Showing posts with label finance management. Show all posts
Showing posts with label finance management. Show all posts

Friday, February 29, 2008

Remortgage and Remortgaging

Remortgaging has become a popular way for many consumers in the UK to enjoy the benefits of getting rid of a poor value mortgage and switching to mortgage that offers better value for money and huge savings over the term of the loan. When interest rates start to rise remortgaging becomes even popular, with many consumers looking for different ways to try and cut back on repayments and to save money on the interest that they have to pay on their mortgage loan.

The interest rates charged on mortgages can vary from one lender to another, and therefore you may find that you can get a far better deal on your mortgage by switching to a different lender. There are also those that decide to remortgage in order to switch to a different type of products – for instance, switching from a variable rate mortgage to a fixed rate mortgage to help stabilise repayments and make financial management easier.

Many homeowners have made huge savings on their mortgage repayments by remortgaging, and the world of remortgages has become big business in the UK over recent years. The mortgage market is a highly competitive one, and you will find that if you have good credit all lenders will be vying for your business.

In order to try and attract more custom and stay a step ahead of the competition, lenders will strive to offer better deals than their competitors. This is where homeowners can really cash in, by switching to a mortgage where they are charged less interest. Even an interest rate that is around 1% less than you are currently paying could save you thousands of pounds over the term of your mortgage.

For those that want to switch to a different type of mortgage product, remortgaging is also ideal. If you are currently on a variable rate mortgage you may have found that rising interest rates are causing severe financial difficulties, and making it difficult to budget. With a fixed rate mortgage you can enjoy the same repayments each month because the interest rate will remain the same no matter what happens with the Bank of England base rate, so you won’t have to worry about fluctuation and won’t have to concern yourself with making changes to your budget every time the interest rate changes.

Remortgaging has become a far simpler process these days, and it is far faster and easier than it used to be. However, there are some things to look out for, namely in the way of fees. You may find that you are charged an exit fee by your existing mortgage provider for closing your mortgage account, and you may also find that you are charged set up fees by your new mortgage provider, all of which can add up to a considerable amount.On top of this you may have to deal with solicitor costs and even valuation fees, even though you are actually purchasing a new property.

When you take all of this into consideration you have to think carefully as to whether it is worth actually switching your mortgage or whether you will be better off sticking with your existing one.In some cases you may find a lender that offers to pay the legal fees and valuation fee when you switch your mortgage, and if this is the case then you may find that remortgaging is more viable.It is important to weight up the costs of remortgaging as you could otherwise be putting yourself through a lot of hassle only to find that you are actually no better off in the long run.

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Top Personal Finance Software Sites Listing part.1


  • Account Xpress - Personal finance management and budget planning software.
  • Accounts & Budget - Bank and budget accounts manager for Microsoft Windows.
  • Benedict Group, Inc - For commercial, consumer, multifamily, and student loans.
  • Bent Tree Software - Mortgage and personal finance shareware, useful for financial planners and attorneys.
  • Brent Shelton's Software - Offers checkbook management software.
  • Budgeting, Saving and Financial Software - Microsoft Excel based spreadsheet tools for personal finance.
  • CheckBook - Stores, balances and prints checking account transactions. Available for Windows 98, NT, 2000, Me, and XP.
  • Chipcount Financial Management - Secure online management of your money includes many financial planning functions.
  • Debt Reduction Software from ZilchWorks - Helps you avoid bankruptcy and get control of credit card debt. Aimed at consumers, credit counselors, and debt counselors.
  • Debtonator - Debt reduction and planning.
  • ESPlanner - Financial planning.
  • Essentia Software Corporation - Payroll program that calculates nanny taxes.
  • ExpMan - Keep and track your expenses online.
  • Fin Vision - Financial organizer.
  • Financial Advisor - Large suite of financial calculators including monthly budget, analyze your retirement, optimize your mortgage.
  • Financial Calculators - Financial calculators for auto loan, mortgage, interest rate, bond, lease, investment deposit or withdrawal including taxes (USA).
  • Financial Literacy Software by Remtech, inc. - Interactive financial literacy software for educational, mass market, and military arena's.
  • fnCentral - Online accounting.
  • FolioSoft - Financial and shares.
  • Fund Manager - Stocks and shares portfolio management. Demo, tutorial, reviews and FAQ.
  • Gbonds - US savings bond inventory program for GNOME/Linux.
  • GnuCash - Personal finance for Linux/Gnome.
  • Handy Finance Lite - Money management and expense tracking for Palm. Reports, analysis, planning.
  • Home Bookkeeping - Accounting program that keeps track of personal finances. Features exporting of data into Paradox, DBase, text file, HTML, MS Excel, MS Word, MS Access, Lotus 1-2-3, QuattroPro formats, and MS Windows clipboard.
  • Home Budget Planner Software - Free download of household and personal budget planner software.
  • Home Buyers Calculator Suite - Calculates the financial scenarios related to the purchase of real estate. Includes 13 calculators and printable forms.
  • Home Money Manager - Free software to help budget, track and control credit cards and home finances. Windows and Java platforms only.
  • HomeWorks - This site illustrates the use of, description, screen shots, and order information for the HomeWorks software package, a home finance record keeping and reporting software application. [Mac OS 9 and OS X]