Senin, 12 Maret 2012

Individuals Become Private Banks In US - Business News You Can Use

Someone once said if someone offers me a guaranteed return then it guarantees they will make more. And if both parties are satisfied then it's not a bad arrangement. Individuals need to be savvy with their money.

When I first began to investigate this thing called private lending I was concerned that it was a scam. Yet the more I looked at it I realized that anyone who has ever opened a savings account at a bank, invested in a CD, or has an IRA is a private lender. In each of those instances there is someone or some institution that will pay us an interest rate so they can use our money to make more for themselves. As I said before, that's not a bad arrangement but it did beg the question, could an individual safely make more for themselves.

Banks have existed for centuries for a good reason - they are profitable. Individuals can do this and participate in some of the same benefits through something called "private lending."

What is a Private Lender? Private lenders are individuals with money to lend for investment purposes. They may or may not be wealthy, but they do have excess cash or assets available over and above what they need to live on. These individuals are willing to lend for a higher return than they can get with bank CD's or money markets. They usually lend against assets but will, at times, lend unsecured.

Private money lending became very popular as interest rates on traditional Money Markets and CD's dropped below 5%.

People with extra cash started looking for higher interest rates. So if they could get the high interest rate and enough security (collateral) they were willing to do loans without personal credit or the need to be worried about credit scores. That started the revolution that you see today where private money lenders are as big and popular as other types of lenders were 10 years ago. This trend toward private money will remain as long as the rate of return is greater than bank interest rates.

Though a private lender can be found in the art world, the auto industry, the antique's arena it is most often found in the real estate market. I will confine my investigation to the real estate industry.

One warning that I must immediately give is you should never give your money directly to the real estate investor. Instead send it to a 3rd party like the closing attorney or title company. If someone asks you to give him or her your check directly then do not even consider doing business with him or her. When the funds are distributed at the closing table to the investor it assures you that all the proper documents were signed and recorded for your protection.

There are 5 items that must be required by every private lender.


1) You must have a promissory note, which will state the amount borrowed and the terms for repayment.

2) You must have lenders title insurance, which will protect the lender in case something happened within the title somewhere along the line.

3) You must have a mortgage or deed of trust, depending on your state, recorded in your name in the county of the real estate.

4) You must get an After Repair Value Opinion; this can come through an appraiser or a real estate agent, they both access the same information. You need this because the total loans on the property should not exceed 80% and preferably 70-75%. This protects you regardless of the number of mortgages on the property

5) And lastly, you must be listed as a beneficiary on the Hazard/Fire/Property Insurance, which will protect you completely if the home is destroyed or damaged.

One of the benefits of Private Lending is that your funds will be earning the stated interest from day one, the day the investor closes on the purchase. The downside is that once the property is sold the real estate investor should return your money. When that happens you will no longer be earning the high rate of return. Yet, in most cases, the real estate investor will borrow your money again shortly.

Statically, the annual average rate of return for real estate private lending is higher than other investments. If you were to earn 10% on your money for 4 months or 3% on your money for 12 months, the 10% earns more.

Another area where private lenders can become their own bank is in the area of bridge loans. A bridge loan is a bit riskier but is a common entity. Bridge loans are borrowed funds to get the time required to sort out the issues of a specific transaction and meet rigorous timetables or when the sale of one property overlaps with the purchase of another. When bridge loans approach their maturity deadline, they are paid off either through refinancing or the sale of the other home. Some bridge loans are hours long but most are for months.

Private lending offers a good rate of return yet you should not put your last penny into it. Diversification is critical to any investment strategy. When adding to your wealth you need to have different items in your portfolio.

For many individuals private lending is more comfortable because it is much less affected by repeated marketplace fluctuations. In reality, throughout times of economic turbulence in the stock market, private lending transactions are looked upon in a favorable light. It is a stable investment that can return monthly income or lump sum income like a zero coupon bond.

Nonetheless, the possibility of foreclosure is real. A private lender is more protected than a bank in a foreclosure or deed-in-lieu of foreclosure situation. A private lender will have more of an equity cushion than most banks. A private lender should have at least 20-25% equity in the property, or they shouldn't become a lender. Maintaining that cushion allows a private lender to become involved at any level of mortgage, whether it is a 1st mortgage or a 5th mortgage.

There is a long a history of private money lenders investing their own money in real estate investments. Like many things, private money comes and goes depending largely on interest rates and the demand from real estate investors and other investors.

Many homeowners are able to become private lenders through the help of their own bank. They arrange an Equity Line (HELOC) with their bank on their home. Then borrow the cash at a rate of 3-4%. When you lend those funds you will be very much like your own bank (you are paying the bank interest to use their money to lend to someone else, sound familiar).

As a private lender you will be earning 8-10% or more from the real estate investor. Your net return, or "spread" as the banks call it, is 5 to 6 percent; that is your profit. At a 5% spread, on a $150,000 loan, you will earn $20.54 per day or $7500 for the year. The other benefit is that when the investor pays back the loan, the equity line stops charging interest as well.

Selasa, 07 Februari 2012

Working From Home - Why Running Your Own Business Can Be Great News for Parents

Setting up a business that you can run from home can bring many advantages. Many parents embrace self-employment after the arrival of their children - the coining of new phrases such as 'mumpreneur' are testament to the growing interest in parent-run businesses. Having said that, self-employment can be hard work and may not always bring in a steady income. So why take the chance? Read on for some of the reasons why running your own home business can be great news for parents.

Cost of childcare

This can be the deciding factor in parents giving up work for employers and deciding to work from home for themselves. If you run your own home business, you'll have a degree of freedom that you just won't get with employment and may be able to adjust your working hours to work around your family commitments, meaning you might not have to pay for childcare.

No commuting

Every day, millions of people leave their homes, head out to their workplaces and travel for miles and for hours, in some cases to sit at a desk and do work which could just as easily be done from home. Then at the end of the day, they turn around and do it all again in reverse. And for this constant, day-in-day-out source of frustration, misery, discomfort and danger (more cars on roads mean more accidents), they pay through the nose for petrol, train tickets and bus passes.


Obviously, not every parent-friendly business involves working from home but if you do manage it, cutting out your commute time can give you back several hours a day. Not to mention saving you money on tickets and petrol. What's not to love about that?

Increasing your income

Running your own business can give you the opportunity to earn much, much more than you would by taking a job. But having said that, it's not going to happen overnight.

Creating your own job stability

This might sound a bit strange as self-employment is notorious for being somewhat fickle in providing a steady income. It might be 'feast or famine' when you're running your own business, but who's to say that being an employee is going to be any more stable in the long term? You just have to look at the unemployment statistics to realise that having a permanent job is no guarantee of an income for life.

If you run your own business, you'll develop a lot of new skills all of which can be leveraged to help you create the kind of life you want. You should also develop a more tenacious mind-set that is bound to stand you in good stead as you progress through life. You'll learn how to diversify your assets and (hopefully) create multiple income streams that don't involve swapping time for money, so you'll be able to spread the risk of something going wrong with one of your sources of income.

Want to know more about successfully combining both a home business and a family? Want to know how to organise your life and gain more time for yourself? How to Run a Business From Home When You Have Small Children will give you the guidelines that you need to get the lifestyle you want.

Jumat, 13 Januari 2012

How to Get Your Business or Clients in Google News Using Press Release Distribution

Many people ask how they can get their businesses news listed in Google News. To many it seems an attractive way of generating traffic and hits to your website by announcing a new product or service from your business. Press release distribution is the only way of getting your content listed.

Online business owners are growing more aware of the effects and importance of using Google News, so much that some companies are willing to spend hundreds of dollars on writing and distribution packages

For starters, you cant simply send a press release to Google themselves. People often get confused as to how the system works. Basically Google News works by several thousand third party news sources. These sites are thoroughly inspected before they are allowed to become a source.

So you have to choose a website or service which has the capabilities to send your content to Google News. Once it passes the sites approval process the content will by indexed within minutes.

The next step is to make sure your press release or news story will get approved by an official distribution website. Make sure you write a news worthy story. Don't make it an obvious promotional piece. Include facts about the specific news. Also make sure that it has not been published anywhere else online because it wont enter Google News. It does not have to be thousands of words long either. Everything lies in the content that you focus onto and write efficiently.

Once it gets listed in Google News you will see the following effects

- A possible surge in traffic
- New backlinks to your websites giving better authority with search engines
- Indexed in Google Search within Minutes
- Press release sent to people set up to receive Google Alerts for related keywords
- Worldwide exposure

The importance of Press Release Distribution might wander your thoughts on to choosing the best firm and so it is natural that you will think about going in for the costliest option. Do you think you will get the best service if this is the step that you put head? Is there any guarantee on this? Yes, it is of course true that with appropriate and professional approach you can take your business to greater heights. At the same time, it is important to choose wisely, so that you get the perfect and right service provider at affordable rates giving you the outcome exceeding your expectations.

Choosing a press release distribution service that is reliable and cheap is the next step. There's plenty around but vary in expense. Release-news.com offers an affordable press release distribution service to Google News