Monday, June 27, 2011

Knowing Whether or Not You Are Prey for Loan Sharks is Your Job No One Elses

Payday loan lenders probably don't have very many friends, similar to their common maritime metaphor the shark. Calling them predators is a little presumptuous though. Think about it: is a shark hunting if the fish swim right into its jaws? While those who provide payday loans typically target low income wage earners through their marketing and rely on these folks to make a profit, it's not like they jump out of the water and snatch innocents to carry back down into the depths with them. In nature, if an animal is eaten, part of it is the animal's fault. Predators, after all, are only doing what they're programmed to do. And somebody has to do it.

If you're the kind of person these places like to see walk into their lobbies, then you need to understand a few things about payday loans. Number one, their entire existence, from formation of the contract to disbursement of the funds, is designed by the lender to make it hard to pay it back unless it's paid in full. They want that high interest. Why? Partly because interest is where money is made when lending, but also because the people they target tend to be those with bad credit and excessively high interest is the only way, allegedly, that lenders can borrow to people with such risky credit histories without losing money. Either way, it's fundamental that you understand that from the very beginning, the cards are stacked against you if you don't have a responsible well-thought way to pay back the loan within a week or less.

Finding the right payday loan lender is less about seeking out shreds of kindness in the varying terms and conditions of multiple lenders – because underneath nice language none of them are particular nice – and more about focusing on whether or not they provide enough information openly about their different loans and how they're repaid and what your options are. CashNetUSA Payday Loan for example has an FAQ page that's actually quite useful compared to similar online payday lender websites that seem to only want to "ask" questions that nobody particular wants answered. While I can't say their interest rates are any lower than the competition, at least they let you know what the process is like if you're unable to pay. The penalties might seem outrageous, but there's something to respect in a lender at least letting you know in advance.

It takes a dedicated sense of personal responsibility to avoid getting yourself into a payday payback mess in the first place. Never borrow such a loan without making sure there's a way to pay it back immediately. Understand when an emergency calls for such a loan and when you're just looking for an easy way out. Payday loans are not an easy way out. They're a way to acquire a large sum of money quickly if timing demands it and you're virtually unable to find another source of money in the time it takes to fix the emergency. In any other case, do everything you can to secure another source of emergency income. If you choose to swim with sharks, don't say nobody ever warned you about getting eaten alive.

Friday, June 03, 2011

Young Realtors: Be Free Tonight, Buyers Are on Your Side

It's counterintuitive but the current changes in the way the American housing market functions can actually mean increased advantages for those just starting out in the real estate business. There's no denying that home buying is way down and foreclosures are way up. Home ownership is once again an exceptional undertaking. But agents who have built their entire careers and livelihoods on a now obsolete model of real estate are the ones who are in the fight of their lives. Rookie real estate agents with a knack for adaptability have been observing the recent events of the last few years and stand a far better chance in today's real estate marketing arena than those who are in some ways forced to cling onto a dying strategy.

Conventional real estate agents used to be able to rely on the endless number of new buyers on the market. It's not often that a realtor gets a return customer and so reputable success was based on who could get homes sold, not find the right one for a potential buyer. In fact much of the pseudo-fraud committed inside the real state arena was based on the fact that nobody made money anymore from helping people buy homes and instead the money was in getting homes bought. This caused realtors to maximize moneymaking efficiency by caring less about whether their clients found a right home and more about how many homes could be sold in a the shortest amount of time possible. In the wake of the housing bubble this tactic is dead, and realtors are now more reliant on finding the right home for the right person in order to maintain their reputation but more importantly maintain their survival.

So, in a sense, the playing field has been leveled. Prove you're a savvy realtor by getting a reputation early on as someone who doesn't try to push a homestead lemon and who does the extra legwork to find the best fits for you. Another way to bank off the errors of your elders is to seek out expired leads. If you know what properties are about to be taken off the market, introduce yourself to the seller as a better agent who will get the mission accomplished. This is a great way to build the reputation of being a great seller as well as a great finder.

The real estate market is probably the hardest field to get into right now when you consider how just a few years ago it was one of the easiest. But that right there is the key to your success. If you can thrive as a start up realtor in as unforgiving a market as this one, what won't you be able to do once the market improves? You're young. Time is on your side.