In 1930, Congress and the President established the “GI Bill” which allowed the Veteran Administration (VA) to coordinate benefits for its service people.  One of these programs, known as the Home Loan Guaranty Program, was created to help returning veterans and their families assimilate back into civilian life after sacrificing so much personally for their country. 

 

Who qualifies for VA loans?  If you served in the military, naval or air service and are active duty or released from duty for reasons other than a dishonorable discharge, you may qualify.  You had to serve for 90 days active duty or 181 days consecutively in peacetime. If you served less than the minimum requirement because of discharge or service connected disability, you may also qualify. In addition, if you are the surviving un-remarried wife or husband of an eligible service member who died for his/her country, you may too be eligible.  This program was designed to reward you and your loved ones for your service.

 

“The VA program, in general, is an exceptional program.  Many veterans don’t know it can even benefit them if he/she is overseas.  We’ve been helping active duty service people by putting their families in homes, and giving them peace of mind that their loved ones and their immediate needs are being taken care of while they’re away”, reflects Jamie Utton, Director of Product Development at Mortgage Investors Group.

 

These loans are available only for a primary home you intend to occupy.  You can’t go and buy a beach house for weekend use with it.  However, you can also use your eligibility to refinance your primary residence and pay off debt (except for Texans, for some reason, they don’t allow it in that state).  Or, if you had a VA loan prior, and the interest rates have dropped dramatically, you can do a “streamline” refinance – no worries about paying for a new appraisal or the hassle of verifying your income.  You’re all set to go.

 

So what makes the VA loan stand out above other types of financing? It allows for 100% financing for loans up to $417,000 with no reserves (checking and savings money to burn) required. The loan amounts allowed go up to $1.5 million, but you’d have to put some type of down payment into the transaction if you want to borrow that much money, plus show you have enough money to pay your mortgage for two months sitting in the bank if you need it.   And if you’re buying a home, the program allows for the seller to pay up to 4% of the closing costs, based upon the purchase price.  Basically, you can get into a home for very little or no money at a more than affordable market rate.

 

And the best part?  No extra money is added to your payment for mortgage insurance if you put a less than 20% down payment on the home.  That’s a pretty unique feature that makes this loan more affordable than others.  Most of the time, the veteran  will be required to pay a VA Funding Fee, but it is financed into the loan amount.  So, the funding fee is not an out of pocket expense for closing.  A veteran can be exempt from paying the funding fee for different reasons, including service connected disability, or if he/she is a surviving spouse of a veteran who died in service or from a service related disability.  And regarding credit scores, the VA loan program has more flexibility than some other programs offer. 

 

If you think you may qualify for this loan, let me first of all say, “Thank you.”  I really appreciate the sacrifices you’ve made for this country.  And if you’re looking to purchase or refinance your home, call a lender today who specializes in VA loans, and take advantage of this great benefit.

One of the most compelling cases for video conferencing technology has to be the reduction in travel costs.

Many businesses increasingly view travel as a drain on time and budgets. You can understand why when most business travellers admit that only half of the time spent on a business trip can be classed as productive working time. Not only could you reduce your business travel bills by up to 30%, but you could also improve employee productivity by cutting back on idle hours.

Allied to the reduction in travel time and costs is the environmental argument. Video conferencing uses little energy – no petrol, diesel or aviation fuel, only a few units of electricity. The technology can help the business reduce their carbon footprint and environmental impact. To demonstrate the point, a UK environment minister gave a keynote speech at the Climate Change Conference in Sydney via video conferencing. This saved 60 hours of travel time and 6.2 tons of CO2 emissions.

Your business could benefit in other ways too. Video conferencing gives you the flexibility to hold ad-hoc meetings; you don’t have to plan weeks in advance. This flexibility could speed up decision-making and response times, which will also benefit your customers.

Why invest in video conferencing now?

In the past, video conferencing has had a bad reputation. It’s been seen as expensive, complex to implement and delivering low quality, jerky images. However, these arguments are losing ground as the technology rapidly evolves and affordable fast connections make high definition video conferencing a reality.

Traditionally, you would have needed an ISDN network for video conferencing, but today’s IP-based networks are fuelling an interest in converged voice, video and data communications. IP lends itself to cost-effective voice and video conferencing and has the added benefit of allowing users to collaborate on documents simultaneously. Cisco estimates that global IP traffic will increase fivefold over the next four years. The company also estimates that all forms of video traffic will make up 90% of global consumer IP traffic by 2013.

Video conferencing shopping list

There is a video conferencing system for every budget, ranging from personal desktop systems using low cost webcams, through to specialist video conferencing equipment designed for use in meeting rooms and other shared environments. However, the essential components of any video conferencing solution are camera, microphone, monitor, speaker and codec.

For most organisations, high definition video conferencing is the most readily available option and offers good quality on a limited budget (usually between £1,500 and £5,000).

Your next consideration should be the number of point to point video-enabling terminals or ‘endpoints’ needed. If you specify too few endpoints users could get frustrated that they do not have access to the technology. You need to balance the cost of the video conferencing equipment and services against convenient access to the network of endpoints.

Video infrastructure – a high definition video conferencing service may require an investment in additional network infrastructure, such as a dedicated line or circuit for each endpoint. Each session will demand connectivity of around 1Mbps for clear video and audio. Deploying high definition video on the enterprise network can cause problems; the network may not be able to handle real-time video, while video activity may compromise other enterprise tasks. The right media-ready network is vital to the delivery of business video applications.

Extra peripherals – you might also want to invest in additional peripheral devices to enhance the video conferencing experience; this could include high definition and wide-angle cameras, upgraded speakers and microphones. You may also want to connect your systems to DVDs, VCRs and document and multimedia applications via a PC.

Test the water with web conferencing

If there’s some resistance to investing in video conferencing solutions, one way of proving the benefit to the business may be to experiment with lower cost web conferencing solutions. These could not only demonstrate cost savings but also lead the way to more sophisticated technology.

Web conferencing allows your staff to share what’s on their desktop with people in other locations. Typically, this happens in conjunction with a phone call or audio conferencing session. Additional features include the ability to share documents and to work collaboratively on projects.

Why telepresence could be the next step for video conferencing

John Chambers, Cisco chief executive, has compared telepresence  to “Star Trek teleporting”. Telepresence offers ultra high resolution, which makes video conferencing an even more immersive experience. Spatial audio allows the transmission of every nuance of a conversation, while huge screens and high quality cameras capture every detail of an expression.

Fabulous as this sounds, telepresence remains an expensive technology to implement at present. It requires a high-bandwidth connection and a specifically designed room at each location.

Everyday we read about the worldwide financial crisis and, specifically, about the U.S. banking and housing crisis.  To understand the challenges facing borrowers during the Housing crisis, it is critical to understand adjustable rate mortgages – how they work and how they can impact you. 

ARMs offer both advantages and disadvantages. Unlike a fixed-rate mortgage, an ARM provides interest rates that change periodically – and payments that go up or down accordingly.  At first, lenders generally charge lower interest rates for ARMs and this makes an ARM easier to afford initially.  If interest rates remain steady or move lower, this can work to your long term advantage. It is important, however, to weigh the risk that if interest rates increase in the future, so will your monthly payments. 

The initial rate and payment on an ARM will remain in effect for a limited period–ranging from several months to 5 years or more. After this initial period, the interest rate and monthly payment may change at regular intervals – every month, every year, every 3 years.   This period between rate changes is called the adjustment period.

The interest rate on an ARM is determined by two things: the index and the margin. The index is usually a standard measure of interest rates and the margin is an extra amount that the lender adds. If the index rate goes up, so does your interest rate and monthly payment.  On the other hand, if the index rate goes down, your monthly payment may go down. Not all ARMs adjust downward, however so be sure to read the details about any loan you are considering. 

Lenders base ARM rates on a variety of indexes. You should ask what index will be used for your ARM, how it has fluctuated in the past, and where it is published.  

The margin may differ from one lender to another, but it is usually constant over the life of the loan. The fully indexed rate is equal to the margin plus the index. For example, if the lender uses an index that is currently 4% and adds a 3% margin, the fully indexed rate would be 7%.

Some lenders base the amount of the margin on your credit record – the better your credit, the lower the margin. In comparing ARMs, look at both the index and margin for each program.

An interest-rate cap places a limit on the amount your interest rate can increase. Interest caps come in two forms: A periodic adjustment cap, which limits the amount the interest rate can be adjusted up or down from one adjustment period to the next, and a lifetime cap, which limits the interest-rate increase over the life of the loan.  By law, virtually all ARMs must have a lifetime cap.

In addition to interest-rate caps, many ARMs limit, or cap, the amount your monthly payment may increase at each adjustment.  A payment cap can limit the increase to your monthly payments but also can add to the amount you owe on the loan. This is called negative amortization.

If you are considering an ARM, ask yourself: 

• - Is my income enough–or likely to rise enough–to cover higher mortgage payments if interest rates go up?
• - Will I be taking on other sizable debts, such as a loan for a car or school tuition, in the near future?
• - How long do I plan to own this home? If you plan to sell soon, rising interest rates may not pose the problem they do if you plan to own the house for a long time.
• - Do I plan to make any additional payments or pay the loan off early?

 

Golden Rule:  Before you consider any loan, ask questions and read the details. For information and news please visit Loan Modification Help Center