In this Issue:* Home Loan Comparisons: The Basics Pending Home Sales Rise Unexpectedly 3 Ways to Get More From Your Plastic (Your comments are welcome at the bottom of our newsletter)

Home Loan Comparisons: The Basics

Some first time home buyers as well as experienced home buyers sometimes have a difficult time searching for and comparing home loans.

There is an overwhelming number of mortgage loans available, not to mention the many mortgage brokers and banking institutions available that provide different features.

The best and most effective way to go about conducting home loan comparisons is to meticulously evaluate the many various qualities and features offered by several mortgage loan types. Check for similarities and differences. Find a dependable mortgage broker to assist you. You may also use mortgage calculators to get additional statistical details.

There are three important and related components you should consider while comparing home mortgages. The first one will be your fiscal planning style.

Do you consider yourself as the type who is incredibly disciplined when it comes to every detail of your spending habits? Should you recognize items beforehand to help you make important modifications within your finances? In case you are the budget-conscious type, then the best thing is a fixed rate loan. When you need flexibility, you can go with a variable rate mortgage to make sure that in the event interest rates go down, you will pay lower fees. However, if you cannot select which of the two you would decide on, then be happy with a split loan to take advantage of the options of both mortgage loan types. Use a fixed mortgage calculator and variable mortgage calculator to see how these two loans vary and just how they will affect your money later on.

The other variable is your current financial situation. How do you assess your present monetary standing? Would you consider yourself economically established? Do you have the required paperwork for a home loan? If this is the case, expect to find greater options. You should be able to take advantage of the low document mortgages available from home loan lenders. Nevertheless, be aware that low document financial loans, if you can still find them, may cost extra when compared to common mortgage loans. You could also be charged with mortgage insurance. You can determine the added cost of mortgage insurance by using a LMI mortgage calculator.

The third component is being aware of interest rates. Typically, home loans that lean towards stable buyers offer low interest rates. On the contrary, home loans for first time house buyers tend to have higher interest rates.

It is advisable to meet with a home loan broker in order to enhance the accuracy of your mortgage comparison. They have crucial knowledge and skills that can help make things easier for you.

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Pending Home Sales Rise Unexpectedly

Pending sales of existing U.S. homes unexpectedly rose in June from May and rose sharply from a year ago, data from a real estate trade group showed recently.

The National Association of Realtors Pending Home Sales Index, based on contracts signed in June, was up 2.4 percent to 90.9 from 88.8 in May. The index was up 19.8 percent from a year ago.

Economists polled by Reuters ahead of the report were expecting pending home sales to fall 2.0 percent.

The association’s senior economist Lawrence Yun said the latest monthly reading shows tight credit and economic uncertainty is still constricting the market.

“The best way to ensure a more solid recovery in housing is to simply return to normal, sound credit standards so more creditworthy home buyers can get a mortgage,” he said.
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3 Ways to Get More From Your Plastic

Credit cards are a double-edged sword. If you’re not careful, they can destroy your financial life. But if you know how to manage them, they’ll treat you right with all sorts of rewards.

Why the generosity? The rewards — cash, miles, points — are an incentive to get you to use your cards more. When you plunk down the plastic, lenders get paid two ways: First, they get a cut of each transaction from the merchant taking your card as payment. Second, they hope you’ll take your sweet time paying them back so they can charge you ridiculously high interest rates on your balances.

Don’t be blinded by the bonuses: The smart thing to do is to pick a card that fits with how you spend your money (and what you like as a reward), reap the rewards, and — most importantly — pay off your balance in full every month.

Given that you need a credit card anyway, having one that will pay you back only makes sense. With a small amount of effort, you can turn purchases you have to make anyway into a nice reward for yourself.

Reward 1: Show Me the Money

Nothing says “thanks for your business” better than cold hard cash. You’ll find many cashback cards that give you 1% back on all the purchases you make.

That may not sound like much, but you can turn a pittance into some serious change by navigating the special bonus categories certain cards offer. For instance, the BlueCash Everyday card from American Express pays 1% on all eligible purchases, but it pays 3% on grocery-store bills and 2% on purchases at gas stations and department stores. The credit union PenFed has a card that pays back 5% on gas, and you can find similar deals on branded gas cards.

A few cards make picking the money tree even more challenging, even though the ultimate rewards are worth the extra effort. Both JPMorgan Chase and Discover Financial have cards with rotating categories that qualify for special 5% cash rewards. The categories generally change every three months, and they have limits on the amount you can spend to qualify for them. Even with those restrictions, you can save a lot as long as you can keep track of what’s on sale for any given month.

Finally, look for special offers. Discover recently ran a special offering to pay $250 in bonus cash back for selected cardmembers if they spent $1,500 each month for a five-month period. The catch is that if you fall short for just one month, you miss out on the $250. But if you can go the distance, that $250 amounts to almost 3% more in rewards.

Reward 2: Get Out of Town

The other reward cardholders love is frequent flyer credit. The right card will give you plenty of points, miles, or whatever you need to get yourself a free trip.

The most common reward is one mile or point per dollar spent. But as with cashback cards, you can find airline miles cards that give you bonuses for certain types of purchases. In addition, some airline cards give you additional savings, such as waived baggage fees.

One thing to watch out for with airline miles cards is that most of them charge an annual fee. So before you sign up, make sure the rewards you get will make up for what you pay to carry the card.

Reward 3: Sign Me Up!

The key to making the most of both cashback and airline miles cards is to get as much as you can upfront. Often, you can get incredible deals just by signing up.

Many people got credits last year for two free roundtrips on Southwest Airlines just for signing up for its credit card. After the first purchase, the card deposited the credits into their frequent flyer account. And although the card charges an annual fee, it was waived for the first year — with no obligation to renew it after that.

Similarly, some cards pay you big bucks with no strings attached. At creditbonuses.com, you’ll find reports from ordinary people like you about sign-up bonus offers that pay as much as $500.

One tip to maximize your cash back is to be patient — and ask for a better offer. You just might get it.