SO YOU'RE THINKING ABOUT FINANCING A BOAT... Written by Tom Schumacher
Once you've made your decision to buy a boat first thing that usually crosses your mind is, "How am I going to pay for it." The majority of purchases involve some level of boat financing, whether it's a credit line through home, an unsecured loan, or a conventional boat loan. Choosing right financing source can be as important as choosing right boat.There are several factors to take into consideration when choosing a boat finance source. The first might be to determine how long you intend on keeping boat. If you are purchasing an entry level first boat, it will make sense to find a boat loan that will be flexible in event of early payoff through a private party sale or trade-in. Conversely if you are purchasing boat of you dreams and expect to have it for a long time it will be important to lock in at a fixed rate loan with terms that will allow comfort of a low monthly payment. This will allow you to make sure boat will always be affordable in future months. Another factor to consider is down payment. Most lenders would like to see ten percent down for a boat loan. However, zero down scenarios do exist for people with optimum credit profiles. Generally, down payment does not significantly effect monthly boat loan payment. You may be more comfortable keeping extra money in your account in exchange for a payment that is not significantly higher. However, there is one caveat to this approach. If you buy a boat with zero down, make minimum monthly payments and then decide to sell boat soon thereafter, you may actually owe more than it is worth.
| | Refinancing…Is It Right For You?Written by Neil Goldberg
With interest rates hovering at all-time lows, it has created a stampede of people who have resorted to refinancing their homes. This has become a very attractive alternative to many who are financially overextended. People are using their homes as cash cows, withdrawing equity they have built up over years to pay off their credit card debt. In fact, for some, this may be choice of preference. However, there are several pitfalls that many overlook in their rush to use this option. First, you are losing all equity you have worked so long and hard to build up in your home. Second, you have now freed up all those credit cards which you just paid off, which if abused again will get you right back into same hot water as before, this time with no equity in your home to save day. If you do refinance to pay off your credit card debt, you must cancel most of your credit cards to remove this temptation.
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