Interest rates are at an all-time low at
this time. Mortgage loans are at the lowest they have been
in years. Car dealers are offering 0% interest rate loans,
and some mortgage loans are near 6.0%. Is this a reason to
buy another home or a new car? If you were planning to purchase
a new home or car, you probably want to consider a loan at
the current interest rates. Otherwise, keep in mind that
unemployment is at its highest in years, and the economy
is not as stable as we would like it to be.
Therefore, if you do decide to purchase a home or car be
sure you realize there are still a wide range of cost you
need to be aware of, with both home loans and car loans.
With home loans there are interest rates, points, required
down payment, and a wide range of required fees and escrow
cost. The cost can vary from Mortgage Company to Mortgage
Company. Therefore, your search should be long and through
before you make a decision to accept a mortgage loan or lender.
After you decide which lender you will accept you can then
pre-qualify for a loan and search for the home you can afford.
Many of these facts are also true for car loans.
Car loans and credit card loans range from 0% to around
7.5% interest. Be careful with 0% percent interest rate loans.
Most of you know the interest rate will go up later and remain
at the higher rate with credit cards. Credit card companies
make it clear that your interest rate will increase later,
and by how much. Car loans are different.
When you consider a car loan be sure
to compare the bottom line of the 0% loan to a regular
percent loan. Sometimes
the regular percent loan will come with a lower priced car.
The moral of the story is, "there is no free ride".
Do your research, check with at least 3-4 lending sources
before you purchase you next home or car, and know the future
interest rate of a credit card before you accept it. There
are excellent loan rates available now; if you do your research
you can probably get a very good interest rate and overall
loan cost. But remember, unemployment rates are at an all-time
high, so the loan you get, should be a loan you have planned
for.
Lois Center-Shabazz is the founder of MsFinancialSavvy.com
and author of the 3-time award-winning personal
finance book, Let's Get Financial Savvy! ISBN
#0971979502.
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