Finding a Good Automobile by Attending Car Auction Houses

Various types of auctions have often been seen depicted in movies and TV shows for decades. Auctions do have the potential to set the stage for an interesting scene, as people get themselves caught up in the proceedings, get attached to particular items, and engage in bidding wars. There are many car auction houses across the country that put on various types of motor car auctions, from a seized car auction one weekend to a classic car auction the next, with many other types of auctions in between.

Some people who are not even particularly interested in buying a vehicle through a car auto auction still enjoy hanging around an auction house on the days that the auto auctions are running, just to take in the atmosphere of excitement and to do a bit of people watching. It can be a fascinating experience to watch the proceedings, especially if you have never before attended any type of used car auction. If there has been a vigorous round of bidding on a particular vehicle, then it can be electrifying when the auctioneer drops the gavel and pronounces the vehicle sold!

Car auction houses run all kinds of different motor car auctions on a regular basis. As a result, they have a great deal of experience and expertise in the field. At the same time, people who have never been to any kind of auction in the past can feel somewhat lost and bewildered the first time they venture into a car auto auction house.

Because of this, it is strongly recommended that first time goers, whether for antiques, collectibles and artwork, or for a public auto auction, attend at least one or two auctions in the role of observer and not as a bidder. Most of the car auction houses have an open door policy that allows spectators to come in and watch the proceedings; however, there may be restricted access to certain types of auctions.

The car auction house is not the seller of anything being sold. Instead, they are simply providing the services of the auctioneer, of registering the bidders, managing it and collecting the funds that are generated by the various motor car auctions that they host. If a person wins a bid on a vehicle, then they will pay the final bid price, as well as a percentage of the final price to the car auto auction house. This additional percentage is a fee that covers the expenses incurred by the auction house and is the main income source for these types of businesses.

When looking for a new vehicle, checking out the car auction houses in your area can be a good way to save yourself some money on an ordinary car, a collector car, and even large RVs. It is also a good idea to research the current Blue Book pricing on the types of vehicles you are interested in before you go to a car auto auction with the intent to make a purchase.

Educate yourself further about car auction houses from Mike Selvon articles portal. Your feedback is valued and appreciated at our wholesale auto auction blog where a free audio gift awaits you.

The No Cost Refinance - Part I

The worst part of refinancing (other than the headache) is paying all those closing costs. With so many hands in the cookie jar, the fees just keep piling up. And some of them are just plain stupid...I mean, why do I need title insurance for a refinance on a home financed in my name? If you have ever gone through the refinancing process, you know it can be quite a hassle. Unfortunately, there is nothing I can do about the refinancing process being a royal pain in the rear, but what I can help you with is the cost of refinancing. There is a way to refinance your home without having to pay any additional out of pocket expenses AND without raising your principal balance.

With mortgage rates dropping like a rock in the last couple weeks, I thought this would be the perfect time to introduce the yield spread premium (YSP as it's know in the industry) refinance. First lets look at the different players involved in our story. The loan originator is the entity that sells you the home loan. They can be a bank, credit union, or mortgage broker. In the case of bank or credit union, the loan originator will also own your loan as they will be the one's lending you the money. The same is not true for a mortgage broker. A mortgage broker acts a middle man that scours the wholesale loan market to find the best rate. They collect a loan origination fee for their troubles and pass you off to a bank by selling your loan to the best bidder in the wholesale market.

Typically, mortgage brokers will collect a flat fee for originating the loan (around 1% of the loan value on average), but can also make money on the yield spread premium. The yield spread is simply the difference between the rate a mortgage broker charges you and the wholesale rate they lock with the bank. If a broker brings in a loan that is "above market" (e.g. a bank is offering a wholesale rate of 5% and the broker brings them one at 5.5%), the bank will compensate the broker for the additional yield.

Now typically, Frugal Franco does not advocate the use of a middle man as it tends to raise the price of the final product for the consumer, but in the case of mortgage brokers, a well informed consumer can utilize the broker to their advantage. As already mentioned, mortgage brokers are offered wholesale rates as opposed to the retail rates offered by the banks directly to the customer. The savings from the difference in these two rates is often more than enough to compensate for the broker fee, not to mention the fact that banks will also charge a loan origination fee that is higher than many of the more aggressively priced mortgage brokers.

The other reason a well informed consumer can use a mortgage broker to their advantage is by using the yield spread premium to cover their closing costs. Simply tell your mortgage broker that you want to use the "lender credit" from the yield spread premium to cover all (or a portion) of your closing costs and they will quote you a slightly higher rate than if you were to pay for all the closing costs on your own.

The rub in this whole process is the fact that there is no law stating that mortgage brokers must disclose this additional compensation, which increases the "sketchy factor" for the entire industry. In the next article I'll discuss how to become a well informed mortgage loan consumer as well as discuss which fees to cover with the yield spread premium.

Ciao,
Frugal Franco

http://www.FrugalFranco.com -- Raise your financial IQ.

Car Donation Centers Available in San Francisco

Instead of going through the hassles of selling your car yourself you could donate it to a car donation center. These centers are either charities or work together with charities. If the center is an approved one, you will be able to deduct a certain amount of money from your tax return Let us examine some of the car donation centers in San Francisco

Habitat for Humanity in one association which builds homes thought community engagement in partnership with working families. In fact the average price of a home in San Francisco is about $746,000? In choosing this center, you are allowing the homeless to have a roof over their heads.

Car Donation Services or CDS is another association you might one to consider. This car donation center claims that they are able to obtain higher prices from the sale of a vehicle. This in turn would imply that the charity benefits much more from the sale and that you get a greater tax write-off.

San Francisco city chorus is one more car donation center. As implied by its name, this association is concerned with choral classics as well as traditional and folk music. You might want to help them.

The San Francisco SPCA is one car donation center you would like to have recourse to if you love animals. This association is devoted to saving cats and dogs which live in the streets. It also sensitizes people about awareness of the needs and requirements of animals as well as the necessity of having a human-animal bond.

If you choose to donate via Kars4Kids, you might even receive a free vacation voucher for a 2 night 3 day hotel stay. This does in no case impact on the tax deductions or the care given to children. You can thus be rewarded for your donation.

Car4causes in another car donation service that claims that if you deal with them you will be getting higher tax deduction and the charity obtaining more money. According to them, they achieve these results by selling the car through their retail locations rather than through auctions.

Well, you now have a broader idea of the services you might have recourse to. I really hope that you do choose a car donation center instead of selling your car.

For more information about Car Donation San Francisco, feel free to visit us at: http://www.car-donation-land.info/article-7-Car-Donation-San-Francisco.html

Ways To Tap Home Equity

Home equity can be explained as the difference between the fair market value of the home and the unpaid balance of the mortgage and any other outstanding debt acquired on the home. Equity on a home increases with as the mortgage is paid off or when the property value in the real estate market increases by a fair percentage. There are different ways of utilizing this equity in an appropriate manner.

Home-equity loans: Also termed as second mortgage loans, home-equity loans are a popular option amongst homeowners who want to finance a major home renovation, pay down their credit card debt or take a once-in-a-lifetime vacation to any picturesque destination. In this type of loan, the equity on the home is used as collateral. Depending on the equity value, the loan amount is determined. The amount is paid to the customer as a lump sum. A home equity loan is a fixed interest mortgage loan that comes at a higher interest rate than that of first mortgage. It is important to have a good credit rating and a considerable equity of at least 10 percent on the home so as to become qualified for a home equity loan.

Home equity line of credit (HELOC): Also referred to as an open end home equity loan, HELOC works in a similar way to a credit card. The borrower can borrow against the equity in the property a multiple times, depending on his needs and requirements up to a certain limit. This limit on the borrower's line of credit is determined based on the equity on the property. Interest rates on HELOCs are variable. HELOCs have flexible repayment schedules and terms that are really convenient for many homeowners. As like credit cards, home owners can make regular monthly payments towards repayment of the credit. However, if these payments on HELOCs are missed, home owners can face the risk of losing their homes.

About Author: Pauline Go is an online leading expert in finance industry. She also offers top quality financial tips to investor like:
How To Get College Loans With No Credit Required, Pros And Cons Of Construction Loans and How To Get Out Of Debt

FAQ's - Commercial Mortgage Refinance

Have a few questions regarding a commercial mortgage refinance? Few are the most typical questions we are asked on a daily basis.

Timing - will it really take 30 days to close?

No, unfortunately it will probably take longer than 30 day from start to finish to close your loan. 60 days is really the norm on an average deal, though 45 days is doable. 30 days is universally under estimated by banks, lenders and brokers. If someone tells you they can close your loan in 30, they're either a rookie, or just trying to tie up your loan. Which of course, is a really poor way to start off the transaction.

Despite your potential frustration and aggravation on why it takes so long, it better to just accept the process and be as diligent as possible in submitting all of the required documentation from the bank. One of the biggest delays is the borrower's inability or just plan reluctance to provide the required items. Too often the borrower feels justified that the bank is just being overly conservative or to thorough. All this does is simply stalls the process. Once requested, banks rarely back down from needed documentation.

What are the fees?

They're actual pretty much the same across the board. There is normally a 1% bank fee, often lenders will have a processing fee of approximately $1000, appraisal reports range in cost from $2,000 - $5,000 (though it's not uncommon to see appraisals more like $10,000 or more on larger, special use properties), title ranges from $800 - $2000 again depending on the loan amount/state, and a phase one environmental report will cost around $1,500 - $2,000. Some properties like multifamily will not normally have environmental fees or if they do it will be more of an environmental survey which costs approximately $800.

What can I expect for loan programs?

It really ranges widely depending on the deal. Amortization periods range from 15 to 30 years, fixed periods from floating to 30 years, stated income, .8 dcr minimum required, 90% financing, etc. Also, it pays for the borrower to keep in mind that banks can use the same loan program but roll it out it different ways. For example 99% of banks offer the SBA 7a loan as a floating product. However, there are a few that offer this as a 5 year fixed, 25 year amortization loan.

What is a prepayment penalty, and can I get out of it?

Prepayment penalties are fees that borrowers incurs if they pay off the loan, either by selling the property or refinancing the debt, before the agreed upon period. The timing is normally between 3 -5 years with some CMBS lenders going as long out as 10 years. The fee is almost always in the form of percentage of the loan balance, i.e. 3 -5% of the loan amount. In other words if the loan amount is $1,000,000 and the borrower has a 5% pre pay it would cost him $50,000 to pay off the loan early.

It terms of getting out of it, yes it is possible, though the pool of lenders that offer this is greatly reduced. It's probably, and this is a guess, 1 out of a 100 banks or lenders will either outright waive it or more likely ask for an increase in interest rate to justify the compromise. And I'm referring to a new loan. Once in place, you are pretty much stuck (though you could look into a defeasanse or have another borrower assume your loan). We work with a bank out of Virginia that commonly waives all prepay's though their rates are a little high.

What is the application process?

After the borrower agrees to move forward with a bank/lender they will be asked to fill out an application and provide documentation. What is normally requested is a personal financial statement, three years of business and personal tax returns, year to date profit & loss statements and year to date balance sheets. After a full "scrub" of the above by underwriting, the lender will normally issue a term sheet, which itemizes the offer by the bank. Its normally a couple of pages long, and spells out the bigger issues such as rate, amortization period, etc and smaller issues with of course includes a lot of small print protecting the bank. If the borrower wants to move forward they will need to sign the letter and write a check to the bank to cover the appraisal, environmental and sometimes a processing fee.

At this point the loan is officially in process. The lender will engage an underwriter to thoroughly review the funding request and will issue a needs list with additional documentation needed beyond what they already have. The third party reports will also be ordered at this point. Once the needs list has been satisfied, and all third party reports are in the bank will officially approve the loan (or not) and set up a time to close.

It is a good idea for the borrower to be patient and encourage the bank to be as thorough as possible with their preliminary underwriting so you do not waste your time and money on third party reports, as it can be difficult to get a "refund".

248 885-8797 Jeff Rauth is President of Commercial Finance Advisors, Inc out of Birmingham, Michigan. He specializes in Commercial Real Estate Loans between $300,000 - $5,000,000. Offers unique loan programs such as Commercial Second Mortgages, Commercial 30 Year Fixed and 90% non SBA financing, and Commercial Equity Lines. 248 885-8797

View commercial mortgage loans or commercial loan calculator or commercial loan rates.

What is the Timing on Peak Oil Production?

Amongst the many concerns that surround oil production one of the biggest is when the world will reach the point of peak oil production. Some researchers feel that this may be within the next year or two. But a recent paper written in Sweden says that it will more likely not be before 2018. What this means it that the oil production will continue to go along the way it has, though in some places it will increase, until it hits its peak and begins to slowly decline. Obviously it is the declining supply that people are worried about.

This researcher in Sweden felt that one of the things that helped to foretell the future of the oil fields is the few giant fields among them. These huge fields account for a tiny number of fields, only one percent, but together they produce sixty percent of the worlds oil. He studied how the supplies are from those giant fields most of which have been giving oil for over fifty years. He further used other information to work out the peak oil production timing. First he added to his computations any recent discoveries that have been made of new oil sources plus offshore oil production, oil sands and heavy oil finds. He believes that these figures substantiate a slightly longer time period until the oil supplies hit the peak and begin their slow decline.

There are others who believe his facts may be right, but not based on the giant fields he talks about. These are researchers and scientists who still see oil reserves that are not being tapped and feel that the peak oil production date is still several years away. They claim that between the oil available in the Gulf of Mexico, the South China Sea and West Africa there is at least another four hundred and fifty billion barrels to be found on top of current reserves. Those who are concerned about the amounts of oil we use take the more cautious approach warning that next year may very well see the oil supplies peak and that we should be looking to other sources of energy before we run out.

Mayoor Patel is the writer for the website http://www.oil-production.oil-universe.com. Please visit for information on all things concerned with Peak Oil Production