How to Organize Your Home for Educational Success
Parents need to organize their homes to be conducive to an educational environment for their children. Homes that are conducive to education have developed an environment that will increase the academic preparedness for their children. In our society, children need all the advantages necessary to become well-educated and if children can start the journey from home, all the better.We all realize that the examples we give to our children can play a major part in what kind of person they grow up to be. If we set good examples for our children, hopefully they will observe and learn from those examples. Since parents set the first examples for their children, why not set an example of maintaining a well-organized home that has an educational environment.Parents should realize there may be a direct relationship between a clean, well organized home and how much education and financial success children will achieve. Parents should always be looking for every advantage for their children, and if developing successful children is as simple as keeping a clean and orderly home. All of our homes should be clean. We also know that it takes more than keeping a clean house to raise educated children, and by no means am I saying that children must come from an organized, clean home in order to be successful. Children can learn in any environment, but an organized environment is more conducive to success.Parents should also remember that requiring children to keep the house clean is part of keeping an environment conducive to education. Children should be given the responsibility of keeping their bedroom clean and also keeping any room they use in the house clean. In addition, children should have consequences for not keeping their bedroom or any room they use clean. This is a good way to build some responsibility in the children.When organizing a home conducive for education anything that is not useful should be thrown out to make room for the educational environment. When this is completed the parents should try and find a room in the house that can be used for educational purposes. The room can be a shared room, but when someone walks in the room, they will observe the many educational tools. More information will be provided about this room later in this article.To continue with organizing an educational friendly home, parents should place educational items throughout the house to make children aware of the importance of education. Parents could start by hanging up pictures throughout the house depict different people from other counties. This is a perfect time for parents to discuss the pictures with their children and give them a lesson about the people. The history lessons that can be derived from pictures can be invaluable for children, and remember this is part of building a house conducive to education for children.In building an education friendly home the parents must have several bookshelves throughout the house. Bookshelves mean there are books in the home. Books should always be visible throughout the house for children, so they can realize the importance of them. Homes with no books in them are sending the wrong message to their children. Reading is the foundation of education, and the only way children can practice their reading is to have books at home. The bookshelves should be placed in strategic places throughout the house. One of the most important rooms to place the bookshelf is the child’s bedroom. Children need to have easy access to books to encourage them to read. Parents should find one or two other locations in the house for bookshelves. Parents may have a special workroom in the house that could be another good location for a bookshelf.If the house is big enough to set aside a special room for educational tools, this would be very helpful for children and adults. This room should be well lit and have a large desk or table with a computer and printer that has access to the Internet. This is a good place to have a bookshelf and books. Now since we live in the technology age, the room should also be equipped with fax, scanner, and telephone. Children can use this room to do homework, research and reading. This is what we call a 21st century room. Parents who can afford to have a 21st century room are giving their children an educational advantage that should help with their success.Parents should also target other rooms in the house to develop an educational environment. If the house has a basement the parents can put up posters with positive messages to encourage children. Furthermore, parents can place magazines in the bathroom and in the kitchen to encourage reading. The kitchen could be used to place children’s report cards on the refrigerator each semester. Parents who have degrees, awards or certificate should place them on a wall in the house or a room that is visible. Children love to see accomplishments of their parents, and maybe it can motivate them to be successful. Parents should remember that the goal is to build the entire house as an educational environment.In addition to the educational friendly home, the parents should set some routines in place for their children that go hand and hand with the educational environment. Some routines that should be in place include having children set a special time each night to do homework, a set time to get up each morning and go to sleep each night. Children should have procedures for what chores are expected of them. It also helps if parents show children how to organize their room by placing items in special places. Parents should also consider posting a chart on the inside front cover of their child’s folders to track the amount of time spent studying for each subject, and note what chapters and assignments have been completed. This can help organize your student’s educational materials within your home and document his or her learning accomplishments for the school year.Time should be set aside for children to read. If possible, dinner should be eaten as a family, and parents should discuss the happening of the day.Parents should monitor noise levels during homework time. Whether the child is working independently or together with parents, the phones, televisions and outside noises distract should be at a minimum. Parents should be aware of study time and encourage family and visitors to avoid unnecessary interruptions, such as loud video games or conversations. Consider turning off or silencing electronic devices that can interfere with students’ concentration during study time. Television should be turned off during the week and only allowed on the week-end.Parents should build a relationship with their children that encourage them to do a good job at school; this is part of the process of building a home conducive to educational success. The parents should expect their children to be successful in school and provide all resources needed to make it happen. Parents should continuously tell their children how smart they are and make sure they placed them in educational enrichment programs outside of their normal school day to build on their intelligence. If parents want their children to attend college, this should be clearly stated at an early age. If parents are trying to gear children toward a particular career they must begin early by focusing on skills that are necessary for that career.In order to continuously encourage children, parents should show interest in their child’s ideas and allow them to express themselves. Don’t continuously quiet them.Remember, learning at home doesn’t always have to be restricted to your residence – visiting a local science museum or taking in a play may be related to something the child is doing at school, and will broaden the child perspective on life.
A Personal Loan Can Bring You a Fortune or Failure
How you handle your personal loans can make the difference between a fortune and failure for life. From birth to death we all have different needs and requirements. To know some basic facts and some real life experience is important to make the best out of life and to avoid misery with personal loans and other kinds of loan-taking.The personal loanThe personal loan is a loan for yourself or your family. In this way it differs from a loan for a business or the loans related to long term mortgage for buying houses and other real estate.The danger of a personal loan is that what you get from it often disappears during a few years. You might ask for a personal loan to finance a vacation, some household goods or for the purpose of dept consolidation.Compared to a business-type loan the personal loan is often a short-term investment – the business-type loan is a more long-term investment, but of course the business can go wrong. Even more long-term is the financing of real estate as an investment and the value of real estate will typical stay there or even increase during longer time spans.A car loanA car loan is in some way an in-between loan: You get the value of the car, and the bank is backed by collateral (the ‘automobile’), but during 10 years the car looses its value and during these years you should get rid of your car-loan. If you aren’t able to get through your installments you will get into misery with your loan. If you don’t fulfill the requirements in the loan contract the bank or another loan provider will take back the car, and you will be left with nothing.Loan and timeTime is an important aspect of all kinds of loan taking. During time the amount of value you have to pay back will typical decrease due to inflation. But at the same time the rates of interest play a more than crucial role. Never, ever take a loan with delayed paying of rates of interest, unless it is a student loan to finance your education and studies. In that case be very basic in your requirements for daily life –as that will help you later.Student loanAs soon as you graduate and get a job make sure you eliminate your student loan with a debt consolidation loan. Student loan consolidation is a must unless you have a wealthy family and then I doubt you will be in need for any student loans. For the student loan consolidation you should be better served by a government sponsored federal student loan than by a private loan. Anyway seek for financial advice and remember that many financial advisors aren’t independent, but earn from their advice and what you agree upon as conditions for a loan.Loan and long-term quality of lifeThe earlier in life the more important it is to be modest in requirements not to build up a lot of debt but to make use of personal loans at a minimum and to use that to increase your long-term quality of life. Save a fixed part of the money you earn and keep your luxury dreams until later in life.Loan and your whole lifeNothing in life is as bad an investment as a superfluous, luxury car. An expensive car loan has paved the road to failure for many, while investment in real estate at the right time has helped many to achieve a fortune without any hard time through a proper equity home loan. Similarly a home improvement loan can be a good investment, especially if such an construction home loan isn’t used for tearing down too much before adding a construction of real value to the house. Loans should be taken for added value.
How to Buy Loans and Sell Loans
In these stressful economic times, many lenders and their investors are looking at acquiring existing loans, or are considering selling loans they currently own.There are many reasons loans are bought and sold. Often times the reason has more to do with the individual situation of the seller than of the note itself, or the condition of the borrower. The most common reasons loans are sold are for liquidity, dissolution of a partnership, change of financial circumstance, deterioration of the underlying collateral, or the default of a borrower.There are many opportunities for buyers and brokers to acquire loans at a discount to the principal balance which may result in substantially better yields than originating a new loan. Buyers and their brokers should consider several factors when purchasing a note, including the strength and payment history of the borrower, the quality of the underlying collateral securing the loan, and the strength of the guarantors, if any.Loans can be purchased individually or in pools. Although the legal agreement differs for each, the basic process flow is the same whether you are buying or selling one or more loans. For simplicity purposes, I’ll refer to the transaction as a loan asset transaction. The term “loan sale” and “note sale” will also be used interchangeably throughout.The basics of the purchase and sale process are relatively straight forward, but like any transaction, the devil is in the details. Following are eight steps involved in the purchase and sale of loan assets followed by a discussion of the most common pitfalls to avoid throughout the transaction.Step 1: Confidentiality and Non-Disclosure AgreementIt is customary to execute a confidentiality and non-disclosure agreement to protect both parties. Sensitive borrower information is typically exchanged and both parties need to agree to safeguard this information.Step 2: Make an OfferMake an offer for the loan asset in writing. Work with an attorney who has handled loan purchase and sale agreements in the past and can walk you through the various nuances to the agreement. An entire article can be written on the ins and outs of this agreement, and is a topic for another time.Step 3: Good Faith Deposit and Open TitleTypically a seller will provide a good faith deposit to get the process started, but this is a point to be negotiated between the parties. It is a lot of work to gather the loan files together and you want to make sure you have a serious buyer before you go through the effort. You should also prequalify the buyer and verify that the funds are in place and that this buyer isn’t going to try and “raise the funds” once they review your files.After a deposit is received, the seller should open a title policy. Most of the time the seller can buy an ALTA assignment endorsement (10.6-06) which insures the assignment vesting and lien position to the new party. The endorsement is less expensive than a full title policy and is recommended if it is available.Step 4: Due DiligenceOnce a deposit is received, conduct thorough due diligence on the loan asset. Your level of due diligence will vary depending on the asset itself, and on the number of assets you purchase. Most purchasers will conduct an independent appraisal, re-underwrite the loan, examine the chain of title, review the original promissory note, review all correspondence with the borrower, the trustee, and any other parties to the loan.There are a number of third party companies that specialize in performing independent due diligence on loan assets and generally charge $250 per loan depending on the type of appraisal and underwriting conducted.Most of the time you will not be able to inspect the interior of the property, or conduct an interview with the borrower, but that can be a point of discussion between you and the loan seller at the time the offer is negotiated.Step 5: Sign DocumentsBesides the purchase and sale agreement, two additional documents must be signed in order to transfer ownership of a loan. The first is an assignment, which is a notarized document referencing the original mortgage or deed of trust and is recorded in the same county in which the real property securing the note is located.The second document is a signed endorsement of the original promissory note. This endorsement can be handled by either typing language on the back of the note (e.g. Pay to the order of….) much in the way a check is endorsed when signed over to a third party. If there is not room on the back of the note, another way to endorse the note is by attaching an Allonge which effectively has the same language that would otherwise be placed on the back of the Note. The Allonge must be securely attached and at all times kept with the original promissory note.Example of language that may be used in an Allonge is:THIS ENDORSEMENT IS TO BE ATTACHED TO AND MADE PART OF THAT CERTAIN PROMISSORY NOTE dated Month, Day, Year, made by Borrower Name Here, in favor of ABC Company, the payee, in the original principal amount of $x,xxx,xxx. Such Note is hereby transferred pursuant to the following Endorsement with the same force and effect as if such Endorsement were set forth at the end of such Note:THIS PROMISSORY NOTE is herby Endorsed and Assigned without recourse to: ABC Loan Buying CompanyPAY TO THE ORDER OF:ABC Loan Buying Company__________________________________SellerStep 6: Record the DocumentsThe last step is to provide the notarized assignment to the title company to record and issue the policy specified in the title instructions and preliminary title report.Step 7: Exchange FundsOnce the document is recorded and confirmed by the title company, funds may be exchanged. Some parties use an escrow for this process, or you may use an attorney’s trust account.Step 8: Notify the BorrowerOnce the financial exchange is completed, follow the laws with regards to notifying the borrower of the new loan servicer, if any apply. Not every transaction results in a change of servicing, and different laws apply to residential and commercial transactions. Typically, the prior loan servicer provides a “good-bye” letter which indicates the loan servicer is no longer servicing the loan and instructions on where to send payments. Then the new loan servicer sends a “hello” letter introducing themselves and provide required contact information, and information on where to send payments.Although the eight steps of concluding a loan purchase and sale transaction seem fairly straight forward, there are numerous pitfalls to avoid:Representations and WarrantiesIn a typical loan purchase sale agreement there are representations and warranties that provide certain remedies (e.g. a credit, or loan buy back, etc.) if one party provides false information, or the loan is materially different, or the transaction is fraudulent, etc.Be aware that the representations and warranties are only as good as the party making them. Even if you are dealing with a large institution, that institution may not exist after the transaction concludes. Even if the institution does remain in business, recovery may require expensive litigation. The key to avoiding problems is to conduct very thorough due diligence before the transaction is concluded. If you are in doubt of something material to the transaction, notify the seller to get clarification and/or terminate the transaction.Chain of TitleThe chain of title can be tricky in a loan purchase. Some notes may have been previously transferred several times in the past, and if the vesting is off just slightly from one transfer to the next, or there is a vesting gap between one assignment and the next, it may be very difficult, if not impossible, to resolve. Vesting gaps in title chains are very common and come about because parties receive assignments and then never record them. Other times, a vesting gap occurs because a party receives an assignment, transfers funds, and then discovers the assignment provided is un-recordable for a variety of reasons, or there is just an error which goes undetected.A title policy or assignment endorsement is a good protective measure, but understand that your title policy covers you only after you incur a loss and not upon the discovery of an error. Consider this example of a potentially prolonged title recovery: Buyer purchases a 2nd lien and shortly thereafter the borrower stops making payments. The lienholder forecloses, and the trustee discovers there is a vesting gap in the assignment of title chain and the trustee will not foreclose. Meanwhile, the borrower continues to pay on the senior lien and the junior lienholder is unable to foreclose or collect on a title claim because the junior lien holder has not technically incurred a loss on the policy. Your loss will only occur when the senior lien forecloses out your position which may or many not happen depending on whether or not the borrower continues to pay the senior lien.Pull the original mortgage or trust deed and every recorded assignment and examine them yourself and make sure you are satisfied that the chain of title is intact.Property TaxesMost taxing authorities have information available on the internet and you can check to make sure property taxes are not delinquent prior to the purchase of the note. If the property taxes are delinquent, make note of that county’s tax auction procedures and decide if you still wish to continue with the note purchase.Junior LiensIf you purchase a junior lien, be sure to obtain verification that the senior lien is current. If the senior lien is not current, be sure you understand your rights to reinstate the lien in the state in which the loan is recorded. In some states junior lien holders may not reinstate senior liens and must instead pay them off, or protect their position at a trustee sale.Verify that the senior lien does not have language in the promissory note which prohibits a second lien to be put in place. If a junior lien is prohibited, obtain the document granting permission to the borrower to obtain the junior lien.Obtain the promissory note of the senior lien holder, if possible. Since promissory notes are not recorded documents, this is often not easily obtainable. If obtained, examine the document for adverse changes in interest rates, balloons, or other terms that may adversely affect your junior position.Promissory NoteIn many loan sale transactions, the original promissory note cannot be located and the seller offers an Affidavit of Lost Note. Up until a few years ago an Affidavit was sufficient to continue foreclosing, but because of the increase in the number of foreclosures many judges refuse to permit a foreclosure without the original promissory note. Once you obtain the original note, keep it in a fireproof vault for safekeeping.Loan UnderwritingMany loans contain errors in the original underwriting. Depending on the type of loan, the error could be significant. For example, in a residential loan, an error of more than .125 on the APR presented in the borrower disclosures could enable the borrower to rescind the loan. Re-underwrite the loan as if you were making a new loan and examine every disclosure, the timing of the disclosures, and the details on any applicable rights of cancellations.Independent Confirmation of Loan TermsIf permitted in the terms of your loan agreement, it is a good idea to send an Estoppel Certificate to the borrower. The loan Estoppel Certificate is a document which asks the recipient to confirm the terms of the mortgage such as the outstanding balance, interest rate and frequency and due date of payments. Independently verifying that the borrower is in agreement with the loan terms can save a lot of aggravation down the road.Borrower CooperationIn some transactions, the borrower is skeptical that the loan was transferred and may not pay the new note owner, especially in private, non-bank note sale transactions.Anticipate potential borrower confusion and establish a procedure with the note seller in the event they receive payments shortly after the transaction concludes. In addition to the customary “good-bye” letter, you may wish to obtain a separate letter from the note seller to the note buyer confirming the transaction and ensure that the note seller will cooperate in speaking with the borrower if need be to confirm the sale transaction.Purchasing and selling loan assets is a specialized transaction, but like everything else in business, the more you do it, the better you get at it. If you’re buying or selling notes for the first time, be sure to use experienced counsel and spend extra time on your due diligence and the fruits of your labor will pay off with higher yields and fewer unexpected surprises.