit at: http://www.ecar-loans.co.uk/