Shopping for a mortgage can be intimidating. It’s natural to feel anxious about doing something new for the first time, and getting your first mortgage is no exception.
Fortunately, there are a few simple things you can do to make sure you’re being well-prepared before you start looking for your first home loan. Here are five tips to help first-time mortgage borrowers.:
1. Lock Your Interest Rate. Interest rates on mortgages can increase or decrease from day to day or even hour to hour. Discuss the interest rate outlook with your loan officer and try to learn as much as you can about how ups and downs in interest rate quotes might affect your mortgage payment and your ability to qualify for that loan. To protect yourself from interest rate rises, ask about a rate lock, which can reserve a specific interest rate for you for a set time period. If you decide to lock your rate, make sure your lock period won’t expire before your closing date. (Read more about locking your interest rate.)
2. Consider FHA. If you’re a first-time home buyer, you might want to shop for an “FHA loan,” which is a mortgage that’s insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA). FHA loans offer competitive interest rates, allow smaller down payments and have easier qualification guidelines compared with other types of loans. The minimum down payment for an FHA loan is just 3.5 percent of the purchase price of the home, although FHA loans do require that you pay mortgage insurance.
3. Take the Tax Credit. If you haven’t owned a home in the past three years, you may be able to qualify for the federal First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit, which is worth up to $8,000. The credit is refundable, which means you’ll even get a rebate of sorts from the federal government if the income tax that you owe is less than the full amount of the credit. The credit is subject to income limitations and you’ll have to act fast since it’s set to expire after Nov. 30, 2009. Some lenders may allow you to use the credit as a down payment, to pay settlement fees or other closing costs or to pay discount points to reduce the interest rate on your loan.
4. Educate Yourself. A plain-vanilla 30-year or 15-year fixed-rate mortgage is fairly easy to understand. But other types of loans can be more complicated. If you want to consider an adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) or other less common type of loan product, do your homework and make sure you fully understand how your loan works before you sign the loan documents.
5. Shop Around. Interest rates, loan products and loan terms vary among lenders. That means all borrowers, whether novice or not, should shop around for loan offers. Ask about the benefits and risks of each loan and be sure to compare the quoted points and estimated closing costs as well as the interest rates on different loans before you decide which would best fit your personal situation.
Monday, February 22, 2010
Home Refinancing Basics
Before you refinance, know the pitfalls as well as the advantages
In recent years, millions of homeowners have taken advantage of low rates and refinanced their mortgages. This article describes the advantages and possible pitfalls associated with a "refi."
Before You Start:
- Remember that refinancing to reduce debt can be a smart move, but refinancing in order to borrow more for consumer purchases (car, vacation, etc.) could set you back significantly.
- Read the fine print on your current mortgage to learn whether you'll be assessed penalties or fees for "getting out" of that loan early.
- Make sure you know whether you have a fixed or variable interest rate and what the terms are.
Home Refinancing Basics
In recent years, Americans seeking to take advantage of low interest rates have lined up to refinance their mortgages. In fact, refinancing hit an all-time high in 2003, and remained high in both 2004 and 2005, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association of America.But while it's true that refinancing has the potential to help you reduce the costs associated with borrowing money to own a home, it is not necessarily a strategy that makes sense for every individual in every situation. So before you make a commitment to refinance your mortgage, it's important to do your homework and determine whether such a move is the right one for you.
To Refinance or Not
The old and arbitrary rule of thumb said that a refi only makes sense if you can lower your interest rate by at least two percentage points for example, from 9 percent to 7 percent. But what really matters is how long it will take you to break even and whether you plan to stay in your home that long. In other words, make sure you understand - and are comfortable with - the amount of time it will take for your overall savings to compensate for the cost of the refinancing.Consider this: If you had a $200,000 30-year mortgage with an 8 percent interest rate, your monthly payment would be $1,468. If you refinanced at 6 percent, your new monthly payment would be $1,199, a savings of $269 per month. Assuming that your new closing costs amounted to $2,000, it would take eight months to break even. ($269 x 8 = $2,152). If you planned to stay in your home for at least eight more months, then a refi would be appropriate under these conditions. If you planned to sell the house before then, you might not want to bother refinancing. (See below for additional examples.)
Remember: All Mortgages Are Not Created Equal
Don't make the mistake of choosing a mortgage based only on its stated annual percentage rate (APR), because there are a variety of other important variables to consider, such as:The term of the mortgage - This describes the amount of time it will take you to pay off the loan's principal and interest. Although short-term mortgages typically offer lower interest rates than long-term mortgages, they usually involve higher monthly payments. On the other hand, they can result in significantly reduced interest costs over time.
The variability of the interest rate - There are two basic types of mortgages: those with "fixed" (i.e., unchanging) interest rates and those with variable rates, which can change after a predetermined amount of time has passed, such as one year or five years. While an adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) usually offers a lower introductory rate than a fixed-rate mortgage with a comparable term, the ARM's rate could jump in the future if interest rates rise. If you plan to stay in your home for a long time, it may make sense to opt for the predictability and security of a fixed rate, whereas an ARM might make sense if you plan to sell before its rate is allowed to go up. Also keep in mind that interest rates hovered near historical lows in recent years and are more likely to increase than decrease over time.
Points - Points (also known as "origination fees" or "discount fees") are fees that you pay to a lender or broker when you close the deal. While a "no-cost" or "zero points" mortgage does not carry this up-front cost, it could prove to be more expensive if the lender charges a higher interest rate instead. So you'll need to determine whether the savings from a lower rate justify the added costs of paying points. (One point is equal to one percent of the loan's value.)
Stick With What You Know?
Finally, keep in mind that your current lender may make it easier and cheaper to refinance than another lender would. That's because your current lender is likely to have all of your important financial information on hand already, which reduces the time and resources necessary to process your application. But don't let that be your only consideration. To make a well-informed, confident decision you'll need to shop around, crunch the numbers, and ask plenty of questions.Summary:
- The decision to refinance should only be made if the long-term savings outweigh the initial expenses. To calculate your break-even point, divide the cost of the refi by your monthly savings. The resulting figure represents the number of months you will need to stay in the home to make the strategy work.
- Don't select a new mortgage based only on its annual percentage rate.
- Also evaluate the term of the loan, whether the interest rate is fixed or variable, and the relative merits of paying up-front fees in exchange for a lower rate.
- Your current lender already knows you and has your financial information on file, so you may be able to get a better deal that way, instead of going to a new lender.
- To get the best possible refinancing deal, you'll need to shop around, crunch some numbers, and ask a lot of questions.
Checklist:
- Shop around and conduct a detailed cost assessment (with a financial professional, if necessary) to identify which mortgage offers the greatest financial benefits.
- Read the entire contract before signing. Don't let anyone pressure you or rush you to make a hasty decision.
- If refinancing results in lower monthly payments, use those savings to pursue other important goals, such as preparing for retirement and college costs.
Kidney Cancer Causes
The kidneys
The kidneys are a pair of organs on either side of the spine in the lower abdomen. Each kidney is about the size of a fist. Attached to the top of each kidney is an adrenal gland. A mass of fatty tissue and an outer layer of fibrous tissue (Gerota's fascia) enclose the kidneys and adrenal glands.The kidneys are part of the urinary tract. They make urine by removing wastes and extra water from the blood. Urine collects in a hollow space (renal pelvis) in the middle of each kidney. It passes from the renal pelvis into the bladder through a tube called a ureter. Urine leaves the body through another tube (the urethra).
The kidneys also make substances that help control blood pressure and the production of red blood cells.
Understanding cancer
Cancer begins in cells, the building blocks that make up tissues. Tissues make up the organs of the body.Normally, cells grow and divide to form new cells as the body needs them. When cells grow old, they die, and new cells take their place.
Sometimes this orderly process goes wrong. New cells form when the body does not need them, and old cells do not die when they should. These extra cells can form a mass of tissue called a growth or tumor.
Tumors can be benign or malignant:
- Benign tumors are not cancer:
- Benign tumors are rarely life threatening.
- Usually, benign tumors can be removed, and they seldom grow back.
- Cells from benign tumors do not invade tissues around them or spread to other parts of the body.
- Malignant tumors are cancer:
- Malignant tumors are generally more serious than benign tumors. They may be life threatening.
- Malignant tumors often can be removed, but they can grow back.
- Cells from malignant tumors can invade and damage nearby tissues and organs. Also, cancer cells can break away from a malignant tumor and enter the bloodstream or lymphatic system. That is how cancer cells spread from the original cancer (primary tumor) to form new tumors in other organs. The spread of cancer is called metastasis.
When kidney cancer spreads outside the kidney, cancer cells are often found in nearby lymph nodes. Kidney cancer also may spread to the lungs, bones, or liver. And it may spread from one kidney to the other.
When cancer spreads (metastasizes) from its original place to another part of the body, the new tumor has the same kind of abnormal cells and the same name as the primary tumor. For example, if kidney cancer spreads to the lungs, the cancer cells in the lungs are actually kidney cancer cells. The disease is metastatic kidney cancer, not lung cancer. It is treated as kidney cancer, not lung cancer. Doctors sometimes call the new tumor metastatic or "distant" disease.
KIDNEY CANCER TREATMENT INFORMATION
Where are the Kidneys Located?
People normally have 2 kidneys which are located below the ribcage at the level of the 2nd and 3rd lumbar vertebrae, in the "small of the back" region. The fight kidney is usually a little lower than the left one, since the right one is pushed down by the liver. The kidneys are "bean shaped" (hence "kidney bean") and the urine produced by each kidney is collected in a hollow area within the kidney called the "renal pelvis". From the renal pelvis, the urine drains through the "ureters" which are tubes vach conduct the urine into the bladder. These structures are called the "collecting system" of the kidney. Each kidney is fed blood by a "renal artery"' and drained off by a "renal vein". The renal arteries come off the the "aorta", which arises from the heart and supplies the whole lower body with blood. The renal veins drain into Inferior vena cava, which then returns the blood to the heart.
There are small glands on the top of each kidney called the "adrenal gland". Each kidney and adrenal gland is surrounded by fat, called the "perinephric fat". The fat is then surrounded by a tough fibrous membrane, called "Gerotals Facia". This is important since the behavior of kidney cancers can often be gauged by whether they have invaded the perinephric fat or Gerota's Facia. Furthermore, like all major organs the kidneys have surrounding "lymph nodes", which are small bean-sized glands that filter the blood as part of the immune system. The outcome of kidney cancer also depends on whether these lymph nodes have been invaded by the disease, as will be seen.
What Do the Kidneys Do?
Obviously, the main function of the kidneys is to detoxify the blood; the toxins are diluted with water and then excreted out as "urine". Urine gets is name from "urea", which is a form of ammonia caused by the body's breakdown of protien; urea gives urine its characteristic smell. If this urea was not urinated out (such as will happen when the kidneys fail) it will build up in the bloodstream, causing "uremia". The symptoms of uremia are worsening fatigue which eventually lapses into a coma and causes death. Thus the excretion of urine is necessary for life.
While kidney failure used to always be fatal, machines than artificially do the kidneys work (called "dialysis filters") can now prolong life from many years in patients with kidney failure- but is is not as good as a real kidney. Dialysis takes a lot of time, is very expensive, and is prone to problems of infection and chemical imbalances in the blood. Some patients will get transplanted kidneys, (called "renal transplant") which eliminates the need for dialysis, if the transplanted kidney "takes" and is not rejected. Therefore, kidney failure today is often a treatable condition.
Besides for making urine, the kidneys control much of the chemical balance of the blood, and the amount of water it contains. Specifically, the kidneys monitor and control the acidity or "acid-base" (pH) balance of the blood. If the blood is too acidic, the kidney makes bicarbonate to restore the bloods pH balance. If the blood is to alkaline, then the kidney excretes bicarbonate into the urine to restore the balance. The kidney also filters out drugs into the urine, and senses the blood pressure to adjust the amount of water being urinated out. The adrenal glands on top of the kidney make hormones contolling sugar and fat metabolism. You can see that the kidney is a complex organ!
What is Kidney Cancer?
Normally, in an adult kidney cells divide rarely, to replace those lost to old age and injury, The division and growth of these cells is under tight control by the genes inside the cells. Kidney cancer starts when control of this division is lost, and so a cell starts to divide "out of control". Kidney cancer starts in just one cell. A change occurs in the genes of this cell which screws up its controls that prevent haphazard division, and it starts dividing like crazy, forming a tumor. A tumor simply means a swelling and is not necessarily cancerous. When the cells in the tumor just grow in their local area, and do not spread elsewhere, then the tumor is benign. However, when the tumor's cells have the ability to spread elsewhere in the body, this is a malignant (cancerous) tumor. A malignant tumor can metastasize (spread) to any area of the body, cause symptoms there, and eventually kill the patient.
How Common is Kidney Cancer?
Each year in the U.S.A. there are 30,600 new cases of kidney cancer leading to 10,000 deaths from the disease. It represents about 2% of all new cancers and cancer related deaths. The average age at diagnosis is 60 years old, and men get kidney cancers twice as commonly as women. The number of cases diagnosed has risen slightly as better imaging techniques detect them more accurately. Sometimes the cancer is missed altogether, and only found incidently when an autopsy is done. About 1% of elderly patients will have some kidney cancer found at autopsy for some other condition, but the cancer never caused them problems in their lifetime. When a tumor is found in the kidney on an imaging scan (such as a CT scan), it has about a 60% chance of being cancerous. The remainder are benign tumors which may cause local symptoms, but will very seldom prove fatal.
Cancer from other areas of the body, particularly lung, can spread to the kidney or adrenal gland. Therefore, finding a cancer in the kidney does not prove that it originated there. About 25% of patients with lung cancer will have eventual spread of it to the adrenal glands overlying the kidneys. Likewise, kidney cancer can spread to other organs, and the kidney may not be recognized as the site where the cancer began.
What Causes or Increases the Risk for Kidney Cancer?
Like any cancer, the exact reason why one person gets kidney cancer and another does not is unknown. However, several factors have been noted which increase the risk for getting it.
The kidney is the blood chemistry and urine producing organ necessary for life. It detoxifies the blood. Besides maintaining the body's water level, it regulates the blood pressure. You can see that the kidney is essential for the maintaining the bodies basic chemical functions. The kidneys are very resilient, but when they fail they can lead to rapid demise of the patient. It has been said, "as go the kidneys, so goes the patient." It is critical to get proper diagnosis and treatment for a kidney cancer problem, this can literally make the difference between life and death. Understanding your options with kidney cancer will give you the peace of mind knowing that you have done everything possible for a successful outcome for yourself or a loved one.
Those individuals that are more at risk for kidney cancer would benefit from getting serious medical advice from a physician. Those mysterious symptoms may be a sign of something very serious, such as cancer.
CancerAnswers's material explains, in plain English, the definition, types, frequency, symptoms, evaluations, historical and latest treatments for kidney cancer. We describe surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, and immune treatments and tell you their results. While we don't promise a cure, we tell you everything you need to know to make the right choices today to deal with a kidney cancer problem.
This is just an excerpt of CancerAnswers's report on Kidney Cancer. Much more, including latest treatment, can be sent to you by mail when you order the complete Kidney Cancer transcript at a nominal cost. Thank you for using CancerAnswers as your information resource.
People normally have 2 kidneys which are located below the ribcage at the level of the 2nd and 3rd lumbar vertebrae, in the "small of the back" region. The fight kidney is usually a little lower than the left one, since the right one is pushed down by the liver. The kidneys are "bean shaped" (hence "kidney bean") and the urine produced by each kidney is collected in a hollow area within the kidney called the "renal pelvis". From the renal pelvis, the urine drains through the "ureters" which are tubes vach conduct the urine into the bladder. These structures are called the "collecting system" of the kidney. Each kidney is fed blood by a "renal artery"' and drained off by a "renal vein". The renal arteries come off the the "aorta", which arises from the heart and supplies the whole lower body with blood. The renal veins drain into Inferior vena cava, which then returns the blood to the heart.
There are small glands on the top of each kidney called the "adrenal gland". Each kidney and adrenal gland is surrounded by fat, called the "perinephric fat". The fat is then surrounded by a tough fibrous membrane, called "Gerotals Facia". This is important since the behavior of kidney cancers can often be gauged by whether they have invaded the perinephric fat or Gerota's Facia. Furthermore, like all major organs the kidneys have surrounding "lymph nodes", which are small bean-sized glands that filter the blood as part of the immune system. The outcome of kidney cancer also depends on whether these lymph nodes have been invaded by the disease, as will be seen.
What Do the Kidneys Do?
Obviously, the main function of the kidneys is to detoxify the blood; the toxins are diluted with water and then excreted out as "urine". Urine gets is name from "urea", which is a form of ammonia caused by the body's breakdown of protien; urea gives urine its characteristic smell. If this urea was not urinated out (such as will happen when the kidneys fail) it will build up in the bloodstream, causing "uremia". The symptoms of uremia are worsening fatigue which eventually lapses into a coma and causes death. Thus the excretion of urine is necessary for life.
While kidney failure used to always be fatal, machines than artificially do the kidneys work (called "dialysis filters") can now prolong life from many years in patients with kidney failure- but is is not as good as a real kidney. Dialysis takes a lot of time, is very expensive, and is prone to problems of infection and chemical imbalances in the blood. Some patients will get transplanted kidneys, (called "renal transplant") which eliminates the need for dialysis, if the transplanted kidney "takes" and is not rejected. Therefore, kidney failure today is often a treatable condition.
Besides for making urine, the kidneys control much of the chemical balance of the blood, and the amount of water it contains. Specifically, the kidneys monitor and control the acidity or "acid-base" (pH) balance of the blood. If the blood is too acidic, the kidney makes bicarbonate to restore the bloods pH balance. If the blood is to alkaline, then the kidney excretes bicarbonate into the urine to restore the balance. The kidney also filters out drugs into the urine, and senses the blood pressure to adjust the amount of water being urinated out. The adrenal glands on top of the kidney make hormones contolling sugar and fat metabolism. You can see that the kidney is a complex organ!
What is Kidney Cancer?
Normally, in an adult kidney cells divide rarely, to replace those lost to old age and injury, The division and growth of these cells is under tight control by the genes inside the cells. Kidney cancer starts when control of this division is lost, and so a cell starts to divide "out of control". Kidney cancer starts in just one cell. A change occurs in the genes of this cell which screws up its controls that prevent haphazard division, and it starts dividing like crazy, forming a tumor. A tumor simply means a swelling and is not necessarily cancerous. When the cells in the tumor just grow in their local area, and do not spread elsewhere, then the tumor is benign. However, when the tumor's cells have the ability to spread elsewhere in the body, this is a malignant (cancerous) tumor. A malignant tumor can metastasize (spread) to any area of the body, cause symptoms there, and eventually kill the patient.
How Common is Kidney Cancer?
Each year in the U.S.A. there are 30,600 new cases of kidney cancer leading to 10,000 deaths from the disease. It represents about 2% of all new cancers and cancer related deaths. The average age at diagnosis is 60 years old, and men get kidney cancers twice as commonly as women. The number of cases diagnosed has risen slightly as better imaging techniques detect them more accurately. Sometimes the cancer is missed altogether, and only found incidently when an autopsy is done. About 1% of elderly patients will have some kidney cancer found at autopsy for some other condition, but the cancer never caused them problems in their lifetime. When a tumor is found in the kidney on an imaging scan (such as a CT scan), it has about a 60% chance of being cancerous. The remainder are benign tumors which may cause local symptoms, but will very seldom prove fatal.
Cancer from other areas of the body, particularly lung, can spread to the kidney or adrenal gland. Therefore, finding a cancer in the kidney does not prove that it originated there. About 25% of patients with lung cancer will have eventual spread of it to the adrenal glands overlying the kidneys. Likewise, kidney cancer can spread to other organs, and the kidney may not be recognized as the site where the cancer began.
What Causes or Increases the Risk for Kidney Cancer?
Like any cancer, the exact reason why one person gets kidney cancer and another does not is unknown. However, several factors have been noted which increase the risk for getting it.
The kidney is the blood chemistry and urine producing organ necessary for life. It detoxifies the blood. Besides maintaining the body's water level, it regulates the blood pressure. You can see that the kidney is essential for the maintaining the bodies basic chemical functions. The kidneys are very resilient, but when they fail they can lead to rapid demise of the patient. It has been said, "as go the kidneys, so goes the patient." It is critical to get proper diagnosis and treatment for a kidney cancer problem, this can literally make the difference between life and death. Understanding your options with kidney cancer will give you the peace of mind knowing that you have done everything possible for a successful outcome for yourself or a loved one.
Those individuals that are more at risk for kidney cancer would benefit from getting serious medical advice from a physician. Those mysterious symptoms may be a sign of something very serious, such as cancer.
CancerAnswers's material explains, in plain English, the definition, types, frequency, symptoms, evaluations, historical and latest treatments for kidney cancer. We describe surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, and immune treatments and tell you their results. While we don't promise a cure, we tell you everything you need to know to make the right choices today to deal with a kidney cancer problem.
This is just an excerpt of CancerAnswers's report on Kidney Cancer. Much more, including latest treatment, can be sent to you by mail when you order the complete Kidney Cancer transcript at a nominal cost. Thank you for using CancerAnswers as your information resource.
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Mossberg 500 Persuader Pump Action Shotgun
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