Refinancing Your Home - IS the Time Right?Written by Keith Thompson
Refinancing your home is a major decision not to be taken lightly, even in this era of low interest rates and easy money. While every mortgage company in town is touting strategy of getting a new loan before rates rise again, there are several things you'll want to be mindful of before you go about refinancing your home.In my view key to refinancing your home isn't just rate they're offering you: it's total package looked at not only in terms of today, but a few years down road. Many people have taken out new loans that really weren't quite right for their long term situations, thinking they'd be able to refinance again in not-too-distant future. That may or may not prove to be true. No one has a crystal ball that'll give you a definitive idea of just where rates will be even a year from now, so try to approach this with a somewhat more long-termed view. It's very easy to get tempted by prospect of easy, fast cash, but in end you end up giving it all back in terms of higher payments, and worst case, be unable to make your payments and lose your home. Just look at all costs associated with this new loan, determine what payments will be in 2, 5 and 10 years, or whatever your timeline is, and make an informed decision unfettered by a mortgage broker's "opinion" what's "best" for you. They have a vested interest in getting you into a loan, any loan, and WILL NOT, repeat, WILL NOT, have your best interests at heart when you go about refinancing your home.
| | Getting Grant Funding For Your Nonprofit OrganizationWritten by Berwyn J. Kemp
Do you need grant funding for your nonprofit organization? If you do you are most certainly not alone in your needs. This combined with fact that because of regular government budget cuts there’s not as many federal dollars available as there once was. And because of our current economic recession foundation dollars are down as well. What you now have are some serious concerns facing your nonprofit organization.On other hand there is still a vast source of funding out there for your organization. But, even more so today than ever, in order for you to get your share of treasure that’s out for you. You must approach matter of grant getting in an organized and systematic manner. And you must make process of obtaining grants a regular and ongoing activity for your organization. Here are some guidelines to help you get grant funds you seek: ŸCarefully assess your funding needs by asking yourself a number of very important questions, such as: How much funding do you need? How will this funding be used? Who will benefit from this funding? And, how will this funding be used? Having clear answers to these kinds of questions are a key part of any request for funding, and will help you determine kinds of grantors you should be approaching. ŸMake a list of your target grantors specific to your needs. You can do this by going to main branch of your public library. Where you should find some kind of grant research center with a wealth of grant funding directories you can use. ŸIf you live in a very small community and your library doesn’t have a grant research center. You should contact The Foundation Center, 79 Fifth Ave, New York, NY 10003, (212)620-4230 where you’ll find a wealth of grant directories too, that you can purchase directly from them. Be sure to request a copy of their current catalog when you contact them. ŸContact each grantor on your list for a copy of their current funding guidelines, and proposal requirements. While all grant directories do list grantors basic funding requirements and rules. You should still always contact them before you apply. Since what’s listed could be actually much different from what they currently do, and your time is too valuable to waste it.
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