An Infinity Mortgage ?Written by Jenny Barclay
Here in Spain concept of a mortgage period of 20 or 25 years is something new. The general feeling by banks is that want their money back more quickly than banks in countries in which they are accustomed to longer periods. The borrowers are also accustomed to idea that guiding principle is to pay off mortgage as quickly as possible.First Timers The problem for all those people starting out on property ladder is amount of money that has to go out each month to put roof over one’s head. At least this is true for early years, but not necessarily as the4 years go by, since advent of inflation. Cases that we studied showed e.g a couple, whose monthly income was £400, having to pay £150 per month in mortgage payment. Although interest fluctuations since then have meant varying payments, as a percentage of their current monthly income of £2,000 per month, mortgage does not now seem so horrendous. Varying interest rates The mistake made by many lenders in boom times is to conveniently forget possible variation in interest rates during early years. While a doubling of payment in case mentioned above would not be a disaster now, had it occurred during early years it could have lead to foreclosure, and them losing their dream home. In our study we found various examples of interest rates going from 3% to 16% in very short periods of time. Maybe lenders should have insisted on doing relevant calculations, assuming a high rate, to check if borrowers could afford payment during first few years in event of this occurring. Asking potential borrower would not necessarily have produced a sensible result, as many that we spoke to said, “It’s OK, we’ll manage somehow.” Unfortunately, for thousands of borrowers, this turned out not to be case. One case showed an initial payment of £269 per month, on an income of £800 per month, which ballooned to £690 per month on an income of £900 per month, with devastating consequences.
| | Business is About Making Money Written by Dr. Scott Kiser
Title: Business is About Making Money (from “Why Be Different, Success Secrets to Sell Unsellable” by Scott Kiser, DDS and Kathleen Gage) Author: Scott Kiser, DDS Email: Skiserdds@aol.com Word Count: 722 Copyright: © 2004 by Dr. Scott Kiser Web Address: www.greatsmilesutah.com Publishing Guidelines: You may publish my article in your newsletter, on your web site, or in your print publication provided you include resource box at end. Notification would be appreciated but is not required. Business is About Making Money By Scott Kiser, DDS Ask most people why they are in business and they will give you any number of reasons. Things such as wanting to improve lives of others; make world a better place; provide for their family; have more free time; list goes on and on. Fact is business is about making money, which means bottom line is bottom line. Many business owners, managers and sales people seem to forget this. If you don’t have a strong bottom line you cannot continue to do business for very long. And if you can’t continue to do business you cannot achieve other primary reasons you do what you do. The way you get a sturdy bottom line is to understand some basic truths about business. A few fundamentals to running a successful business are to know what your product or service is, who your customer is, who you are, what drives you in business, and what trends are impacting economy and marketplace. Many people run their business without these key ingredients. Sure, a company can survive, but is survival all you are seeking? Don’t you want more? As previously mentioned, most people are in business to design a certain lifestyle for themselves and their families. Many are in business to create an experience for their customers. Still others are in business to improve quality of their community. Unfortunately, many miss mark by a long shot. Think about why you are in business. What is it that drives you? Wouldn’t it be great to thrive beyond your wildest dreams and be a contributor to many of causes you believe in due to success of your business and professional life?
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