Questions To Ask Yourself Before Getting A Mortgage

Easy Ways to Get a Good Mortgage Deal

First Published Date : July 26, 2009 ADawnJournal.com

Finding the right mortgage is something that is becoming increasingly important for property buyers in a world which is more unforgiving than it ever has been towards bad debtors. As far as getting the mortgage you want is concerned, it is vital to ask yourself some questions be sure that you are giving realistic answers. The most important questions are as follows:

– How much can I realistically afford to pay, per month, to my mortgage?

– How long can the amortization on the mortgage be – how much longer will I have the ability to make these payments?

– Do I have options if I lose my job/fall ill? Will insurance cover the payments, or can someone else meet them for me?

The above are the instant questions which require immediate answers before you can in all good conscience move forward with a mortgage application on a property. If, at any given time during the process, the answers do not line up for you, you will need to put your application on the back burner. As the questions above are sequenced, so your priorities must also be. Before anything else is taken into account, you have to be sure you can make the monthly payments. This requires sitting down, working out what you have coming in and going out every month, and seeing what you can save if you need to.

The above can be done manually, or equally it can easily be done online with one of the vast range of online mortgage calculators. These are generally extremely simple websites which have a series of boxes to fill in, allowing you to break down your income and expenditure. The more advanced online mortgage calculators will be attached to comparison sites which will take your details and show you which lender has the best mortgage for you. A few words of advice regarding their use, though – using one mortgage calculator and comparison site will leave you with one view on the matter, so it is better to use two or three to ensure that you are happy with the accuracy of the information. Additionally, be as honest and as realistic as you can with the figures you enter. Different lenders will give the best deals to different borrowers, and a lie or a miscalculation could set you back considerably.

One thing you should always keep in mind is that although the many online resources for mortgage borrowers can be extremely helpful, not all are 100% independent. It is more than possible to visit a website looking for mortgage advice and come away with the strong impression that a particular bank is by far and away the best one for your purposes. This may be true, or it may be a carefully created impression that was always going to emerge from any research carried out on that website. Companies are not beyond putting up sites that have no visible connection to them, in order to support their positions. The best way to avoid falling victim to this is by using a range of sites.

A Dawn Books – A Showcase of Books by Personal Finance Author A Dawn

A Dawn Books Website Was Fully Designed By A Dawn

First Published: ADawnJournal.com August 9, 2009

Until now, whenever I needed a site I asked my programmers to design it for me and picked one from among those they designed. Take A Dawn Journal, for example. Once I described to my programmer exactly what I was looking for, he designed three sites for me, and I picked the one I thought best suited my needs and looked visually pleasing. The design I picked still exists and this is what A Dawn Journal currently looks like (as of July 20, 2009. I am mentioning this because if you read this article after ten or twenty years from now, most likely ADJ will have a different look). Starting then ’til now, my creative inner-self has been dying to design a website from scratch with 100% my own design and that’s what made it possible to design a website all by myself.

The only thing I had on my mind while designing A Dawn Books is simplicity. I tried to make it a very simple and easy-to-navigate site while giving it a visually pleasing look. On the right side of the homepage, I integrated my Books specific blog. It will show the first few lines of my latest blog on the current book I will be writing and once you click on the Read More tab, it will take you to the A Dawn Books Blog page which stays hidden inside A Dawn Books main page.

From now on, I will be using A Dawn Books to provide updates for the new books I will be writing. For example, I am hoping to start working on my next book Save Now shortly and I will provide updates as I go along on the A Dawn Books site. However, whenever I publish a new post on A Dawn Books, I will let my readers know on Canada’s Personal Finance Website-as ADJ has the highest traffic of all my sites. Take a look on A Dawn Books and give me your feedback. Your continuous support has made it possible for me to come this far and it is always appreciated. Cheers!

A Dawn Journal - A Top American Financial Blog

Reach Extends Beyond Canada And Gains Pan-American Recognition

First Published: August 24, 2009 ADawnJournal.com

Despite being based in Canada, A Dawn Journal has won the approval of one of America’s most widely recognised blogs. It is quite an achievement to be able to say that Efinancialblog.com, a widely respected and admired blog recognising the best financial writing in the US, has respectfully invited A Dawn Journal to take part in its “America’s Top Financial Bloggers” campaign of recognition, highlighting posts and blogs with accurate and well-written financial content. Efinancial Blog itself states that it is looking to spotlight the web’s best financial writers, so to gain their recognition feels like no small achievement.

Although Canadian finance is the specific remit of A Dawn Journal, it is true to say that good content is recognised as such wherever it comes from. The problems currently faced by families and businesses on the North side of the border differ very little from those which the United States currently faces. However, anyone will tell you that it is harder for a Canadian to gain recognition in the United States than vice versa, and for this reason it is very gratifying to be recognised in this way. Why has this happened? Well, it would be presumptuous to assume that one knows the minds of experts, but the simplicity and truth of the financial advice posted here means it can make an impact on anyone who shares our concerns about the financial climate of the day.

Although this is a Canadian blog (and very pleased to be able to say so) it has recently been noticeable that the number of global visitors has risen recently. There can only be one reason for this: readers understand and agree with the content written here. It is timeless and transcends national borders. Although there are always going to be differences from one country to the next, our differences are not what define us – our similarities are. An interest in finance is all the more relevant and essential at the present time, as we will all have financial questions to deal with the longer the financial turmoil continues. Being able to read simple yet intelligent financial advice and information helps us all deal with the important issues and questions we face.

So it seems quite reasonable and self-explanatory that this blog is becoming a regular read for an increasing number of people not only in Canada (which is still the essential focus of the site and a hugely valued readership) but also further afield. It is not only in America that this blog is read and followed, and it is hoped that this recognition from the US financial blogging community will not be the last. Financial information and news has now become a major priority even for a number of people who would not previously have paused on the financial pages for long before turning to seemingly more interesting information. For as long as people want to read important financial stories and get a no-nonsense, measured response to the issues, A Dawn Journal will be here to fulfil a need.

Avoid Making Your Mortgage A Wasteful Borrowing

Do Not Take Out The First Decent Loan You Are Offered

First Published Date : August 26, 2009 ADawnJournal.com

The fact that it is nigh-on impossible for most people to buy a house without borrowing at least some of the cost these days has hardened some of us to the question of debt. It would not be wrong to say that a large amount of the consumer debt which is strangling companies and individuals right now is a result of people saying “Well, we are all in debt these days anyway – what harm will it do to add a little bit more?”. We have become hardened to debt – and even those of us who seek to avoid debt altogether are conscious that this has happened. Just for clarification, becoming hardened to debt does not mean ignoring it altogether. Rather, it means that we accept it will exist and we try to live the best way we can while recognising the fact.

One consequence of becoming hardened to debt as a society is that there has been a certain amount of slippage where wastefulness is concerned. Being ready to accept debt – as we all must be, eventually – should not mean being wasteful. If we are debt conscious, we can minimise the damage done to our finances by debt. If we are wasteful, we run the risk of doing something which is essentially the equivalent of accepting that there will always be a little bit of mess in our house, and inviting a family of horses to live in our kitchen in recognition of the fact. Yes, you can live with debt. No, you cannot live indefinitely with several debts getting in the way of everything you do and making a mess of things.

It doesn’t even need to be the case that you regularly miss loan payments for you to qualify as wasteful – although the amount of extra cash you will need to pay to make up for that certainly qualifies. Another wasteful thing to do as regards credit accounts is to take out the first decent loan you are offered without doing a little bit of shopping around first. There are so many banks out there who offer mortgages, and other institutions besides who will loan money for the purpose of buying a house. Even when people take into account that the bank will own a stake in the house for the duration of the loan account, they are often still all too happy to settle for a “decent” mortgage, when a little bit of time spent researching would have freed them up to the tune of hundreds of dollars per month.

Being wasteful costs us a lot of money when we are young, and some people never really learn the lesson. Sure, it’s fun to let go every so often, but that’s what ball games, clubs and friends are for. A mortgage shouldn’t be a case of “yeah, this will do!”. It needs to be a matter of “yes, this is the right one”. You’ll be paying it off for a quarter of a century or more, most likely, so it requires some attention.

Free E-Book: 101 Reasons to Love a Recession

How to Prosper During an Economic Downturn

First Published: ADawnJournal.com May 27, 2009

International Best Selling author Ernie Zelinski has generously offered his latest E-Book free for A Dawn Journal readers.  Titled 101 reasons to Love a Recession, it talks about how motivated individuals can capitalize on recession. A recession can present opportunities to prosper during an economic downturn and benefits of a recession should not be overlooked. Economic turmoil can bring the best and it’s up to you to turn adversity into advantage.

This E-Book is yours to download right now. I will not ask you to provide your email address or force you to subscribe my RRS Feed to enjoy this book. However, If you would like, you can subscribe my RSS Feed voluntarily right here – RSS.

101_Reasons_to_Love_a_Recession.pdf