HELP I need mortgage help and credit debt help too
By: Ask Bill
Submitted: 2010-12-13 04:16:15 | Word Count: 595
Times in the economy have not been the best for the past few years. Through no actual fault of his, Tom suddenly found himself deep in debt, in an insecure job situation and being hit by higher prices and interest rates. The positive environment in the years before this economic recession had tempted and cajoled Tom to take on a bigger mortgage than actually necessary and he bought those gadgets he could have done without but hey, times were good and Tom easily afforded it. What’s life if not for living and enjoying your hard-earned money! Those times have changed and Tom finds himself saying, he needs help with mortgage payments.
A good place to start for Tom is to probably work out how much he owes and who he owes. It’s more reassuring in some ways to see it written down instead of just having payments automatically going out of your account each month. A lot of resources are available in the form of excel spreadsheets that can easily be found on the web and are relatively straightforward to use. Tom’s payments may include mortgage payments, credit card payments, personal loan payments and of course, monthly utilities and living expenses. Tom may find like a lot of people frequently find that he can combine a few of these payments and instead of thinking that he needs help with a whole host of loans, he may find he needs just help with mortgage repayments.
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Combining a few credit cards into one, that allows a balance transfer maybe a good idea. Tom’s friend in a similar situation Jackie found it helped by saving money on individual credit card fees and allowed her to feel more in control with just one payment leaving her account monthly. American Express sometimes have an offer with a six month interest free period, so Jackie managed to transfer all her credit card debts into it, and it took a bit of pressure off those incredibly high credit card interest rates. Jackie realized that this was the time to maximize repayments, reducing her principal while saving on interest and not a time to direct her now available funds towards other expenses.
Mortgages operate on the lowest interest rate when compared to rates of interest on personal loans, unsecured loans and credit cards. Tom may find out that he has enough equity or value in his home to borrow more against it. These funds borrowed at a lower interest rate can then be channeled towards making lump sum payments on his credit card debts. If Tom doesn’t have enough equity in his home, he may be able to seek mortgage help and get a second mortgage on the house. Although this may be at a higher interest rate than a first mortgage, it would probably be lower than interest rates on credit cards or unsecured loans.
If Tom’s current income cannot be stretched to accommodate monthly mortgage payments, it may be the time to seek mortgage loan help, through his financier. An extension of the total term of the mortgage can reduce monthly payments. Making weekly or fortnightly payments instead of monthly payments can also help in a small way. At times it may be wise to look at other financiers who are willing to refinance Tom’s loan on better terms and conditions. However it a good idea to look at all the small print and take adequate advice through independent counseling services before Tom signs on the dotted line.
