16.3.09

Pre-approved Auto Loans for Getting Low Rates even with Bad Credit

It hurts a lot when a person has his dream car in front of him, but cannot get it only because he doesn't have enough cash in hand and neither he is able to get approved for car loan. However, subprime lenders can have you pre-qualified for auto financing for either new or used car, which can eliminate your financing hassle even with poor credit, while giving an edge over dealership at the time of buying your automotive.

Through pre-approved auto loans, you get to know exactly how much money you can afford and spend on the automobile financing, which enable you to be in budget. Moreover, it gives you the negotiate power against the dealer for getting lower price on car purchase while allowing to focus on getting the best car than worrying about financing.

Pre-approved auto financing can be beneficial especially for people with bad credit as you have the upper hand when it comes to getting the best rates as your are approved in advance. As sometimes it does happen that if you are not pre-qualified for car loan, the dealers force you to accept higher rates by their flattering speech. Thus, pre-approved auto loans helps avoiding the dealer to take undue advantage of yours and being appalling in front of them while saving the dealership fees which the dealers usually include as they approve the people with low credit due to the risk involved.

In pre-approved car loan once you are approved, auto lender issues a blank check with a pre-set credit limit and for limited time period. While purchasing a car you need to write just the car amount and issue to dealer. Thus when you use the check the loan comes into existence.

Hence, the bottom line is pre-approved vehicle loan offers you multiple options with an edge over dealership. Ez Auto Finance as being an online auto financing company can offer you lower rates on auto loans with instant and guaranteed approval. Through our nationwide network of lenders you get an opportunity to compare loan prices and select the one that fits into your budget and requirements. So whether you have good credit or credit challenged and need a vehicle, pre-approved car loans can offer your flexibility. Car and Auto Loans

Blank Check Auto Finance for Bad Credit

Almost all car buyers are exhausted of automobile dealerships as the salesman at dealership by their flattering speech somehow convince people to finance their vehicle so, especially people with bad credit often fall prey to them thinking of them to be the last option of loan approval. Thus, people are obligated to buy a car after being approved for automobile finance which ultimately leads them to enter into the deal, they are not satisfied with.

However, Blank check automobile financing have come up with much better option to finance your automobile needs and that is blank check auto financing. Just as its name suggests, blank check auto loans allows you to get a blank check for a pre-approved amount for buying a new car or used car, SUV, van or truck either from dealer or private party and thus giving you an edge over the dealer.

Blank check car loans allows borrower to locks in auto loan rate and term wherein the rates remains fixed and do not fluctuate unless the borrower refinance. Here the borrower is liable for the purchase price of the automobile as written on the check. The time period for purchase is usually short, wherein if purchase is not made within the specified days the check becomes void.

The way it works is, the borrower applies for a loan with a maximum amount online before ever stepping foot in the dealership. Once the car buyer is approved he/she receives a check. With the check in hand the car buyer get a automobiles within the specified price range and select the best car deal through negotiations and as per their requirements. Once it is finalize the only thing borrower has to do is fill out the blank check. The price that a borrower fills out is the price of their loan which is being endorses to the seller.

Well, it?s as simple as this. In this way, securing auto finance before you even shop for a car can be a best way to save time, money without any hassle. And also as in blank check auto loan program, your loan is approved based on your credit, not the auto purchase made. Hence it allows you to focus on buying a vehicle as per your pocket and your needs rather than auto financing as you are pre-qualified.

Auto lenders snd dealers offer you an online platform whereby you can get instant and guaranteed approval auto loan with comparatively lower rates regardless of your credit. While knowing how much you can afford on a car purchase by pre approving on your vehicle finance which allows you to put the dealer in a position whereby you have a upper hand to negotiate like a cash buyer. Finance

10.3.09

Financial and cost Statements

An indispensable part of any system of accounting is programmed of periodical statements and reports to inform management of the current financial position of the business and of the progress made by, and the costs incurred for, each process, department and division. The number of statements and reports and their characters differ according to the requirements of management of each business enterprise. The following statements and supporting cost reports are commonly prepared for the management;

(1) balance sheet,

(2) profit and loss statement or income statement supported by statement of cost of goods manufactured and sold.

Balance sheet is a statement of assets and liabilities which reveals the financial position of the business. A balance sheet prepared for a manufacturing enterprise is similar in form and contents to the balance sheet of concerns engaged in merchandising activities, with the exception that it requires three inventory accounts i.e., raw materials, work in process and finished goods. The income statement of a manufacturing company and a merchandising company reflects the basic difference in operations of these two types of enterprises.

The manufacturing company transforms raw material into finished goods through the use of labor and factory facilities (for example, a company manufacturing furniture from wood or timber). A merchandising company, such as a retail furniture store which buys finished furniture and sells it in the same form i.e., sells the goods it buys without changing the basic form. The income statement which is prepared by a merchandising concern needs no calculations of cost of goods manufactured. But the income statements prepared by the manufacturing concern requires the calculations for the cost of goods manufactured.

The income statement or condensed statement of profit and loss shows the profit or loss of the business, while the cost of goods manufactured and sold statement reveals the cost to make and sell. The cost of goods sold section of the income statement of a manufacturing business can be divided into five distinct parts:

(1) Direct materials section; it comprises of beginning inventory, purchases and purchases returns and allowances and ending inventory.

(2) Direct labor section; it includes the cost of employees whose work can be identified directly with the product manufactured.

(3) Factory overhead; it comprises of all those costs that assist in an indirect manner in the manufacturing of the product e.g., indirect materials, indirect labor, depreciation of plant and machinery, depreciation of building, rent of factory building, repairs and insurance of factory plant and machinery etc. It is to be noted that with regard to factory overhead recording, there may be three possibilities: (A) Only actual factory overhead incurred are given. (B) Only applied factory overhead are provided. (C) Both actual and applied factory overhead are given. When both actual and applied factory overhead are known then the difference is analyzed which is known as under or over applied factory overhead which is shown in the cost of goods sold or income statement. Under or Over Applied Factory Overhead is the difference of actual factory over head and applied factory overhead. I applied factory overhead are less than actual factory overhead, the variance is known as under applied factory overhead. On the other hand when applied factory overhead are more than the actual factory overhead, the variance is called over applied factory overhead. Under applied overhead are added while over applied overhead are deducted from cost of goods sold at normal.

(4) Work in process inventories; these represent the costs in process at the beginning and costs still in process at the end of the fiscal period.

(5) Finished goods inventories; These represent the cost of finished goods inventories present at the beginning and at the end of the fiscal period.

The income statement is based upon the sales or revenue, costs and expenses of manufacturing, selling or marketing, administrating, other income and expense items. The income statement is the complementary to the balance sheet.

Rashid Javed is an Asian author. He writes about financial and managerial accounting articles, financial statement analysis, Financial Education

Accounting for construction contracts

A contract is a big job requiring considerable length of time to complete and comprising activities to be done outside the factory promises, viz. construction of a dam or school building, laying down railway lines, etc. Since each contract involves considerable resources both in terms of men and materials, it is necessary to devise an appropriate accounting system to ascertain the cost and profit made on each contract separately.

Profit on incomplete contracts: At the end of an accounting period it may be found that certain contract have been completed while others are still in process and will be completed in the coming years. The total profits made on completed contract say be safely taken to the credit of the profit and loss account. But the same cannot be done in case of incomplete contracts. These contracts are still in process, and there are possibilities of profits being turned into to losses on account of heavy rise in prices of materials and labor and losses on account of other unforeseen contingencies. At the same time it does not also seem desire able to consider the profits only on completed contracts and ignore completely incomplete ones because this may result in heavy fluctuations in the figure of profit from year to year. A year in which a large number of contracts have been completed will show an abnormal high figure for profit while reserve may be the case in the year in which a large number of contracts remain incomplete. Therefore, profits on incomplete contracts should be considered, of course, after providing adequate sums for meeting unknown contingencies.

There are no hard and fast rules for the calculation of the figures for profit to be taken to the credit of profit and loss account. However, the following rules may be followed: (a) Profit should be considered in respect of work certified only, work uncertified should always be valued at cost.

(b) No profit should be taken into consideration if the amount of work certified is less than 1/4 of the contract price because in such cases it is not possible to foresee the future clearly.

(c) If the amount of work certified is 1/4 or more but less than1/2 of the contract price, 1/3 of the profit disclosed, as reduced but the percentage of cash received from the contractee, should be taken to the profit and loss account. The balance should be allowed to remain as a reserve. (d) If the amount of work certified is very much near completion, if possible the total cost of completing the contract should be estimated The estimated total profit on the contract then can be calculated by deducting the total estimated cost from the contract price. The profit and loss should be credited with that proportion of total estimated profit on cash basis, which the work certified bears to the total contract price.

(f) The whole of loss, if any, should be transferred to the profit and loss account.

Cost Plus Contracts: In certain contracts the contractee agrees to pay to the contractor the cost price (usually prime cost) of the work done on the contract plus an agreed percentage thereof by way of overhead expenses and profit. Such contracts are known as cost-plus contracts. The system of cost plus contract costing is employed in cases where it is very difficult for the contractor to quote the contract price because there has been no precedent which he may take as basis. It is also employed where the work to be done is not fixed at the time of placing order for the contract. The method is generally used where government happens to be the contractee. The method suffers from the following disadvantages:

There is no incentive to the contractor to eliminate waste and economies the cost of completing the contract. On the other hand, he is tempted to increase the cost because greater the cost, the greater will be his share of profit. In case of this system the amount of overheads recovered and profit made depends upon the value of materials used, which is subject to considerable price fluctuations. The agreed fixed percentage may, therefore, prove to be either too excessive or too low for covering overheads and profit. Escalation Clause: Escalation clause is usually provided in the contract as a safeguard against any likely changes in the prices of utilization of material and labor. The clause provides that in case prices of items of raw materials, labor, etc. specified in the contract, change during the execution of the contract, beyond a specified limit over the price prevailing at the time of signing the agreement, the contract price will be suitably adjusted. The term of the contract specify the procedure for calculating such adjustment in order to avoid all future disputes. Thus, such a clause safeguards the interests of both the contractor and contractee in case of fluctuations in the price of materials and labor, etc.

Work in Progress: At the end of the accounting period a contract may still be in progress. The term work in progress refers to the work done so for in respect of the contract, which is still incomplete. It consists of the following:

(1) Working Certified: It refers to the work approved by the contractee. In case of contracts it is the useful practice for the contractor to get the work approved from time to time from the contractee. This is helpful to the contractor in two ways; first in case the contractee finds the work not up to specifications, he may ask the contractor to take corrective actions in time. Second, in contract accounts it is useful practice to have a system of progress payments, i.e., the contractee agrees to pay a certain percentage of the work certified (say, 80 or 90 percent). This is advantageous to the contractor since he gets immediate liquid funds.

(2) Work Uncertified: It refers to the work which has been done by the contractor but not so far approved by the contractee.

Work certified generally includes some profit element also while work uncertified is always valued at cost to the contractor.

Sub Contracts: The contractor may entrust some portion of the work to be done under the contract to a sub-contractor. Usually work of a specialized nature, i.e., steel work, special flooring, etc., is done by sub-contractors, who are responsible to the main contractor. The cost of such sub-contracts is a direct charge against the contract for which the work has been done.

Special financial and management accounting is required to maintain the records of construction contracts. Accounting and Auditing

7.3.09

Level2StockQuotes.com - Free Level 2 Stock Quotes

Stock Market Tools for Investors and Day Traders to do research and keep track of their stocks...

Features free real time stock quotes, the NYSE NASDAQ ECN level 2 stock quotes book continuously updates the stock price bid and ask information for live stock quotes in real-time. Level II stock quotes also provides pre market stock quotes and after hours stock quotes are available, plus penny stocks, stock market news and charts, stock research, insiders trading, watch list and live stock charts.

Day-Trading Tips - A formula that works with any Stock, Day trading tips for using Level II Quotes that give you an advantage, track the market makers and brokerage firms, track the big picture, track the total stock shares traded by the market maker or specialist. Each Market Maker competes for customer order flow by displaying buy and sell quotations for a guaranteed number of shares. Real Stock Trading Tips and advise for intraday day traders, various stock trading tips that are used primarily as technical indicators for buy or sell signals. These stock trading tips give you an advantage for decision making in the stock market. Level2StockQuotes.
Financial Charts and Analysis

FREEDOM EAGLE CASH PREPAID MASTERCARD. LAUNCHED BY WHITE EAGLE

White Eagle (Europe) Plc, a market leader in the high growth prepaid card and electronic payments sector, in conjunction with Newcastle Building Society has launched its first Instant Issue prepaid MasterCard. for the retail sector - the Freedom Eagle Cash Card.

The Freedom Card is an instant issue prepaid MasterCard available in a handy retail pack. It is fully re-loadable, unlike most other instant issue products in the market which can only be loaded once - some even have to be thrown away when the funds are exhausted. The Freedom card is fully functional even at entry level and can be easily upgraded to higher spend levels depending upon certain criteria being satisfied. The Chip & PIN facility offers additional security and the card represents great value for money.

- Utilizing new simplified due diligence directives from the JMLSG (Joint Money Laundering Steering Group), the Freedom Prepaid MasterCard allows the customer complete control over their cash. The Freedom card is reloadable up to "650 and has immediate ATM functionality allowing the customer to load and unload their card as they require, hence no more trapped cash. It gives the customer the opportunity to fully test drive the product, they can also upgrade to higher spend and balance limits at any time they wish within the first twelve months subject to criteria being met" said Warren Hardy, Founder & CEO at White Eagle (Europe) Plc.

Kriya Patel, Head of Card Solutions at Newcastle Building Society said, "We are very pleased to launch the Freedom Card in conjunction with White Eagle. The fact that it is instant issue and also reloadable adds a new dimension of convenience to personal spending using a prepaid card, without compromising on security. As one of MasterCard s premier providers of prepaid cards in the UK and Europe, we are confident that Newcastle Building Society, together with White Eagle, offers a leading solution to the marketplace."

The initial retail launch takes place in January at various key locations throughout London, prior to the nationwide launch. Freedom Cards can also be purchased online at

-Ends-

About White Eagle

White Eagle (Europe) Plc was founded in 2007 and is a market leader in the high growth prepaid card and electronic payments market. Having recently released the Freedom Eagle Cash Prepaid MasterCard, White Eagle is also currently developing many new and exciting programmes internally, as well as enabling third parties to launch their own programmes on the White Eagle platform. White Eagle is an approved MasterCard? Member Service Provider.

About Newcastle Building Society

Newcastle Building Society is the biggest building society based in the North East and one of the strongest mutual building societies in the country. With assets under management of over "4.8bn we are certainly large enough to cope but small enough to care deeply about the needs of our members. We are committed to providing a range of innovative and attractive products and services.

The Newcastle Building Society is committed to remaining mutual and by doing so we feel we are better placed to continue to provide our investors with the quality of service expected from one of the country s strongest building societies.

About Card Solutions

Newcastle Building Society has 100 live prepaid and debit card programmes including:

- Debit cards

- Retail gift cards - replacement of paper gift token

- Teen cards

- Sub-prime cards - Un-banked adults cards

- Travel cards - Safe convenient alternative to travellers cheques

- Corporate incentive cards - cards issued direct to employees as reward payments

- Payroll and Payroll Plus cards - salary payments to employees

The Society is a MasterCard. Principal Member, with the most MasterCard. approved prepaid programmes in the UK. It holds a SEPA licence and has live programmes in the UK, Ireland, Germany, Belgium, Italy and Spain. Credit and debit cards

Low Interest Auto Loans for People with Bad Credit

Online Auto Loans for Good People with Bad Credit

A bad credit history for borrowers is an unpleasant obstacle while financing their vehicle. The reasons of poor credit may be numerous like past bankruptcy, repossessions or defaults. Hence for credit challenged people, Auto financing may seem as an impossible task. Yet, poor credit history cannot stop any borrower to buy their dream automobile with online lenders. If you are tired of applications denials, let us help you to get guaranteed approval with bad credit auto loans. We can qualify your auto finance either for your new or used automotive from dealer or private party, hassles free and at lowest possible rates regardless of your credit history.

Bad credit auto loans program is special designed for the people having less than perfect credit score, which enables them to get their vehicle at affordable rates while establishing their credit. These loans also gives a second chance to people who already own vehicle and are stuck up with higher monthly payments by the way of bad credit auto refinancing. It a belief that low interest rates and bad credit can not go hand in hand. And another is no cosigner and bad credit. However, we can help you to disprove this belief through no Cosigner bad credit car loans, where you can get bad credit auto loans without cosigner.

Although for the people with too low of credit score it almost becomes impossible to get approved with normal auto loan lenders being strict about credit check. This may be the reason why Auto loans without credit check are becoming more and more popular these days. No credit check auto loan proves helpful when you are afraid to show your credit history. This way, no matter how bad your credit may be, we can still assure you of approval on your auto finance. As we have a nationwide network of thousands of sub-prime lenders. These are the type of car lenders who are ready to take higher risks under certain circumstances. We allow them to compete with each other as soon as we receive your application to get you auto finance quotes as per your needs. Thus you are paid much better off with the subprime lending.

Bad credit shouldn't keep you away from driving vehicle, as your driving dreams cannot be sacrificed because of past misfortunes. You can drive a nice car, truck, van, or SUV while establishing or re-establishing your credit. Online auto financing company believes in offering lower auto loans rate and high approval rate for bad credit or sub-prime auto loans regardless of your credit situation with flexible terms such as car loans with no money down and no pre-payment penalty. Apply online now through easy auto loan application form for free no obligation auto loan quotes. Car and Auto Loans

Auto Loans Online without Credit Check

In this fast moving world no one can just do without a vehicle. However, not everyone can afford to get a vehicle for cash and not everyone has that perfect credit to get approval on their car. As generally, while financing an automobile, lender check out financial history to make sure that one do not have more debt to income ratio and to determine ones loan repayment capacity. Hence, it becomes difficult for the people with bad credit, zero credit or bankruptcy to get approved for an automobile loan. But now auto lenders offer you a chance to get your loan approved with no credit check auto loan wherein credit check is not required.

A no credit check auto loan program offers a great platform for the car buyers with poor financial background to get their dream vehicle while helping them to either establish or re-establish their credit rating. Especially for college students or first time car buyers who have not yet build their credit. As no credit check vehicle loan is provided on the basis of an individual?s income and employment history. So a person with significant income and employment history can obtain finance regardless of the credit issues. Hence, we can help acquire low rates on your new or used vehicle loans with the nationwide network of lenders and dealers even with less than perfect credit.

Our no credit check auto loan program can help you get start on the track of good credit as everyone deserves a break. This loan is a good chance for you to improve your credit. Our online auto financial service can help you get instant and guaranteed approval within 48 hours of your application. Get your free guaranteed auto loans now to start believing! Car and Auto Loans

Auto Loans after Bankruptcy

Since a car has become necessity for people to commute from work, one who has recently filed bankruptcy may find it difficult to get a vehicle on cash. Moreover, with strict lending term it may seem almost impossible to buy a vehicle. But new car financing with bankruptcy proves an exception to this belief of people with bankruptcy.

A post bankruptcy auto loan is much easier to get financing compared to any other unsecured loan because the car is used as collateral against the loan, thus lender can reposes the car in case of borrower's default and recover the loan amount. Besides, it can be the best way to re-build your credit if paid consistently. In fact, one can apply for auto finance the next day of bankruptcy closure.

A person can opt for this loan with either chapter 7 or chapter 13 bankruptcies. However, you may require getting an authorization from the trustee of the bankruptcy so as to be eligible for bankruptcy auto loans with chapter 13 bankruptcy. Although, only an authorization is not enough, the borrower is required to complete almost two-thirds of the bankruptcy. On the contrary, it becomes much simpler to acquire bankruptcy vehicle loans with chapter 7 bankruptcy as chapter 7 eliminates all the debt included in the bankruptcy. Hence, it becomes easier for both borrower and lender to start with the new terms.

Now the dealers and lenders have come up with the special auto financing program to help people with credit issues. These lenders are known as subprime auto lenders who work with several lenders to back auto loans with all credit types, including bankruptcy. And hence they can provide bankruptcy auto loan regardless of your financial circumstances.

Bankruptcy auto loan financing offer you second chance to get rid of the poor financial standing and re-establishing good credit. There's not a second thought, that if you apply for bankruptcy auto loan you will pay higher interest rates on bankruptcy auto loans than normal auto loan as the lenders consider you a high risk borrower. However, getting a cosigner or collateral does indeed aid you in getting a best auto loan rates. Although, if you are now approved for a car loan with higher rate, you can think of refinancing in future to qualify for lower interest rates by improving your credit by making regular payments on your current loan.

Nationwide network of lenders and dealers can find you a better deal than your local car dealerships whereby you can even be pre-approved for a car loan with a check in your hand before you shop for a car. Our auto loan specialist can help people who find it difficult to secure auto loan because of bankruptcy by offering post bankruptcy auto loan. No matter what kind of bankruptcy you file for, you are eligible for availing bankruptcy car loans with any financial circumstances. Car and Auto Loan

Auto Financing for People with Credit Issues

Rationally, having no credit history can be far better than having a poor credit history while financing your car. As bad credit borrowers are considered as risky borrower by the lenders because they consider their poor credit as a cause of defaults on the debts. However, no credit people are those who haven t yet started on their credit so there doesn t arise a question of loan default. Yet, some lenders either deny the credit application or offer a high interest rate. Fortunately, for all of them who are in the dilemma of getting approved with zero credit to obtain a vehicle loan, subprime lenders offer no credit car loans to get your car financed while you are establishing your credit.

No credit auto loans are vital for those potential borrowers who are building their credit such as first time buyers, young people or college student due to the number of barriers that obstruct the way to car ownership with lack of credit history. They all have these glazy dreams about the car, then reality sets in when it comes to financing, and all of a sudden all dreams comes to an end. However, lenders can fulfill your dream as they believe in understanding your needs and offering car loans as per your requirement.

Well, an additional problem which is faced by all the people with credit issue while obtaining a vehicle loan with low rates is a co-debtor or a cosigner. It now a well-know fact that to qualify for a low rate, the co-debtor is must. However, there are some contradictions to that and that is no cosigner vehicle loans. So, if you need a car loan and are employed but unable to get a cosigner, a no credit car loan without cosigner can be the perfect solution.

Hence, no credit auto financing allows the applicant to obtain a car loan even with lack of a credit history as it is often based primarily on your ability to repay the car loan. So, even without a credit history you can secure a auto loan on the basis of job i.e. income and assets. In short, if you have no credit and you need a automotive loan a no credit vehicle loan may be just what you need to secure.

Online financing institutions with having a network of subprime lenders who specialize in bad credit or no credit auto loans can get you lower rate as compare to other financial institution. The easiest way to get a low rate on an auto loan is to get yourself qualify through our online application wherein you get chance to compare car loan rate and decide on the best rates. Car and Auto Loan

25.2.09

Buy to Let and teh Credit Crunch

For Buy to Let market, the last few months have been difficult for the landlords with the credit crunch came increase on arrears, lack of buy to let mortgages and tougher lender?s criteria. But it is not all bad news, the houses are cheaper to buy, the rents still increasing and rental demand at all time high.

Credit Crunch

Last year, we started to see the effects of too much borrowing and declining in house prices in USA. One year later, economies throughout the world started to collapse, financial institutions going into administration, Governments in the verge of bankruptcy, mortgage lending at very low levels, UK house prices coming down and a global recession.

It?s all bad news, no! The buy to let market is stronger than ever with the demand for rental properties being higher than ever, due to first time buyers not moving into the ladder and immigration from east European countries. Within a dreadful situation, we can always find good opportunities.

2009 New Year, New Hopes!

It will be into 2009 that we shall see some improvement on the lending, specially buy to let mortgages.

It?s been predicted the houses prices will still coming down but at much lower pace and probably in 2010 they may start coming up.

For the landlords it?s a time to consolidate and review their portfolio with great opportunities to invest if you are in strong position.

Buy to let Market

Between 2004 and 2006 the buy to let boomed, due to easily accessible buy to let mortgages and property prices growth. Now the buy to let mortgage diminish, tougher lenders? criteria, specially rental cover, and house prices are coming down.

Buy-to-let is no longer sizzling and many investors that started being a landlord in recent years are struggling as mortgage rates rise. Many could not change mortgages due to low or negative equity, so when the initial rate deal came to an end and they started to pay the Standard Variable rate of the Lender, the rent was not enough to cover the mortgage payments.

Within the most affected are those investors who bought properties at a suppose discount to sale straight away, looking for short term investment but when properties prices started to come down and the houses taking longer to sale, they run to serious problems.

The golden rule of buy to let investment is to look as a long-term investment, taking seriously. If the landlords invest wisely, look at long term, do the homework and stick to the tried and tested method of investing for rental returns rather than capital growth, they will be successful. Otherwise, the investor will probably run into serious problems.

Buy to let investment does not guaranteed success as any other investment but doing it well and it can be an excellent piggy bank for retirement.

I am leaving now some tips for all professional or first time landlords:

Do your homework

If you are a first time landlord look at pitfalls before you look at the benefits, buy to let investments are time consuming, therefore think if it is the right time to invest in buy to let or leave the money on a good savings account.

If you are already a seasoned landlord, do not stretch yourself, look first to consolidate and add strength to your portfolio, as if you are in stronger position your next investment will run smoothly. Location, Location, Location

It pays to choose carefully where your next buy to let property will be. This does not mean to buy on a cheaper or expensive location but rather the rental demand in the area. Look for clues like if is near a University or Hospital, very trendy area for professionals, excellent amenities and links, etc. Avoid all cost areas with oversupply of properties to let, look at properties and letting agents? websites and if a certain area has numerous properties to let, think if you want that kind of competition as you may have to negotiate the rent down to let the property.

Look at the figures

Before you buy, take a look at several properties, writing down the ones are of your interest. Look at the rental yields on them, see if the rental income covers at least 125% of the mortgage payments and if worth to spend around 25% on a deposit, this will help you to secure finance and a good rental yield. Many lenders restricted the Loan to values to 75% or less and rental cover to 120%-125%, you can still arrange products with less rental cover but think if you want to restrict your rental yield.

Your target tenant

Think who will be your tenant and imagine in his shoes? If you are student you like a place to be comfortable and clean, links to university, nothing luxurious. If you are a professional you will be looking at a modern and stylish interior but nothing too pretentious, and excellent links. If it is for a family rental, do not put any furniture in, leave as a blank canvas, normally over the years the family has a few belongings they want to take to the next property.

Look into your portfolio

Review your portfolio, see if the initial rate deals in any of the mortgaged properties ended and compare the rate you are or will be paying with the rates currently in the market. If you are better off with the lender?s Standard Variable rate, does not mean you stop looking for a better deal. Try to look once a month for new rates or ask to your adviser to keep an eye on the products.

See if there is any opportunity within your portfolio to get a higher rental income. Why not transform a house with 3 bedrooms, 1 dining and 1 living room into a 4 bedroom house with living/dining room; make a loft conversion/extension to get 1 or 2 more bedrooms; renting by the room, as by the room the rental income is normally higher (but must be on right area). The possibilities are immense to add value to your portfolio and increase your rental income without spending as much money as buying another property.

Look at other areas

Most Landlords invest where they live but most of the good opportunities are normally in other areas. Do not be afraid, as if you follow the golden rule, can be very time consuming investing areas away but can be worthwhile.

Ask for a discount

When you buy an investment property, you must not forget you enjoy the same benefits of a First time buyer - No chains, so you can move quickly. If you do not ask for a discount you will not have it.

Avoid Tenancy pitfalls

Put aside at least 2 months of rent, in case when your tenant move out or when you just bought a property will help towards the mortgage payments until you find a tenant.

Worth paying for a complete tenant check report, where the provider will get you a credit file of the prospective tenants, check their ID, get the references and they are not expensive. It is not guaranteed you will be good tenants but helps a lot. Also, you should consider a rent guaranteed insurance, where can cover for rent arrears, pay towards the legal costs to evict the tenants and damage made on the property. With this type of insurance you may request a lower deposit from the tenants to match the excess of the insurance, that may help to secure a tenancy quicker.

Shop around

Shop around for letting agents, ask a discount to traders: plumbers, furniture. The more you save the higher will be the return from the investment.

Super Mortgages

Buy to let Mortgages in UK | Buy to let Mortgages

23.2.09

Getting Best Auto Loan Rates with Low Interest in Washington

With US government's decision of bail-out to major players of auto makers due to the credit crisis, prices of many well-know new car models have gone down. Moreover, used vehicle prices have also fallen nearly by 6 percent as repossessed cars, trucks and S.U.V. s flood auction lots. Which has ultimately affected the auto financing industry with interest rates in Washington State and across US are at all time low. So at a time when it s difficult to lower your car loan rates as little as half a percentage you are at current, able to get two or three percentage lower while improving your credit history.

Washington automobile finance

Available car loans rate in Washington as per sources for new cars are between 6.5 to 8.5 and 7.5 to 9 for used automobile.

Moreover, with E-commerce on its edge more and more people are turning to online auto financing rather than going to dealership where they get chance to match and compare different quotes through different lenders being at home. And if you are a resident of Washington, whether it is Seattle, Everett or any other part of the state and in the market for an automobile, there are various online financing and auto refinancing option available to ease your search and make your car buying experience convenient and hassle free even with bad credit, no credit or bankruptcy.

Buying a new or used car you want and going, to and fro at work on your own leisure can be a wonderful experience. However, getting the right interest rate is important, particularly for people with bad credit. Getting a Washington bad credit auto loan can be the best alternative for people with bad or poor credit to buy a car with limited income while repairing your credit as it allows the customer to choose the best rate from a number of financing sources easily by filling an online application form available on various car loan sites.

Washington auto loans offered in nearly all the area including Seattle, Bellevue, Bellingham, Bremerton, Olympia, Vancouver-Longview, Whidbey Island and so on by online automobile lenders give you opportunity to have lower rates on auto loan regardless of bad credit history with instant and guaranteed approval at your convenience. Whereby your personal information will be submitted within our network of qualified local lenders or financial institution across the state of Washington to get you flexible terms and best deal. Car and Auto Loans

Getting Online Auto Loans in Colorado

Auto dealers may be facing challenges selling car in Colorado due to credit crisis, however it is helping the borrowers to get auto loans at comparably lower rates while improving their credit.

Colorado automobile finance

That too with online car financing people are offered low interest auto loan which has proved beneficial especially for first time buyers or buyers with credit issues i.e. no credit, poor credit or bankruptcy to get approved for car loan.

It has also made easy for the people of Colorado to get their car financed instantly being at home with various financing options like

no down payment, no prepayment penalties or no application fees that are difficult to obtain with traditional method of car financing.

In brief, the online car financing has arrived as a boon for all the Americans while offering security of data and without any bias.

Online automobile lenders offers vehicle loans in Colorado for new or used car purchases from either dealership or private seller. Auto Loan approvals are quick and easy with our extensive network of auto financing specialists covering almost all the areas of Colorado including Arvada, Boulder, Colorado Springs, Cortez, Denver, Durango, Fort Collins-Loveland, Grand Junction-Montrose, Greeley, Lakewood, Westminster and many more. You can get guaranteed and instant approval auto loan financing for your car with low rates and even with bad credit or no credit. Car and Auto Loan

18.2.09

Online Accounting Services for New Business Setup

Every new business requires right accounting planning, proper functioning and monitoring. Failing to do so, no business can survive for longer in the market. Even a small mistake and lack of proper accounting planning can cause heavy financial loss to business. Although all these accounting tasks can be performed manually, but it is so costly that small business can t afford its prices, especially new businesses. So now a days many businesses are using online accounting services in place of manual accounting services.

Online accounting services not only save time and money but also give accurate results that assists in convenient functioning and monitoring of the business. However one cannot rely on manual accounting services to achieve 100% accurate results.

Online accounting services can easily handle all your accounting tasks, either day to day accounting activities or long term accounting planning and functions. It is easy to use any where and any time without any detailed technical knowledge. New business can easily save money, time and man power by using these online accounting services and find a better result than manual accounting services.

Online accounting services provide 24 x 7 technical supports online and if needed it provide technical trainers as well as accountants also to fulfill your all types of accounting needs.

Online accounting services can be used for all types of tax preparation and tax return also with complete accuracy. It also suggests the best tax saving plan for your business in compliance with financial policies. Thus by using online accounting services you can not only manage your business conveniently but also by saving valuable time, money and other resources, you can increase the productivity of your business.

Try Online accounting, online bookkeeping and tax preparation services absolutely free for one month and experience the most convenient outsourcing tax preparation and other accounting services online. Tax and Accounting

14.2.09

Outsourcing Accounting to US - Powerful Business Strategy

Thanks to the latest technology, you don t have to hire someone full-time or even part-time to stay in your office and handle all of your financial matters. Instead, you can use a reliable online accounting company to do this part of the work for you.

One of the biggest benefits of choosing this option is that you can have access to professional services from the convenience of your office via the Internet. Online accounting services allow you to have the assistance of professionals in the area that can help you but without charging you a small fortune. By outsourcing to a US accounting company, you ll be able to receive the same professional service you would expect but can do so more economically.

Important Services to Look For:-

When you are trying to locate a high quality company for your outsourced accounting services, make sure you pay attention to the details of what is offered. For example, online tax preparation could be a valuable service that could help your company save time and money because you won t have to do the taxes in-house, pay an expensive accountant to fill out the paperwork, or worry about being audited later one. You ll also want to look at the company s online bookkeeping services, such as handling your accounts receivable and payable or assisting with your payroll management.

You should also focus on US-based accounting services. While other countries may be able to provide good services, too, only a company based in the United States is going to fully understand the accounting needs your business faces. They ll also be familiar with tax laws and other financial requirements which may be unique to different countries.

Finding the Right Company:-

If you re looking for these types of services, you can hire a professional organization that can do all of this and more. This concern also provides professional trainers and accountants so that you could manage your business effectively and efficiently. Some professional concern offers free service for a limited period so that you could understand better that how these services are helpful for your business.

Get free online accounting, bookkeeping and tax preparation services absolutely free for one month at Ferrarabusiness.com, National leaders in the field of online accounting and outsource tax return services for conveniently managing businesses online. Bookkeeping

12.2.09

Banking - Back to the Basics

Few banks have yet emerged from the global banking crisis and the resultant recession unscathed, especially the top-tier. With interest rate cuts, sharp increases in unemployment, wage deflation across continents, further sharp falls in asset prices, the recession is showing no signs of recession in the near future.

All banks are today looking at reducing costs, be it IT budgets, Travel, Human Resources; in short from cap-ex to op-ex. The question is - Does this alone solve the challenges that are faced, if only they did!

If doing more with less was Bank s mantra in 2008 then 2009 is time to edit it a little "Doing Much more with Even less" is the key. Fighting and surviving the crisis while registering growth in troubled times is a bank s near-term vision.

Banking on the more dependable fee income and other sure and recurring revenues are some immediate steps in the right direction of tackling the challenge faced by the banks. While banks continue to center on fee based income the heat on increasing deposits should not be turned off. Balance based charging, balance offsetting and offering earnings credit to worthy customers should be the hymn.

No more efficiency gaps for banks, not any more seepage, no more taping over the cracks. Automating and centralizing pricing and billing and tackling the revenue leakage challenge, finding and retaining profitable customers is the enabler.

Expense reduction is the other foundation. Banks need to at this point in time consolidate redundant systems, streamline processes and automate for minimum manual intervention. The pricing patterns need to be re-looked at, taking into consideration behavioral influencers. Charging a high price for costly products/services like branch usage, other bank ATM usage and low price for less costly items on the menu like internet/mobile banking should help. Advanced costing models also need to be put in place. Outsourcing non-core activities need to be looked at with much more gravity.

As put by a leading analyst, business Intelligence will be the cornerstone of competitive success for financial institutions in 2009 - Understanding client expectations about products and channels and delivering on that promise will determine the leaders in financial services. Making sure that banks promise what they can deliver and delivering what they promise will be the key. For this a single customer view becomes imperative. Analysis of usage pattern, forecasting customer behavior, finding the optimal price for the customer/segment, better customer segmentation and offering personalized products/pricing should be the focus.

Needless to say 2009 will be the year of innovations, innovations especially in the arena of customer acquisition and retention Strategies. Investments need to focus on new customer acquisition, cross and up-selling, risk-based pricing and aggressively pushing web channels.

Some things go without saying, but are best when said, competition for instance. Competition to say the least will be heavy, not just from traditional players but from the non-traditional (In 2007, 47% of the top 100 non-financial services brands had in-house capabilities to provide financial services to customers this is expected to reach 90% in 2011!) ones too, scoring brownies while banks are in troubled times and reducing time-to-market.

As I mentioned before bank budgets cut are real and absolute, but scope for selected spending should not be cut, because that move could slash into the bone, resulting in more loss than gain in the long run. Spend on risk analytics (especially interconnected nature of risk), Centralized Pricing and Billing and MIS should be continued if not heightened as the demand for better intelligence and efficiency from within the enterprise and better customer experience and wallet share from outside the enterprise is going to be the tune the banks will need to play in 2009 and ahead.

Jebin George

Finance

8.2.09

Financial and Cost Statements

An indispensable part of any system of accounting is programmed of periodical statements and reports to inform management of the current financial position of the business and of the progress made by, and the costs incurred for, each process, department and division. The number of statements and reports and their characters differ according to the requirements of management of each business enterprise. The following statements and supporting cost reports are commonly prepared for the management; (1) balance sheet, (2) profit and loss statement or income statement supported by statement of cost of goods manufactured and sold.

Balance sheet is a statement of assets and liabilities which reveals the financial position of the business. A balance sheet prepared for a manufacturing enterprise is similar in form and contents to the balance sheet of concerns engaged in merchandising activities, with the exception that it requires three inventory accounts i.e., raw materials, work in process and finished goods. The income statement of a manufacturing company and a merchandising company reflects the basic difference in operations of these two types of enterprises.

The manufacturing company transforms raw material into finished goods through the use of labor and factory facilities (for example, a company manufacturing furniture from wood or timber). A merchandising company, such as a retail furniture store which buys finished furniture and sells it in the same form i.e., sells the goods it buys without changing the basic form. The income statement which is prepared by a merchandising concern needs no calculations of cost of goods manufactured. But the income statements prepared by the manufacturing concern requires the calculations for the cost of goods manufactured.

The income statement or condensed statement of profit and loss shows the profit or loss of the business, while the cost of goods manufactured and sold statement reveals the cost to make and sell. The cost of goods sold section of the income statement of a manufacturing business can be divided into five distinct parts:

(1) Direct materials section; it comprises of beginning inventory, purchases and purchases returns and allowances and ending inventory.

(2) Direct labor section; it includes the cost of employees whose work can be identified directly with the product manufactured.

(3) Factory overhead; it comprises of all those costs that assist in an indirect manner in the manufacturing of the product e.g., indirect materials, indirect labor, depreciation of plant and machinery, depreciation of building, rent of factory building, repairs and insurance of factory plant and machinery etc. It is to be noted that with regard to factory overhead recording, there may be three possibilities: (A) Only actual factory overhead incurred are given. (B) Only applied factory overhead are provided. (C) Both actual and applied factory overhead are given. When both actual and applied factory overhead are known then the difference is analyzed which is known as under or over applied factory overhead which is shown in the cost of goods sold or income statement. Under or Over Applied Factory Overhead is the difference of actual factory over head and applied factory overhead. I applied factory overhead are less than actual factory overhead, the variance is known as under applied factory overhead. On the other hand when applied factory overhead are more than the actual factory overhead, the variance is called over applied factory overhead. Under applied overhead are added while over applied overhead are deducted from cost of goods sold at normal.

(4) Work in process inventories; these represent the costs in process at the beginning and costs still in process at the end of the fiscal period.

(5) Finished goods inventories; These represent the cost of finished goods inventories present at the beginning and at the end of the fiscal period.

The income statement is based upon the sales or revenue, costs and expenses of manufacturing, selling or marketing, administrating, other income and expense items. The income statement is the complementary to the balance sheet.

Rashid Javed is an Asian author. He writes about financial and managerial accounting articles, financial statement analysis, and accounting ratios. Financial Education

Financial Statement Analysis

ll financial statements are essentially historically historical documents. They tell what has happened during a particular period of time. However most users of financial statements are concerned about what will happen in the future. Stockholders are concerned with future earnings and dividends. Creditors are concerned with the company's future ability to repay its debts. Managers are concerned with the company's ability to finance future expansion. Despite the fact that financial statements are historical documents, they can still provide valuable information bearing on all of these concerns.

Financial statement analysis involves careful selection of data from financial statements for the primary purpose of forecasting the financial health of the company. This is accomplished by examining trends in key financial data, comparing financial data across companies, and analyzing key financial ratios.

Managers are also widely concerned with the financial ratios. First the ratios provide indicators of how well the company and its business units are performing. Some of these ratios would ordinarily be used in a balanced scorecard approach. The specific ratios selected depend on the company s strategy. For example a company that wants to emphasize responsiveness to customers may closely monitor the inventory turnover ratio. Since managers must report to shareholders and may wish to raise funds from external sources, managers must pay attention to the financial ratios used by external inventories to evaluate the company's investment potential and creditworthiness.

Although financial statement analysis is a highly useful tool, it has two limitations. These two limitations involve the comparability of financial data between companies and the need to look beyond ratios. Comparison of one company with another can provide valuable clues about the financial health of an organization. Unfortunately, differences in accounting methods between companies sometime makes it difficult to compare the companies financial data. For example if one company values its inventories by the LIFO method and another firm by average cost method, then direct comparisons of financial data such as inventory valuations are and cost of goods sold between the two firms may be misleading. Some times enough data are presented in foot notes to the financial statements to restate data to a comparable basis. Otherwise, the analyst should keep in mind the lack of comparability of the data before drawing any definite conclusion. Nevertheless, even with this limitation in mind, comparisons of key ratios with other companies and with industry averages often suggest avenues for further investigation.

An inexperienced analyst may assume that ratios are sufficient in themselves as a basis for judgment about the future. Nothing could be further from the truth. Conclusions based on ratio analysis must be regarded as tentative. Ratios should not be viewed as an end, but rather they should be viewed as a starting point, as indicators of what to pursue in greater depth. They raise may questions, but they rarely answer any question by themselves. In addition to ratios, other sources of data should be analyzed in order to make judgments about the future of an organization. They analyst should look, for example, at industry trends, technological changes, changes in consumer tastes, changes in broad economic factors, and changes within the firm itself. A recent change in a key management position, for example, might provide a basis for optimism about the future, even though the past performance of the firm may have been mediocre.

Few figures appearing on financial statements have much significance standing by themselves. It is the relationship of one figure to another and the amount and direction of change over time that are important in financial statement analysis. How does the analyst key in on significant relationship? How does the analyst dig out the important trends and changes in a company? Three analytical techniques are widely used; dollar and percentage changes on statements, common-size statements, and financial ratios formulas.

Rashid Javed is an Asian author. He writes about financial statement analysis, and accounting ratios. Financial Education

29.1.09

Bad Credit Car Loans in Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii & Idaho

Delaware Car Loan: While, car becoming necessity for the people of US; obtaining it with cash is not everyone cup of tea. Thus car loan turns out to be the best option. However, interest is associated with car loans which may go beyond your budget for you to pay back in the future if not taken care while accepting it. That is why it becomes important to secure yourself for low interest for your automobile financing.Washington automobile finance

Florida Car Finance: One important factor to determine the rates on your car loan are the state laws. All the state lenders are abide by the government laws, which limits the lender from charging you rates above certain limit. Hence, it becomes necessary for you to check the rates before applying for car loans.

Georgia Auto Loans: If you are out for a new car, just watch out for few financing option which can get you low rates on your auto financing with bad credit. For instance,if you are buying a fuel-efficient car you may get financing for discounted rates regardless of your credit history.

Hawaii Auto Finance: You may get approved for your new or used car financing through any financial institute if you are buying it from a dealer. But usually it gets difficult to get affordable financing for your car if you are buying from a private party. Hence, online car finance companies are the considered as best source for getting you instant and low rate finance.

Idaho Automobile Loan: The reason for why the entire loan advisers suggest going for low interest rate car loan is because it saves your great deal of money when you finance your car and allowing you to spend on other necessary things while solving your transportation problem. Our team of automobile loan specialist will help you to get loan based upon your credit rating and financial earnings.

Related Car financing options which may be needful to you:

IL Car Loans Online | IN Car Title Loan | IA New Car Loan | KS Automobile Loan | KY Best Car Loan | WA Instant Auto Loan | NJ Easy Car Finance | NY Low Interest Car Loan | CA Used Car Loan | CO Car Refinancing | Loans |

Online Car Loans in Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts & Michigan

Louisiana Car Loan: Shopping for online car loans guarantees your approval while getting you the best rates. Your location is no longer a barrier to finding the best auto loan rate. There are various financing options available online however; you have to take advantage of it.Online Automobile Finance

Maine Auto Loan: With the increase in the number of potential borrowers for online car loan, lenders have also started competing for borrower business. Thus it makes possible for borrowers to get competitive rates and flexible terms and condition at their convenience.

Maryland Car Finance: Increased competition in the Online American auto finance industry benefits you with comparing car loan rates from most of the lenders as there are a lot of auto finance lenders that offer online car loan. Consequently, online auto loan give you an opportunity to have quotes from more than one lender.

Massachusetts Car Financing: When comes to finance a car, every car buyer look for a Low Rate Auto Loan. However, getting a low interest car loan becomes a hectic task especially if you have credit issues or low income and do not have cosigner or down payment. Online Automobile Financing give you a second chance to get over this obstacle by obtaining either loan with no down payment or cosigner while repairing your credit for future borrowing.

Michigan Auto Finance: With Michigan lawmakers asking help from the government to make it easier for car buyers to get loans, in the hope of helping Big Three Detroit based U.S. auto companies to ride out the financial crisis. Thus, people now can expect to get lower prices and rates on car purchase.

Related car financing options which may be needful to you:

MN Car Finance | MS Auto Loan | Car Loans MO | MT Auto Financing | NE Car Credit | WA Auto Loan | NJ Car Finance | Car Loan NY | CA Car Finance | CO Auto Credit | Loans |

Guaranteed Car Loans in NV, NH, NM, NC & ND

Nevada Car Loans: Car Loan rates differs on the basis of the type of car purchase. If you are going for new car you can have lower rates as compared to used car loan rates. However, it doesn't make any difference as getting a high price new car with low rates or low priced used car with higher rate.

automobile finance

New Hampshire Auto Loan: A steady job and income plays a vital step towards the approval for car loan. Mostly the lenders requires one year at an employer as it determines your steadiness of income. You can expect to get more flexible terms applying online looking as the increased business competition.

New Mexico Automobile Finance: If you are working family you may find it difficult to go physical with the document from lender to lender for car loan approval. The best solution can be the online application, which can get you instant guaranteed approval auto loan with security and lower rates.

North Carolina Vehicle Financing: Credit check is always a concern for people with less than perfect credit or zero credit while opting for auto loan whether you are residents of North Carolina or any other state. Yet, there are financing options accessible whereby you can expect to get low rate car finance without credit check. There are a lot of opportunities available in the US auto industry for borrower easy financing which you need to be aware.

North Dakota Car Finance: Bad credit is now no more an issue of concern with the US sub prime lenders who have made financing easy and hassle free for the people for America with the bad credit auto loan. Subprime lenders are the lenders who offer car loans to the people with credit issue at lowest possible rates. There are a lot of car loan websites who have network of sub-prime lenders.

Related automobile loan options which may be useful to you:

OH Car Loans | OK Auto Finance | OR Auto Credit | PA Vehicle Loans | RI Vehicle Finance | Washington Auto Title Loan | New Jersey No Credit Car Loan | Car Loan New York | California Car Credit | Colorado Auto Refinance | Car and Auto Loans |

Secured Car Loans in Tennessee, Texas, Utah, South Carolina & Dakota

automobile finance refinance with low interest

South Carolina Car Credit: Car loan is a type of secured loan whereby your lender has the rights to reposes your car in case of default in the payment. However, there are secured car loans offered in the market, where you can give your house or boat or any asset on security and get the car loan. This type of loan can get you low rates as the lenders have the security in case of default.

South Dakota Auto Loans: Car loan rates and credit score have inverse relationship as the low your score the high is your rate of interest and the high your score the low your interest rate is. So it becomes vital to improve your credit score before buying a car. However, lenders cannot charge you high rate above a specified limit as per the state government laws.

Tennessee Vehicle Finance: Online is one such a platform which offers car loans for everybody whether you have a bad credit, no credit or bankruptcy due to the benefit of widespread network of sub prime lenders and dealers. Credit is no more an issue of concern with online car financing with bad credit.

Texas Auto Financing: While texas being a large state it sometimes becomes difficult for a local lender to reach in every area whereas an online lender has the facility of virtual network with internet and so can reach to every nook and corner of the state providing car loans to the people.

Utah Car Loans: Financing your car currently can be advantageous due to credit crisis where dealers are offering lower rates to clear there car lots. The people though who are on the verge of defaulting on their vehicle loan can get their loan terms revised while lowering the rates on car loans.

Related car loan financing options which may be needful to you: Auto Loans VT | Car Finance VA | Washington Auto Loan | WV Vehicle Loans | Used Car Loans WI | WY New Car Credit | New Jersey Car Loan | Car Loan New York | California Auto Finance | Colorado Car Credit. Car and Auto Loans

28.1.09

A guide to Mortgage Payment Protection

It has become commonplace for the average homeowner to be obsessed with the value of their property, but the habit often leads to a false sense of security.

Unfortunately, continued ownership in most cases depends on the ability to carry on meeting monthly mortgage payments, which in turn depends on being able to earn an income. So imagine suddenly being made redundant or being diagnosed with an illness likely to keep you off work for months.

Any savings you have lying around are unlikely to last long because, although it may be possible to cut back on non-essential items, the basic costs of living won t conveniently disappear. Robbing Peter to pay Paul by taking out further loans to repay existing ones can prove a slippery slope and in some cases may even lead to you having your home repossessed.

1. False Sense of Security Ironically, at a time when high property values have created a feel-good factor, many new homeowners are more vulnerable to the possibility of losing their income than ever before. This is because they have committed virtually every last penny to finding a deposit and paying other costs like solicitors and surveyors fees.

But the so called State safetynet is unlikely to provide as much help as generally imagined. Most homeowners will not receive any State assistance at all because they have either a full-time working partner or savings totaling over 8,000. Even those eligible for State support will not get any help with capital repayments.They will only receive assistance with interest payments on mortgages of up to 100,000 - and even this will not be available for the first nine months if they have taken out their mortgage since October 1995.

2. Mortgage Payment Protection MPPI Can Help Nevertheless, if you work in the UK it is possible to take out insurance against being unable to meet your mortgage obligations in the event of losing your income.

Mortgage Payment Protection can be used to cover your mortgage outgoings if you are unable to work due to illness, injury or involuntary unemployment. In such circumstances it will typically pay out for a maximum of one year.

3. Confusing Number Of Titles Mortgage Payment Protection Insurance MPPI is also often referred to as accident, sickness and unemployment cover or payment protection insurance but these titles can be confusing because they are also used to refer to similar cover that is not specifically attached to a mortgage.

Additional confusion is caused by the fact that Mortgage Payment Protection Insurance is sometimes known as mortgage protection insurance, a title which can also refer to life insurance when it is specifically used to protect a mortgage.

4. How It Works You choose the level of monthly cover you require.The policy can be used to cover both capital and interest repayments as well other mortgage-related outgoings, such as premiums for endowment policies and household insurance.

You then pay a monthly Mortgage Payment Protection Insurance premium based on the level of cover you have selected. If you are unable to work as a result of illness, injury or involuntary unemployment the policy will pay out the pre-agreed monthly amount for a maximum of one year.

There is, however, normally a waiting period between when the claim is made and when the first payment is received.Typically this is 30 days, but with some policies it is 60 days whilst with others, particularly those from independent providers there is an option to backdate cover to day one.

5. The Cost The better Mortgage Payment Protection Insurance MPPI policies offered by specialist intermediaries can cost less than 4 a month per 100 of monthly benefit covered, so for the average mortgage this is likely to amount to no more than the cost of a run-of-the-mill evening out each month. All Mortgage Payment Protection Insurance policyholders pay the same flat rate, regardless of factors such as age, smoking habits and medical history.

6. The Main Exclusions Mortgage Payment Protection Insurance policies will not pay out if:

- It becomes clear that you knew you were about to make a claim when you came on cover.

- You leave work voluntarily or as a result of misconduct, fraud or dishonesty.

- You have a so-called "chronic" medical condition - a long-term condition from which there is no realistic chance of recovery.

- Medical conditions exists prior to coming on cover.These are normally referred to as "preexisting conditions".

- You have mild stress related and back related conditions.

7. Those Not In Standard Employment Temporary, casual and seasonal workers are not eligible but contract workers can be covered if they have at least 12 months continuous service with their employer, so can part-time workers who work 16 or more hours a week.

Mortgage Payment Protection Insurance MPPI can cover the self-employed, but it will normally only pay out if they cease trading altogether, as opposed to merely experiencing a quiet period. This can therefore make it of questionable value.

8. Buying From The Right Source Banks and building societies will be only too keen to try to sell you Mortgage Payment Protection Insurance because they will earn lucrative commission from doing so. But be warned that many of them offer cover that is considerably more expensive and of significantly inferior quality to that offered by specialist intermediaries.

You are under no obligation to buy your policy from your mortgage lender, although they are most unlikely to volunteer this fact. Indeed, they will probably automatically include its premium in your mortgage quote, which is a very underhand tactic. It is important to realise that looking elsewhere cannot jeopardise your chances of being granted a mortgage.

If you find that you are simply too busy during the house buying process to look elsewhere then make sure that you do so when things have quietened down, because switching to a Mortgage Payment Protection Insurance policy offered by a specialist intermediary could save you thousands of pounds over the mortgage term.

9. The Claims Process Details of the claims process will be outlined in your policy document.You will usually be required to complete a claim form and send it to your insurer. If you have been made redundant you will need to enclose your redundancy notice in support of your claim.

If you are ill or injured the insurer will establish the validity of your claim by writing to your GP. It is also at this stage that it will discover whether the illness you are claiming for is in fact a preexisting condition.

10. Complaints If you have a complaint, you should raise this in the first instance with the insurer, lender or intermediary who sold you the Mortgage Payment Protection Insurance policy. But if you are not satisfied with its complaints procedure, you may be entitled to refer the matter to the Financial Ombudsman Service - the independent body that resolves disputes between financial organisations and consumers. Using the service will not cost you anything and will not effect your rights to take subsequent action through the courts.

11. Does Everyone Need Mortgage Payment Protection Insurance? If someone has levels of savings that are so substantial that they don t need Mortgage Payment Protection Insurance then it is hard to understand why they need a mortgage in the first place!

Nevertheless, the cover is not necessarily suitable for all homeowners. Some people already have a high degree of protection against sickness and injury through other forms of health insurance such as income protection.

Indeed many people have free income protection cover at work and this may well be sufficient to fund not just their mortgage payments in the event of incapacity but the bulk of the rest of their lifestyle as well.

12.Doing Your Homework So the first step should be to ask your HR department whether you are a member of an income protection scheme and, if you are, ask them the length of the "deferred period" - the time that elapses between when you make a claim and when the monthly benefit payments start being made.

If you learn that the deferred period is six months, which is often the case, then you may well decide that you need Mortgage Payment Protection Insurance to plug the gap.

Ask HR also for details of your company s short term sick pay. If you are with a very generous employer which gives you full pay for the first six months followed by half pay for the next six months then you may feel that you don t need Mortgage Payment Protection Insurance.

You may, however, decide that you still need cover for involuntary unemployment without further health cover. In which case you can take out only this section of the Mortgage Payment Protection Insurance policy and pay a significantly reduced premium.

13. Remember The Exclusions But remember that involuntary unemployment cover doesn t cover voluntary redundancy, so if you work in an industry where this has become the most common method of terminating employment you may decide that Mortgage Payment Protection Insurance doesn t represent good value. Similarly someone who is self-employed or who has a recurring illness that would be excluded on the grounds of being a pre-existing condition may decide that the limited cover that the product offers them doesn t justify the premiums.

Most homeowners should, however, simply ask themselves whether they can afford to be without Mortgage Payment Protection Insurance. Mortgages