Kristina Storey's Blog

Sunday, 28 October 2018

Is Now a Good Time to Refinance Your Home Loan?

If you’re like most small-business owners, your home is your single biggest asset. This probably means that your home loan is the biggest bill you have to pay every month. Perhaps your mortgage isn’t a problem. Nonetheless, it’s likely that you’re spending thousands of dollars a year on interest and other charges. However, you could refinance your home loan. If you do, you could save a lot of money. You could also reduce your monthly payment. Moreover, you could even shorten the amount of time it will take you to pay off your loan entirely.

However, before deciding whether or not to refinance your home loan, it’s important to consider your personal financial situation. Additionally, you’ll need to take into account the conditions of the economy.

Therefore, be sure to ask these questions before you decide to refinance your mortgage.

What Is the Interest Rate?

The past few years have brought record low interest rates to the mortgage market. In many cases, that means that if you have an older home loan, you could shave several points off your rate when you refinance. However, if your mortgage is fairly recent, it’s important to look carefully at the interest rate that is currently being offered. As interest rates are starting to creep back up, it’s possible that refinancing will give you a higher rate than what you have right now.

Of course, your interest rate is determined by a lot of factors beyond the current market conditions. If you have recently seen an improvement in your credit score, for example, you will likely qualify for a lower rate than you have on your original mortgage.

Do You Want a Lower Payment, the Ability to Pay Off Your Mortgage Faster, or Cash to Spend?

If you have any home equity, it’s likely that you will need to decide whether or not to pull it out of your loan. If you simply refinance the remaining balance of your loan, you can choose to extend your payment term. This will give you smaller monthly payments. Or, you could use your lower interest rate to shrink the amount of time it will take to pay the mortgage off. That’s because more of your money will be going to pay down the principal each month.

With careful research, however, it’s possible that refinancing your home loan will allow you to do all three. If you find the right loan, you’ll be able to use a portion of your home equity for immediate expenses. Then you can refinance the remaining balance at a lower interest rate and a longer payment term. This will reduce your monthly payments. As your financial situation improves, make additional payments on the loan to pay it off earlier.

It’s critical to decide what you want out of a home loan refinance before you actually sign off. The total amount that needs to be underwritten is critical to determining the payment terms of the new loan. If you change your mind during the home loan process, it could wind up costing you a lot in fees. If you’re not sure how much money to pull out, ask about a home equity line of credit, which will allow you to adjust the amount of money you can borrow over time.

What Fees Will You Pay if You Refinance?

If you didn’t have a high enough down payment when you first purchased your home, there’s a good chance that you are paying for private mortgage insurance, or PMI, along with your mortgage. Depending on your exact circumstances, this means that you might be paying hundreds of dollars a year for insurance that doesn’t even protect you.

Fortunately, once you have about 20% of your home value paid off, you qualify to have this coverage removed from your mortgage. This can apply to the original value of your home (what you paid) or the home’s current value. That means that if homes in your neighborhood have increased in price, you could qualify to have this fee removed.

Besides canceling PMI, it’s also important to check to see if you are paying any other fees. Other types of mortgage insurance or finance fees can really add up. In some cases, simply canceling the fees on your current mortgage can lower your payment significantly, even if you don’t qualify for a lower interest rate.

So consider all these factors and determine how much you could save if you were to refinance your mortgage. Then it’s time to start looking seriously at a new mortgage. Keep in mind that interest rates are starting to creep up. Therefore, you need to make a decision on your new loan before the banks decide it’s time to raise the rates again.

The post Is Now a Good Time to Refinance Your Home Loan? appeared first on Business Opportunities.

source http://www.business-opportunities.biz/2018/10/28/refinance-home-loan/

Saturday, 27 October 2018

Is It Possible to Make a Living from the Stock Market?

Image via Flickr by 1la

Can you make a living from the stock market? Yes, but only if you take valuable advice from those who have experience in the field. Here are a few tips to consider if you are thinking of investing in the stock market.

Go for Long-Term Investment

Benjamin Graham, known as “the father of value investing,” was famous for advocating buy-and-hold investing. He believed that you cannot get a solid return on your investment if you pull out of the market after every decline. He held the basic belief that financial markets generally provide a good rate of return in the long run. Further, you’ll find if you practice this method that passive investment also involves fewer transactions. As a result, you’ll save money on brokerage costs and taxes.

This general opinion has remained unchanged. And investors who are in the know today still maintain that the safest way to make money from stocks is to hold onto them for a minimum of five years.

How do stocks make money? Many people who opt for long-term investment might decide to earn their money through regular dividends. Still others might aim for long-term capital gains. Although day trading might seem more exciting and some investors make good money from it, it is much riskier. Sadly, most day traders incur losses.

If you need more encouragement to stay the course, billionaire financial expert Warren Buffet is a major supporter of buy-and-hold investing.

Opt for Dividend Gains

Invest in a company that is either established or profitable or shows sustainable growth potential. Further, opt for dividend gains rather than capital gains. By doing so, you will be earning a regular, minimum annual income. This will be the case whether the stock rises or falls over the years. What’s more, your dividends could potentially add up to thousands or even millions of dollars.

Additionally, instead of taking your dividend payouts, you could decide to reinvest your dividends and increase your shares. As a result, you would receive higher dividend payments in the future. And you could turn a larger profit if you decide to sell your stocks.

Hire a Stock Market Coach

You can learn a lot from someone who has made mistakes and is willing to share what they have learned with you. Therefore, if you have zero experience in stock trading and you’re not sure how to proceed, it might be a good idea to hire an investment coach. In other words, find someone who will act as a mentor.

Although hiring a mentor will be an extra expense, it might be well worth it. This is especially true if you consider the costly mistakes you might make without his or her guidance.

It’s true that there is an element of luck involved in making money from stocks. However, it is comforting to know that it is possible to make a living from the stock market. Moreover, it is actually probable if you make sound choices. Just don’t be blinded by the “make a million in one day” rhetoric. Instead, opt for long-term investments in strong, profitable companies. By operating in this fashion, you just might earn extra cash.

Finally, do your research, educate yourself, and consider hiring a coach. If you do all of these things, you could one day be a successful investor.

The post Is It Possible to Make a Living from the Stock Market? appeared first on Business Opportunities.

source http://www.business-opportunities.biz/2018/10/28/make-living-stock-market/

5 Things to Consider Before Starting Life Coach Certification Online

Photo by Keegan Houser from Pexels

There are some pretty interesting benefits to having a business as a life coach. For one thing, you will be doing work that can assist others in living the lives they want to live. Before you consider making this career change, take a moment to review some things you should know.

1. Certification Is Crucial to Your Success as a Life Coach

Life coaching is a largely unregulated industry. As such, you don’t need a lot of education related to the overall concept. However, would you see a “professional” who did not at least have some form of accreditation in their field?

Online life coach certification provides a fast track to earning the credentials that will impress and attract clients. In fact, the training program that results in certification will teach you exactly how to assist someone in reaching their personal goals.

You can’t just pick up all of these skills on the job. However, once you have these special skills, you will become a valuable resource to any and all of your clients.

2. Specializing Will Give You an Edge

Life coaching is a growing industry. Estimates float at it being worth somewhere in the neighborhood of several million dollars annually. That’s proof that there really is something to this life coaching thing after all.

However, in order to stand out from the crowd of life coach gurus, you need to be a little different. You do that by finding a niche to build your business around. Once you find one, focus on that as the foundation of your life coaching service. Look at it as you providing a unique kind of service.

3. Be Patient About Your New Career Choice

Hey, there’s nothing wrong with quitting your job and launching your life coaching business as soon as you earn your certification. However, you have to be realistic about it. Keep in mind that success is going to take a little time.

This is not something that’s unique to your business, either. Just ask anyone who has started a business. They will tell you the same thing. As we’ve indicated above, clients are spending a lot of money in this industry. If you’re a good coach, you’ll earn your fair share.

However, in the meantime, you might need to have a part-time job on the side just to stay on top of things. Therefore, be prepared for success to take awhile. However, if you focus on building your life coaching business systematically, success will eventually find you.

4. You’ll Need to Get Good at Marketing, Too

As an independent business owner, a good deal of your work is going to be life coaching. Nonetheless, you’ll also have to spend a good portion of your average work week on some non-coaching activities.

For instance, you’ll need to market your services. You’ll have to take care of the accounting and bookkeeping side of your business, too. What’s more, you’ll often be writing, sending, and responding to emails.

As a matter of fact, the bulk of your non-coaching time in the early stages of your new business should be focused on promoting your services. You can do this in several ways. However, it’s best to use both digital and traditional marketing methods together. This will allow you to cover the most territory at the least possible cost.

5. You Are Coaching, Not Counseling People

Remember, you are a life coach. You are not a counselor of any kind. The service you provide to your clients can help them to move forward in their lives. To that end, you will assist them with taking specific actions to achieve certain outcomes. This will help them to reach their stated goals within a specified period of time.

On the other hand, a counselor works to help clients deal with and get past traumas that have affected their lives. In other words, a counselor is a healer of sorts. A life coach is a director.

It’s a lot easier to understand the difference when you look at each in this manner. You also have to remember to be clear with clients. There will be some who seek your services who should instead be looking for counseling. However, if you are clear about the services that you can provide, you should be able to prevent any issues.

In Conclusion

There are many challenges but also many rewards when you work to help people improve their lives.

Here’s how to know that you could be a good candidate for life coaching:

Are you a people person?
Do you want to be able to give others the direction and inspiration they need to make changes in their lives?

Life coaching is a specialized service. It is still an unregulated field. However, it has exploded in popularity. This means there is a demand for life coaching in today’s world.

The best way to become a life coach is to take an online certification course. Then spend time promoting your services.

It will take some time to see financial rewards from making this decision, but they will come. If you happen to be good at being a life coach in your specific niche, you will achieve success.

While life coaching is not for everyone, it could be just the right career choice for you.

The post 5 Things to Consider Before Starting Life Coach Certification Online appeared first on Business Opportunities.

source http://www.business-opportunities.biz/2018/10/28/life-coach-certification-online/

5 Reasons Customer Service Is More Important Than Anything Else

Image credit: phovoir on Yay Images

The modern business environment is highly competitive. What’s more, companies are continually trying to adapt to the ever-changing business landscape. Most of all, businesses are dependent upon customers for their survival. There are many things that a business can do to strengthen their brand. However, the most important is to provide excellent customer service.

Here we share with you five reasons why customer service is the most critical factor in growing your business.

1. Satisfied Customers Are More Likely to Return

If you can competently handle customers’ issues, they are much more likely to return.

However, many businesses fail to create a culture of customer service. These companies run the risk of losing customers who have issues with them. Therefore, be sure to have customer service protocols that focus on putting the client first. This is critical to the survival of your business.

2. Retaining Customers Is Less Expensive than Marketing for More

Obviously, if a customer has a negative experience with your company that person will be unhappy. What’s more, if your customer service does not rectify the situation, that customer will probably remain disgruntled. They may refuse to patronize your company anymore. Even worse, they are likely to describe their experience with your company to their friends and family. Furthermore, you definitely don’t need such negative word-of-mouth exposure.

Moreover, marketing to attract more customers costs significantly more than providing excellent customer service in the first place.

3. Great Customer Service Strengthens Brands

Nothing adds more to a brand’s reputation than superior customer service. When a company is known for putting the customer first, its reputation soars among their target demographic.

Branding is the way companies show the world what their business stands for. Excellent customer service is clearly a way to strengthen your brand.

4. Satisfied Customers Spread the Word About Products and Services

You might have heard that word-of-mouth advertising is the most powerful form of advertising. This is because people trust the opinions and reviews of others. This is the reason companies frequently use testimonials in their marketing materials.

The idea here is that if others like it, then it must be good. Creating an excellent customer experience is a sure way to generate some enthusiastic brand ambassadors.

5. Customers Prefer Being Able to Call Your Company

It is common to see online companies that don’t offer an actual customer service phone number. Even a couple of decades ago it would have been unacceptable not to have a helpline for customers.

All the same, customers have greater trust for companies that they can call on the phone with their questions and concerns. Email is simply not a replacement for live customer service calls.

If you’re looking for a solution in this area, Salesforce CTI integration will give your company what it needs. What’s more, you’ll have the ability to link your company’s phone system with your computer network.

Conclusion

Companies that wish to remain competitive in these changing times will need to create a culture of customer service within their businesses. Furthermore, companies that continuously find ways to improve their customers’ experience are able to aggressively beat their competition.

The post 5 Reasons Customer Service Is More Important Than Anything Else appeared first on Business Opportunities.

source http://www.business-opportunities.biz/2018/10/28/customer-service-important/

Is Now a Good Time to Refinance Your Home Loan?

If you’re like most people, your home is the single biggest asset that you own. That probably means that the home loan you have for that particular asset is the biggest bill you have to pay every month. Even if that mortgage hasn’t become a problem, it’s very likely that you’re wasting thousands of dollars a year in extraneous interest and other charges. By refinancing your home loan, however, it’s possible to save a lot of money while also reducing your monthly payment and shortening the length of time it takes to pay off your loan entirely.

Before deciding whether or not to refinance your home loan, however, it’s important to consider your personal financial situation as well as the conditions of the economy. Be sure to ask these questions before you decide to refinance your mortgage.

What Is My Interest Rate?

The past few years have brought record low-interest rates to the mortgage market. In many cases, that means that if you have an older home loan, you could save several points off your rate when you go to refinance. However, if your mortgage is fairly recent, it’s important to look carefully at the interest rate that is currently being offered. As interest rates are starting to creep back up, it’s possible that refinancing will give you a higher rate than what you have right now.

Of course, your interest rate is determined by a lot of factors beyond the current market conditions. If you have recently seen an improvement in credit score, for example, you will likely qualify for a lower rate than what you have on your original mortgage.

Do You Want a Lower Payment, the Ability to Pay Off Your Mortgage Faster, or Cash to Spend?

If you have any home equity, it’s likely that you will need to decide whether or not to pull it out of your loan. If you simply refinance the remaining balance of your loan, you can choose to extend your payment term (giving yourself smaller monthly payments), or use your lower interest rate to shrink the amount of time it will take to pay the mortgage off (since more of your money will be going to pay down the principal each month).

With careful research, however, it’s very possible that refinancing your home loan will allow you to do all three. If you find the right loan, you’ll be able to use a portion of your home equity for immediate expenses. Then refinance the remaining balance at a lower interest rate and a longer payment term in order to reduce your monthly payments. As you make more money, or your financial situation improves, make additional payments on the loan to pay it off earlier.

It’s critical to decide what you want out of a home loan refinance before you actually sign off. The total amount that needs to be underwritten is critical to determining the payment terms of the new loan. If you change your mind throughout the home loan process, it could wind up costing you a lot in fees. If you’re not sure how much money to pull out, ask about a HELOC, which will allow you to adjust the amount of money you can borrow over time.

What Fees Am I Paying?

If you didn’t have a high enough down payment when you first purchased your home, there’s a good chance that you are paying PMI on your mortgage. Depending on your exact circumstances, this means that you may be paying hundreds of dollars a year for insurance that doesn’t even protect you. Fortunately, once you have about 20% of your home value paid off, you qualify to have this coverage removed from your mortgage. This can apply to the original value of your home (what you paid) or the home’s current value. That means that if homes in your neighborhood have increased in price, you may qualify to have this fee removed.

Besides canceling PMI, it’s also important to check to see if you are paying any other fees. Other types of mortgage insurance or finance fees can really add up. In some cases, simply canceling the fees of your current mortgage can lower your payment significantly, even if you don’t qualify for a lower interest rate.

After you’ve considered all these factors and determined how much you could save by refinancing your mortgage, then it’s time to start looking seriously at a new mortgage. As interest rates are starting to creep up, it’s important to keep in mind that you need to make a decision on your new loan before the banks decide it’s time to raise rates again.

The post Is Now a Good Time to Refinance Your Home Loan? appeared first on Business Opportunities.

source http://www.business-opportunities.biz/2018/10/28/is-now-a-good-time-to-refinance-your-home-loan/

Some Suggested Title Loan Alternatives for Your Business

Image Credit: Pixabay on Pexels

If your business is in a sticky situation and you need money as soon as possible, taking out an auto title loan might seem like a good option. As with most things in life, however, title loans come with both pros and cons.

Before making a rushed decision and doing something you’re going to regret later, it’s best to just stop and think everything through. Looking at all of the options beforehand is the best thing you can do. To that end, we’ve got some alternatives to auto title loans you should look at first.

1. Banks and Credit Unions

More banks are beginning to offer customers short-term loans to replace so-called predatory loans. If you’re considering this option we strongly suggest you go to a local bank instead of one of the well-established big banks. Most of these will immediately reject your application.

Although not as popular, credit unions are a great alternative as well. They’re essentially customer-owned institutions. Therefore, in all likelihood, the credit union will approve your loan request.

2. Personal Loans

A personal loan doesn’t require collateral (for instance your car). Therefore, they’re much safer in terms of risking your property. What’s more, you can apply for a personal loan at credit unions, banks, and even online lenders.

These days, online lenders have plenty of investors who have plenty of money to lend. However, getting a personal loan is a little more difficult than getting a title loan. That’s because lenders asses your credit score. They also look at the amount of monthly income you have available, since they want to be sure you’ll be able to pay off the loan.

That said, personal loans don’t require an immaculate credit score. Further, you can often get approved for one with just a steady income.

3. Credit Card Promotions

Although it’s about as risky as a title loan, you can get on your feet relatively quickly with a one-time credit card promotion loan. This option works best when you use a promotional low interest rate. So make sure to do your research and look around.

Our top tip would be not to get carried away. Plus, always monitor the fees. If worse comes to worst, you want to have an exit strategy and a way to pay off the loan.

4. A Cosigner

This option requires someone who trusts you and can vouch for you. Most loans which include a cosigner get approved. However, finding someone who understands the risks and accepts them isn’t easy. That’s because cosigners get the worst of both worlds. They don’t get any loan money, and they ultimately have to pay the loan off if you can’t keep up with the payments.

Check out Our Suggestions Before You Take a Title Loan

A title loan is still a viable option. But do look over the alternatives we mention here before you do. If you still feel like a title loan is right for you, make sure you do your homework. The interest and fees associated with title loans can be quite high.

The post Some Suggested Title Loan Alternatives for Your Business appeared first on Business Opportunities.

source http://www.business-opportunities.biz/2018/10/27/title-loan-alternatives/

4 Important Benefits of Using Custom Pop-up Tents

There are several ways to make sure the public is aware and excited about your business. One of the most important ways, outside of traditional marketing methods, is using custom pop-up canopy. Business exhibitions undoubtedly turn to bland, all-white canopies which offer no value to passersby. However, here are four benefits of using custom pop-up tents at your next exhibit or trade show.

1. Eye-Catching

Tents can be bought anywhere and are virtually impossible not to get your hands on. What sets your business apart from the competition, however, is how you design your custom pop-up tent. Therefore, hire a five-star tent designer to customize your tent for you. Choose someone who has a solid portfolio and a mountain of positive testimonials to get the job done right. Then, you’ll flag down your ideal customers in a quicker way.

Grabbing attention is the name of the game here. So the designer you choose sets the bar for the level of interesting and creative choices and logos. One of the “plain vanilla” decisions most people make with customized tents is putting a website URL in black color against a white canopy. For the sake of generating interest in your business, do not follow those unfortunate souls who don’t have a drop of marketing in their blood.

2. Easy to Install

Unlike carpentry, custom pop-up tents require no special skills at all. You just need to be reasonably tall and have a second set of hands to help you out.

The process couldn’t be simpler. Simply attach the tent’s upper part with the stands. The mechanism and concept are like setting up a camping tent, except that it’s on a larger scale. If unexpected weather hits, disassembly is a breeze.

3. Great for All Occasions

Custom pop-up tents, bar none, are appropriate for nearly all occasions. This is because, while the custom design work is promoting your business, your tent is providing some much-needed relief from the hot sun or a chilly wind. This double-duty act of servitude to the public is what endears these tents to small businesses and their customers. Plus, when designed with the right appearance (befitting the event), you will appear more genuine than other businesses whose pop-up canopies aren’t customized.

4. Light Weight

You can easily carry custom pop-up tents that weigh 40 pounds or less. Plus, you can pack one up in a jiffy. What’s more, most of them, once packed, can be lifted and carried by one or two people. It is one of the primary reasons (aside from excellent brand promotion) why many business owners choose customized pop-up tents. This is because their light weight makes assembly and disassembly easy. Plus, they can be comfortably carried.

Depending on the size you ordered the frame in, you can even store these tents in most conventional vehicles. On the other hand, the light weight options are less durable than the heavier options (which are more than 50 pounds). However, these heavier tents are made to withstand rough weather conditions such as high winds and heavy rain.

Conclusion

The next time you book your business at an exhibition or trade fair, use a custom pop-up tent to promote it. Do not opt for a regular pop-up tent. Instead, choose a tent that will allow you to customize it however you see fit. While they might cost a little more than plain tents, custom pop-up tents are one of the quickest and most affordable ways to bring public attention to your business.

The post 4 Important Benefits of Using Custom Pop-up Tents appeared first on Business Opportunities.

source http://www.business-opportunities.biz/2018/10/27/benefits-custom-pop-up-tents/