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Already we are seeing the results of the demise of the mortgage market due to the sub prime debacle. Lending banks have severely tightened lending criteria as their asset bases erode and the financial sector comes under huge pressure. Wall street does not like to see 2.5 billion dollar write offs from Morgan Stanley and the like. John Maudlin said in his November 9th Newsletter “Data released in the past few months, and again this week, have shown that banks and other lenders are tightening their standards for all sorts of loans. And it is not just that they are becoming more like an old-fashioned banker who actually wanted to know that he could get his money back”. (John Maudlin, Frontline Thoughts)

Start up companies and smaller operations with limited assets are the ones who have benefited over the last five years of easy money. Some company’s were even funded through second mortgages because they were cheaper and easier to get than an SBA LOC. For all but a lucky few that option is now gone.

I recently completed a very solid business plan for a client that was denied funding. At first I was surprised. But given the external factors that now affect the lending market the response from the bank will be a common one. No more easy money.

So now everyone will have to get creative to get financed. Here are my top two creative ways of finding the money when you are a small business in need:

Friends and Family -

Sometimes people look at me and say “but my friends and family don’t have any money.” Well, neither did mine when I wanted any for my business. But a funny thing about friends and family – when I approached them with a solid plan and a sample product they could see, feel, and admire, suddenly they were open to the idea. But here’s the trick: I didn’t ask any ONE person for the whole amount. I took seven different loans to get $25,000 and paid them back according to need.

So my friend who lent me her last $5000 got hers paid back first, and my grandfather, who was retired and didn’t need his $5000 right away was willing to wait. Everyone knew the payment schedule and signed their acceptance of it. When I needed the last $5000 and no ONE person had it, I had two friends who even lent me $2500 each. That’s how you can put money together creatively.

Merchant Account Advance -

Almost every business now accepts credit cards. Not only have they proven in studies to raise individual ticket sales (people will charge more than they will pay with cash), merchant accounts allow for greater flexibility for the small merchant. You don’t have to be open at 2 am to make a sale-your website can do it for you.

So now you can get money in advance of future sales. Merchant account advances are a relatively new way for merchants to access cash. Business owners get the cash they need quickly. Instead of having to worry about large monthly payments, the loan is repaid from a small percentage of each credit card sale the business makes.

There are qualifications. But if you are open for business and have consistent credit card sales this is a great avenue to explore.

If you need to raise money for your business and you can’t get a conventional loan, just take the time to think outside the box. There are several other options open to you.

My special report “15 ways to get money for your small business” can be found at my website http://www.soaring-phoenix.com In it I list several creative financing options that you can explore for your small business. Leili McKinley specializes in helping small business owners overcome financial difficulty. If you are a small business owner seeking funding or a cash flow management system, I can help. “If you have reached a plateau, we can help you grow.”

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If you need to make a major purchase, chances are you will not have enough money in just a single paycheck to cover items like appliances, furniture and more. What you need is a personal loan that can help you buy the things you need now, available to you with low monthly payments that are tailor made to fit your budget.

Money To Pay For Things You Need

You can use your personal loan for any purpose that you may have. Many borrowers find that a personal loan is perfect for making major purchases like furniture, appliances, flooring, a new roof, even a used car. Other borrowers may elect to take a vacation or cruise of a lifetime with their personal loan. Whatever you choose to do with your personal loan, there is one out there to meet your needs.

Borrowers With All Types Of Credit Welcome

A personal loan can be secured or unsecured, and is available for borrowers with all types of credit. The secured personal loan involves the borrower placing collateral against the amount of money borrowed. Acceptable collateral is usually your home or automobile. The lender will place a lien against your property until you have repaid the loan in full. An unsecured personal loan is not backed up by any type of collateral, and is a bit harder to get if you have a credit score under 700; however, if you wish to apply for your unsecured personal loan with a creditworthy cosigner, you stand a better chance of approval.

The amount that you qualify for when applying for your personal loan is dependent not only on your credit score, but also on your ability to repay your lender. Your personal loan lender will look at how much income you have out as it relates to the amount of other bills you must pay each month, such as your rent or mortgage payment, credit card bills, etc. If you are married, and your spouse wishes to apply with you on your personal loan application, including his or her income will not only improve your chances of getting the loan you need, but will also allow you to borrow larger amounts, up to $10,000 or more, depending on your combined incomes.

It is important that you do not over extend yourself by borrowing an amount that is more than you can reasonably afford to repay. Doing so may cause you to become behind on your personal loan payments or obligations to other creditors, which can effect your overall credit score in a negative manner. Never agree to pay an amount each month that exceeds what your budget can handle.

Finding The Best Personal Loans

To realize savings on your personal loan, both secured and unsecured personal loans are available online. Online lenders not only offer the ease of applying from the comfort of your own home, they also have greater rates of approval for borrowers of all credit types and reduced interest rates due to competition between lenders in the online lending marketplace.

Jessica Peterson is a Unsecured Personal Loan Consultant with more than twenty years of experience. For more information about Guaranteed Bad Credit Personal Loans, Guaranteed Credit Cards, Unsecured Loans, Fresh Start Loans, Debt Consolidation, Student Loans and others please visit http://www.yourloanservices.com

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A cover letter is extremely important. You may be sending this to somebody you’ve had little interaction with. Maybe they’ve inquired from a postcard or a friend or somebody. Maybe they called you once or twice. They’re not going to know you very well. You may have mentioned your company name, but they may not remember that name so a cover letter of some sort is extremely important, again to introduce yourself, introduce why they’re getting the materials, and to a certain extent to invite them to do something once they’ve read the materials.

The whole point of this is to get them to keep coming back to you and wanting more and more information.

Introduce Yourself, Your Company, and Define Your Purpose

You’re going to introduce yourself, your company, why you’re sending the materials to them, why they’ve asked for them or maybe where they’ve asked for them if it was at a seminar of some sort, and again what to do when they’re done. After they’ve read the materials, should they call you? Should they email you? What is the next step?

Again, all marketing is part of this process. You need to tell people what the next step is. Make sure, make it pretty clear. I’m sure some of you have seen in some of my emails and whatnot, I try to be as clear as possible. I don’t try to leave the next step up to guessing. I know I’m not perfect but I think you’ll see in some my email it is “Click here,” it is “Go there,” “Do this.” I try to be fairly straightforward in terms of what the next step is, and you need to do the same thing.

Well Thought Out Cover Letter

A well thought out cover letter is very important. Do not get very verbose on the cover letter. Certainly, keep it to one page. Do not go over one page and it should be fairly succinct and fairly tight in terms of the text. Do not go into a long-winded story about your background and all that. That’s really not what you want to do in the cover letter. The cover letter is fairly brief. The next step, the bio or the resume is where you can start to go into a little bit more about who you are and why you’re a real estate expert.

Use Quality Paper with Letterhead

The cover letter should be fairly succinct and tight. If you’ve got company letterhead, that’s extremely important. Use that, obviously. Again, if you’re going to be handing them out a physical hard copy, certainly don’t get cheap here with paper. If you could afford a little bit better quality paper, it’s very acceptable to use your cover letter with very high quality paper and the rest of your report on just copy paper. The first page you may want to upgrade in terms of the quality of the paper and I would certainly recommend that. If you’ve got a company logo or any sort of thing like that, obviously you use your company letterhead for that.

I invite you to learn more about Private Lending Credibility Kits and get FREE instant access to a 60 minute audio titled “Private Lending Secrets: The Credibility Kit – How to Make One That Makes You Stand Out in The Crowd and Give You Expert Status!” by going to http://www.realestatewealthtoday.com/Private-Lending-Credibility-Signup.html

Mike Lautensack is a full-time real estate entrepreneur in Philadelphia, PA and creator of the Private Lending Presentation Kit. This powerful done-for-you kit is loaded with tools and techniques to attract and develop a consistent stream of private investors into your real estate business. To learn more about this kit and receive your FREE Real Estate Wealth Newsletter go to Private Lending Kit.

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Sometimes the process of getting a loan can seem long and drawn out. It can involve going from lender to lender and filling out countless pages of the same information. Most people are trying to get a loan because they need the money fast.

They are not wanting to spend days upon days trying to get money. People want fast loans. There are a few tricks to getting a fast loan. Borrowers just have to understand the process better in order to speed it up.

The loan process involves the lender collecting the borrowers financial and personal information. The lender is gathering this information so they can assess whether the borrower is going to be a good customer or not. They are wanting to make sure that the borrower will be able to afford to pay back the loan and that they will not default on the loan.

Some things that can slow down the process of getting a loan are a bad credit history, unverifiable employment or income, past financial issues, like bankruptcy, and current problems that could become financial issues. The lender is ultimately looking out for themselves.

They are in the business of lending money to make money and they prefer to do business with someone who has a good history of paying off their debts and who can financially afford to pay back the debt.

Borrowers can help to speed up the loan process by being prepared. Above all else they should know and understand their finical situation, including their credit history.

They need to be prepared to show documentation to back up any claims they make regarding their income, debts or credit history. This means having all statements, documentation of payments and pay stubs or other proof of income, such as tax returns.

Another part of getting a loan that can move things slowly is the process of shopping around. If a borrower is planning on shopping around it can help to hire a broker. A broker will only need to take the borrowers information one time and they will supply it to the lenders. A broker can easily and quickly find the best loan.

Another way to shop around that can make things faster is online. There are many different sources online where a borrower can compare loans. Again, like with a broker, the borrower enters information one time and they can save from having to fill out document after document.

The majority of the time the information entered can then be transferred once the borrower chooses their lender, so they will only have very limited paperwork to fill out with the lender directly.

Basically, the trick to getting fast loans lies with the borrower. Preparing documentation before hand and searching for ways to easily and quickly compare loans is a great time saver. If the borrower is prepared and if they know the smart way to shop around they can really make the process of getting a loan much faster, not to mention, much easier.

James Copper is employed as a Secured Loan Consultant by Any-Loans.co.uk who offer fast loans and secured loans.

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Person-to-Person lending (also known as Peer-to-Peer or P2P) is fast becoming an attractive way for borrowers and lenders to connect directly. It is like the EBay of the banking world. In the past, you would deposit your funds at the bank and depending on the amount and term, the bank would pay you interest. Current certificate of deposit rates range from 3.50% to 5.00% APY. Basically, the bank then makes loans with your funds and their income is based on the spread between your rate and the loan rate. Well, why let the bank have all of the fun? Now, you can lend direct and earn more interest.

There are three main services: Prosper.com, LendingClub.com, and Zopa.com. Prosper gives you plenty of details such as the credit score, Debt-to-income ratio, etc., so you can make informed lending decisions. Prosper.com allows the lender to seek additional details about the borrower, although the borrower doesn’t have to respond. Of course, then the lender doesn’t have to lend to them. Many lenders spread out their funds in $50 to $100 increments to minimize overall risk. Looking at data from Prosper (6/1/06 to 4/21/08), average rate of return for AA borrowers is 6.64%. Some people will sprinkle in some lower quality loans to try to bring the return up. Your funds aren’t guaranteed, however. With Prosper you can get started with $50.00. Certainly not much to risk, to get your feet wet.

Lending Club isn’t currently accepting new lenders. The site says, “Lending Club has started a process to register, with the appropriate securities authorities, promissory notes that may be offered and sold to lenders through our site in the future.” They use a system they call LendingMatch to suggest a portfolio of loans to the lender. It takes various aspects of your profile and matches you with borrowers that you may have a “connection” with. That connection can be you both like dogs and are MySpace addicts. The lender can override the suggestions and make their own decisions.

Zopa operates a little differently. They tie your investments in with an NCUA insured CD. They partner with various credit unions to accomplish this. As a result, your funds are insured up to $100,000, but the earnings compare with 1-year CDs. Currently they are advertising 3.75%. The minimum required to start at Zopa is $500.00. Zopa has a feature where you must agree to help at least one borrower out. You do this by reducing your earnings rate and as a result, reducing the borrowers loan rate. People helping people is the true theme of all three services. The fact that everyone mutually benefits makes it very rewarding.

I don’t think the person-to-person lending will replace other investment alternatives, but I do think it can add some return to a well-balanced portfolio. If you manage your lending portfolio well, the returns are certainly attractive compared to other investment vehicles. Our specialty will remain with quality, guaranteed returns in certificates of deposit, but I certainly believe putting some extra funds at Proper or one of the other services is a good idea.

For more information visit our Peer-to-Peer lending section on our site.

Chris Duncan is a FINRA Registered Representative. He specializes in helping clients find the best and highest CD rates nationwide. His clients include individuals, financial institutions, corporations, and public agencies. Please visit our Certificate of Deposit Rates page.

Also examine for multiple-offer bidding wars losing ground. Find out by inquiring several high-producing real estate agents within a locality about the percentage of properties going under contract that are receiving multiple offers. If the number of properties that receive multiple offers prior to being sold is diminishing, then the real estate market is transitioning from being a sellers market to being a buyers market.

RealtyTrac offers daily e-mail alerts, property updates and easy financing. Start searching for your next home today with RealtyTrac and save money. Join now!

Rising absorption rates for properties that are currently listed as for-sale can also be a source of critical information about a particular real estate market. To derive a quantitative assessment, compute the absorption rate of properties of a specific type (e.g., condo, single family home, etc.) that are for sale in a specific real estate market. As a point of comparison, the current baseline for the number-of-months inventory for comparable current listings is 3.

Also look out for escalating mortgage interest rates. Home prices and mortgage rates interdependently affect one other. That is, as interest rates plummet, buyers can afford to pay higher prices for housing. On the other hand, as interest rates climb up, buyers can only qualify for lower mortgages. Generally, higher interest rates reallocate consumer spending from home prices towards mortgage interest cost. Interest rates are helpful predictors of price deflation.

Observe an increased in the use of interest-only, or 100% home mortgage financing. Majority of buyers typically have purchased in the last three years. The rest could very well be credit-challenged. A no-money-down or interest-only offer presents no risk exposure to buyers, thus they could easily walk away even before the purchase is closed or settled. For a seller to protect his or her interest, asking for 5 % earnest money to bind the buyer in breaching the contract is a practical suggestion.

Lastly, reading and understanding market signals in general is also important.. High absorption rates and escalating mortgage interest rates hint at a market that is gradually evolving into a buyers market. A wise strategy is selling a real estate property before the price plummets. Being equipped with an understanding of these several market signals and timing can spell the difference between profit and loss in today’s waning residential real estate energy.

Dranreb Earl Juanico

http://www.miamirealestateinc.com

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If you have heard the term peer to peer lending or social lending or have never heard it before, the process is growing in popularity day by day. It definition is implicit in the name peer to peer lending and it is the process of individuals lending money to each other.

It is rooted with the idea that a bank should not play a large role and reap the majority of returns. In the model of social lending, the bank or financial institution facilitates the loans and get a small rate of return for doing so. In essence it is cutting down the middle man. To get the true underlying rationale, we need to examine the basic model of receiving a loan from a bank.

It begins with individuals using banks as a method of saving their money. The banks pay a low rate of return for the deposits as for the banks right to use the money for lending. On other side are individuals applying for a loan or mortgage. The bank takes the deposits it has and lends to the borrower at a much higher rate of interest. The difference in interest paid and interest earned is the bank’s revenue. In this model all of the risk is assumed by the bank. Meaning, the obligation of paying interest to the saver and preventing default of lent money is the risk.

With peer to peer lending the model is shifted. The bank or institution pays a much smaller role. An individual lender can choose what to lend and who to lend too and therefore majority of the profit from the loan is transfer directly to the lender. With this trade off of less bank involvement there is an increase in risk to the individual lender in the form of default. For the borrower, the benefit is more often than not a lower cost of transaction translating itself into a lower rate of interest on the loan.

How peer to peer lending is actually facilitated is an auction process with a basic market place provided by the lending institution. Which means the institution that processes the loans between individuals is the one that provides the method for individuals to find each other. Then the borrowers and lenders are able to select each other. Now, the lending to a person you have never met before does has its risk, but the presence and responsibility of the financial intermediary is to ensure individuals are accurately represented.

This is a concept would have never been considered until a few years ago. The internet actually is the stage that allows this to happen. The increase sociability of individuals caused by use of the internet provides this unique way to invest and borrow money never before possible.

To learn more about peer to peer lending or social lending, visit Kyle’s website. There is a more complete review of the topic.

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In the past getting a loan used to be a pretty intimidating process, getting dressed in your Sunday best, looking your best and venturing into town to the bank for a date with the Bank Manager. Once there you used to have to throw yourself at the mercy of the manager and plead for them to lend you money, getting declined for a loan was often a demoralising and embarrassing process.

These days applying for a loan is much more stress-free with the decision on whether you get given the money being based more on details such as your income, credit report and other factors, but still people can get turned down for reasons other than a poor credit record. In light of the recent credit crunch many banks are being more cautious about whom they lend money to and in some cases have ceased offering unsecured loans.

Luckily there is another option for those turned away, and no it isn’t visiting the local mafia! Peer to Peer Lending is a recent phenomenon in the lending business where organisations bring people looking to borrow money together with people who are willing to lend money. Companies such as Prosper, Zopa and Lending Club offer this service and have proved popular.

These personal loans are a bit of a hit and miss though with some lenders sticking to a high Interest rate in order to make their investment worthwhile, lenders are warned that the larger the amount they are willing to lend is, then the more risk they are putting themselves into. Obviously all loans from these services are not secured loans and so there is little equity for the lenders to be assured by.

Lenders are urged to check the site’s procedures for getting repayments as in some cases the lenders may default on their repayments and this is to be expected as the type of borrowers this scheme appeals to are mostly people who have been deemed high risk by the banks and refused conventional loans.

If you are struggling with debt and other expenses then maybe consider arranging personal loans for smaller amounts or if you need larger amounts and own property then consider secured loans as an option. As with all loans ensure you are able to make the repayments and consider the APR

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With any investment or loan there needs to be an interest rate charged. Lending Club uses a formula that takes into account several factors, but it really begins with the assigning of a loan grade.

The first step in getting any peer to peer loan on Lending Club is borrowers must apply for a loan. Upon this request, Lending Club begins to evaluate the potential borrowers’ credit standing. This information is taken and used to assign the borrower a loan grade. These grades range from A to G with A being the highest and G the lowest. To further narrow down grades, each letter grade has sub classes. These are numbered from 1 to 5 with 1 as the highest. These loan grades will then be used in every part of the Lending Clubs formula for calculating interest rates.

The formula is made up of two distinct parts. They are the based rate and the adjustment for risk and volatility. The sum of these equals the interest rate charged.

The base rate is the interest rate charged on every loan. For most peer to peer loans on Lending Club it is 9.05%, but can be different for the A grade loans. Grades A1, A2, and A3 get a base rate of 7.05%. A4 and A5 get a base rate of 8.05%. This lower rate represents the decreased risk for this category of borrower.

The second part, the adjustment for risk and volatility, is a bit more complex. It begins by using the grade assigned to calculate an “assumed default rate.” This assumed default rate is then doubled and is used as the adjustment for risk and volatility. This creates an interest that is increasingly proportionate to the default risk of the borrower.

To further explain lets calculate the interest rate on a peer to peer loan from Lending Club. If a borrower is assigned a loan grade of C3, the base rate is 9.05%. The assumed default rate calculated by Lending Club is 2.05%. This makes the adjustment for risk and volatility 4.10%. Now the base rate plus the adjustment for risk and volatility equals an interest rate of 13.15%.

Lending Club does reserve the right to change both the base rate and the adjustment for risk and volatility. This only applies to incoming loans not to preexisting ones. This flexibility allows Lending Club to adjust for the market conditions and ensures the loans stay attractive to both borrowers and investors.

These rates no matter how they are assigned are attractive to both borrowers and lenders. The rates are usually lower than several other options of funding for borrowers and lenders get a rate of return normally above 10%.

To read more about peer to peer lending visit Kyle’s website. There you will find excellent information about peer to peer loans