For most churches the purchase of a new church building is the largest financial transaction most of the members of the church have ever been involved in. As a result the process is one that can become intimidating to those charged with the responsibility to represent the congregation. It is a serious responsibility that in most cases will determine the location of your church for the next 30 - 40 years.

Let me ask you a question. If you had a problem with your foot, it just hurt all the time, what would you eventually do? You’d probably go to a doctor. Would you go to a dentist? No, why not? Aren’t dentists doctors? Of course they are, but they don’t specialize in feet do they. So, one of the first things I suggest to churches that have made the decision to build or buy an existing church building is to start building a team of church professionals, specialists that understand “CHURCH”, professionals that have been through this process many times. The big advantage is not that the professionals have all the answers, but they have many questions you may never think to ask yourself.

In my initial meeting with church leaders I usually suggest that they find a church friendly lender in the very early stages of the process. It is crucial that you have a good understanding of your financial limits so you can shop accordingly. If the banker is on your team, ready to go, you put your church in a much better position to catch the great deals.

If you are planning to move in the next 24 - 36 months and you need to sell your current location in order to move, then you really need to put your building on market now. Most churches shy away of this idea because they want to find a building to buy first. But even if you find the perfect building, it will probably be gone by the time you sell your building so you can pay for the new one. Many times churches worry about selling their building and not finding a new one, leaving them homeless, but you can structure an agreement that will protect you from this situation.

The first step that many churches take in the relocation process is to find a building that they want and then they search for financing so that they can pay for it. The problem is that most of the time sellers or both land and buildings are not usually willing to wait for you to sell your building and put together a loan. In order to put yourself in the best position to get the best deal is to get you money in hand, including equity from your current building and any loans needed.

Most lenders do not understand “Church”; they can’t look at you as a “personal account” so you fall under the commercial lending area. Most commercial concerns make a profit. Most churches don’t. Lenders almost never foreclose on churches (bad public relations to be the bank that closed the church) so they have to qualify churches differently than most other commercial accounts. In my experience you are light years ahead of the game by working with lenders that understand church, and there are many that do. As mentioned above, it’s best to deal with church professionals.

As you choose a lender you will be best served by talking to several and finding the right fit between you and the lender. This is normally a long relationship you are building so do so carefully.

During the application process you will be asked for all the normal information on your church such as, financial history, attendance records, cash positions, equity etc. The lenders use this information to qualify you for a loan, and this will give you a good idea about how much you borrow. With this number you can shop for church buildings with confidence and find the property that meets you needs and have a good chance to close in a timely manner.

Typically most lenders will want to see that you have 25% - 35% equity in the new property. This is just a guide, although it is seldom less, it could be more. Many churches will run a capital campaign. Some will do it themselves, “in house”, others will use professional fund raising companies. In my experience the lenders prefer the professionals for two reasons. One, the professional campaign will usually yield 2 - 3 times the amount of money the “in house” campaign will and secondly the actual amount collected will be higher. Again it is a good idea to speak with a few professional companies to find a good fit for your church.

So, as in all things prayer is crucial, planning every step along the way and the assistance of church professionals, those who have completed several church projects in the past year, is highly recommended. Follow these simple basic steps and you should have a very successful relocation project. In our next article we will discuss some of the financial options available for you to choose from.

If you are serious about building an online business you need to understand there is a lot of “stuff” you need to know and learn and at the same time there are a million distractions every day trying to divert your attention.

I thought I would record my top tips now, while I can still relate to all those frustrations everyone experiences when they begin life on the Internet.

1. You are going to need to learn how to build a basic website. Yes you can outsource everything, but if you are serious about learning Internet Marketing and building multiple streams of income NOT taking the time and effort to learn it is like moving to a foreign country where everyone else speaks a different language.

Get familiar with the terminology Internet Marketers use every day. When you are first starting out there will be a lot of very unfamiliar terms, such as Domain Names, Hosting, FTP, Servers, ASP, PHP and many more. Remember you are smack bang in the middle of the technical “guys and gals” who talk websites, software and web talk and the consumer who doesn’t know about these terms, nor do they need to know. I always think I am the absolute WORST dinner guest when my head is full of learning “new computer talk” as it is SO unfamiliar when you start out it is likely to dominate most thoughts you have.

Learn that you are going to make mistakes, and that every hurdle in front of you can be jumped over once you have found the right way to do it. I have not found one story of an online marketer that starts with “One day I decided to start my online business, I found it really easy at first and within a month I had made my first million.”

There are many, many more stories that read something like this, ” I struggled to make ends meet at first, I mean I even sold my car just to pay the bills, I bought every product, read every Ebook I could get my hands and still nothing seemed to be going right. Then suddenly after my first couple of years I got my first real break and now I earn in one month what I used to earn in a year.”

Do NOT give up the day job! The number one problem with life online is that the learning curve is SO steep at first that you will not, unless you are extremely lucky earn enough money to pay your bills for at least 6-12 months. In fact if you have had no previous BUSINESS experience it may take you much longer than that. Yes there are exceptions to the rule, but that is all they are exceptions.

Accept right up front that at first you need to make lots of mistakes and that everything you do wrong is not because you are failing, it is because you are testing and measuring, then testing and measuring some more. You will NEVER get anywhere online if you give up at the first hurdle, or if you keep flitting like a butterfly from Amazing Get Rich Scheme to Amazing Get Rich Scheme. Take your time, allow at least 6 months to learn the very basics, build a solid foundation from which to grow, then create MASSIVE ACTION and results will follow.

From a financial stand point, getting out of debt and saving for your retirement is critical. The sooner you start the better yet why do we not learn and continues to put this off. Let?s take a look at what you can do to help you take control.

This plan, you are about to read, first and foremost, will require three days of your life. During these three days, you will be given three assignments to organize and review your financial papers. You are not going to plan the rest of your life in three days, but you will get organized and figure out where you are financially. Where do you begin?

Assignment #1 - You’ll need to purchase simple files and a lockable file box/cabinet or a fire proof safe, the most costly but most secure option, at your local office supply store. If you have poor handwriting, you may want to pick up a label maker, too.

Assignment #2 - Next you need to gather up, from wherever you store them, receipts, bank statements, credit card statements, insurance information, utility bills, and the like. Then organize and file them. The most recent papers should go at the top of each file.

Once you’ve set up your filing system, keeping up will be a breeze. As you get your bills and statements in the mail, file them with your other household expense items. You?ll know exactly where to look if you need them.

Assignment #3 - Log-on to AnnualCreditReport.com (U.S. only) for a free copy of your credit report from the major credit reporting agencies. There is no catch, this website is secure and offers this service free of charge. You will just need about 20 minutes to fill out the required information and you’re done.

Armed with your credit report, you will have a current glimpse of your finances. Read line by line looking for anything that doesn’t look right. Are there any credit cards on your report that you didn’t apply for? What about loans you didn’t take out? If there are any suspicious activities or mistakes, notify the credit bureaus. Suspicious activity could mean your have been a victim of identity theft and you’ll want to immediately file a report with the authorities.

You are now on the right track to taking control of your finances.

Do a search for “mortgage lender” in Google and you’ll get more than four million results. How then do you pick the right place to obtain your home loan mortgage? Does it matter where you get your mortgage from? What factors should you consider when comparing lenders, and how do know if the lender is legitimate? This article affirms the importance of choosing wisely your lender, and suggests some key points to consider when choosing an online mortgage lender.

First, why should you carefully decide which online lender to use? The principal reason is obviously, cost. When you obtain a home loan, you promise to make a significant monthly payment and you also incur a debt. Different lenders charge different amounts, so you’ll need to be aware of a loan’s cost. As you look at prices, pay attention to more than jus the interest rate. There are various other costs that can be charged including the appraisal fee, a loan origination fee, and an underwriting fee. The interest rate is combined with these closing costs to come up with the Annual Percentage Rate, or APR. Thus, the APR is the most important figure for you to look at.

When you have a tight time frame within which to buy a home, a lender’s speed becomes important. One lender may be able to underwrite the loan in three days and fund it in one more day while another lender may take a couple of weeks or more. Don’t ignore this important aspect of lending.

The level of convenience offered may also play a role in who you choose. For example, can you upload your documents over the internet or will you have to mail them? Will you be able to apply for and choose the loan completely online, or will you have to talk to a person? Will the lender send a notary to a place of your choosing, or will you have to drive to a Title company’s office?

When you have decided which lenders you’d like to try out, you might want to verify that they can legally fund loans in your state. You can do this by either contacting the state by phone or using an online search that the state may have on their website. You might find that search function on the Banking or Financial Institutions area of the website.

You may also want to verify the lender’s business license in the state where its corporate headquarters are located. This too should be possible online.

In summary, here are the points to consider when picking an online lender: Pricing (remember to look at APR), speed, convenience, and legitimacy. Purchasing or refinancing a home is a significant decision. Be sure to consider these points as you make it!

Those who don’t have enough experience to get the best rates in auto insurance and vehicles in general are recommended to brush up on some facts of the industry. After all, knowing how ot deal with insurance agencies and car salesmen is the only way to get monthly payments and debts down to a minimum.

If a consumer gets into a wreck in their brand new car, they are going to be at a huge loss in paying their insurance company, the lender, and the mechanic all at once. Even scarier is the fact they may need to buy a new car outright. This can be protected against by obtaining full coverage auto insurance- in fact, most lenders require it for new and used cars alike, depending on the exact make, model, and year made.

A special note should be made that personal loans can help supplement the cost of a new car, where auto loans would otherwise not be as helpful. Personal loans can be used for many reasons, and thus, can be used for older cars without having to buy full coverage insurance. If a consumer were to obtain an auto loan on an older car, they’d be paying extra money and have little choice about it.

Those who don’t have very good credit, or no credit at all, are going to be vastly disappointed once they go to the auto dealer. Auto dealers will initially tell the consumer that no credit is perfectly fine, and show them low interest rates to agree to. But once the credit check magically comes back with a poor credit score, they raise the interest rates to as much as 25%. Obviously, caution should be used at this point.

Before finalizing the payment for a new vehicle, consumers should always check with their insurance agent first to see what they are going to be paying each month. This is especially true for the younger types, who are typically going to pay a couple of hundred dollars each month or more for the same car an older adult would pay a fraction of that each month in premiums.

In the end, the consumer is going to realize that you can’t get a car without insurance, and getting insurance or a new car is going to be equally expensive. As such, one should check their budget carefully and, if needed, they should consider other options for their situation. Buying used or less chauvinistic cars will do wonders for premiums each month.

In Conclusion

One should never have to feel rushed into buying a car or even obtaining a new insurance agency. To get the best deal, consumers are urged to remain confident in what they want- not what the car salesman wants to make on his commission. Consult the Internet and local dealers for more information.

You’ve probably seen some sort of mob movie or seen on the news where a criminal has stored money in an offshore account. You may even associate an offshore account as being something that only the rich own because they are trying to evade taxes or they just want to show off how fancy their life is by bragging about their Swiss bank account. Whatever the reason for offshore bank accounts, they are not always for criminal activity. In fact, fewer individuals use them for criminal purposes and more use them as a way to save money.

By having an offshore account, an individual usually pretends that that money does not exist. It is not in a domestic bank account, so they don?t really have to think about it until tax time rolls around. They don?t think about it until tax time because taxes do have to be paid on that money. Thinking that just a couple of thousand dollars isn’t going to gain attention from the government is naive thinking, because that is definitely enough money to warrant an investigation into possible tax evasion. Tax evasion is what we tend to hear about in the news next to drug dealers using offshore bank accounts.

Not just for criminals

So as you can see, an offshore bank account is not just for criminals. We only hear about criminals using these accounts because the news networks aren’t going to do a story on someone who has opened one of those accounts for honest reasons. You don?t have to be afraid that you’re going to be investigated for opening an account. These accounts are private. The only way that your account will be revealed is if you do use it to evade taxes. Otherwise your account will be left alone and no one has to know that you have one. You can keep it a secret if you wish because no one really needs to know your financial business if you don’t want them to.

Western companies use offshore accounts

There are some companies within Western countries that have found that having money in an offshore account proves beneficial to them. That means that not all of their money is in one place, but not in so many places that they can?t keep track of it. Some of these countries that these companies have accounts in are tax havens, which benefits both individuals and companies because they are sending their money to these tax havens. However, despite the tax advantages, it is still required by countries such as the United States that taxes are paid on the money. Still, there may be a bit of a tax benefit regardless of the fact taxes have to be paid on the money. The interest gained can be greater as well, which benefits both companies and individuals. That explains why companies choose to go with offshore bank accounts. That also keeps the account secret and out of the way of anyone within a company who would try to steal from them. In other words, a company investing its money in an offshore bank account is a company that will have a cushion to fall back on in case something happens to their domestic accounts.

Benefits

So now you see the benefits of having your own offshore bank account. Companies do it, tons of individuals do it, and, yes, the criminals do it. But remember that not everyone is a criminal and criminals only make up a very small percentage of those who open offshore bank accounts. Think of having an offshore account as a really great way for you to save for your future.

There is no shortage of offers for credit cards in the mail, on line and more or less everywhere you look. However, quite often the task of maintaining your credit card can be more difficult than getting the right credit card for your needs.

High Street stores are all too willing to give you a discount on the day if you sign up for one of their cards, and lets face it, that extra 10% is usually tempting whoever you are. Nonetheless before you know it you will be facing yet another monthly credit card bill.

One of the biggest problems with credit cards is that they can cover up that you are actually spending money. By not actually spending cash, you can feel that your purchases are not really costing you at all. Ultimately, this is an expensive illusion and your reality can become very painful indeed if you build up too much credit card debt.

Credit cards were not designed with budgeting in mind because each month when the day of reckoning comes round there is a payment to be made and even though meeting the minimum payment does not incur late payment fees, just take a look at that balance - it is more or less standing still!

Ask yourself how long it would take you to completely get rid of the debt if you did not charge another cent to the account. Never consider getting another card to transfer the balance to unless it is one offering interest free credit for the amount of time it will take you to pay off the debt.

To avoid the worst problems of credit card usage, don’t have too many of them. One, or at the most two, of them is enough to meet most needs, and the major credit cards are accepted globally so you don’t need to apply for new credit cards when you travel overseas. Having too many credit cards can become an organizational nightmare; too many due dates can leave bills forgotten, late and receiving costly late payment penalties.

Another credit card temptation that can get you in a lot of trouble is the ability to borrow cash on your card. This is known as a cash advance and it enables you to withdraw cash from your card via an ATM. However, this form of borrowing is usually charged at high interest, calculated daily, and is ultimately a very expensive way to borrow. It can be too easy to create a level of debt that is too high for you to service. If you are going through a difficult time, withdrawing money from your credit card can seem a godsend. Unfortunately, your debt can climb dramatically over the course of a few months and with exorbitant interest rates you can find yourself in real trouble. It is also a good idea to stick to a low cost, no frills credit card that offers low interest and no annual fee.

If you make regular visits to the ATM it soon mounts up and your debt will soar over just a few months. The interest can be as high as 24% so this really should be avoided. It clearly makes sense to avoid the temptations of rewards and bonuses and opt for a no frills card with low interest and no annual fee.

When trying to establish a good credit history, you can do so by using a credit card correctly. Your payments have to be on time. It is important that your credit rating stays healthy, especially in the case that you need to buy something big, like a car. During these times, you will be rewarded for having good credit history. As much as some of us love them, shopping sprees aren’t needed. Neither are cash advances and late payments. These all go into your credit rating, so if you are looking to use your credit card to build up good credit, only spend what you know you can afford to pay back each month.

One of the best types of loans you can get is a VA loan. If you are a veteran, this is the type of loan to secure. Today, close to 60 million people in the United States benefit from VA programs, making it easy to get an online VA home loan. This process is actually quite easy and quicker than you might imagine.

How do you know if you qualify for a VA home loan and what are the benefits of this kind of loan?

Do I Qualify for Veterans Benefits?

The first step to seeing if you qualify for all veterans benefits, and especially for an online VA home loan, is to talk to the government itself and see what they consider you now. There are some basic things that they take into consideration that you should, too, like;

- Service - To be a veteran, you would have had to served actively in one of the military, armed forces.

- Discharged or Retired - A veteran in this case would not be on active duty. Therefore, if you are still active in the armed forces, you would not be considered a veteran, meaning you would not be able to qualify for an online VA home loan. In this case, you might still benefit from discounts but you will need to check.

- Type of Discharge - Then, as long as you were discharged honorably from the military, then you are not required to qualify. However, if you left the military with a dishonorable discharge, you would have problems qualifying.

Do any of these sound like you? You should be considered a veteran then and able to get an online VA home loan.

The benefits of getting an online VA home loan

They are so many benefits of getting an online VA home loan it’s hard to list them all. Literally, there are tons, and getting one can help you fulfill your dream of owning your own home.

One of the most common benefits of an online VA home loan is that you get to go through the application online in the privacy and comfort of your own home. Because you are working with an online company, costs they save by reducing overhead are passed on to you. Therefore, you find yourself enjoying lower prices since you are not helping the company pay high rent, electrical costs, and so on.

Getting your online VA home loan helps with not having these overhead costs and helps to give you the savings.

When you get an online VA home loan, you are really getting a VA loan and that is a very powerful thing. People that qualify for a VA home loan often find that their interest rates are a lot lower and their payments are also lower. They also are able to borrow more and may find that the maximum is around the $400,000 mark.

The Bottom Line

Securing an online VA home loan is worth the time and effort it takes, which is not much. Just as you would with any loan, check all your options to ensure you get the best rates possible and the home of your dreams.

Suppose you are attempting to better your auto insurance rates and do not have a great driving record. In this situation you should research online car insurance rates based on your current driving record and find companies who help customers get a second change.

Paying your car insurance premium month after month causes most people to think about various ways to lower their auto insurance rates. Year after year your rates continue to increase even though you had a clean driving record during that period. Many auto insurance companies will increase your online car insurance rates just to make more profits.

However, various aspects regarding your own driving record will be used to calculate your car insurance rates. While you may be familiar with what these aspects are and how they are used to determine your online car insurance rates, it is important to investigate this information in order to access your situation.

Traffic Tickets and Your Auto Insurance Rates

Typically, those of us who have one minor traffic ticket listed on our DMV driving record will not pay much higher auto insurance rates. If you run a stop sign or if you are caught speeding but only 5 miles over the speed limit, you may incur a minimal increase in your insurance rates. However, if you receive many moving violations and the violations are serious in nature, your insurance rates will skyrocket.

For example, if you are stopped for speeding and issued a citation the insurance provider will research how many miles per hour you were over the limit; 10 miles or less, between 11 and 15, or 16 and higher. As a general rule, the driver who was speeding at 16 or more will have higher insurance rates than a driver who was only speeding less than 10 miles over the limit. Additionally, if you are issued such a ticket once over a three year period, your rates will be less than someone who has been issued multiple tickets.

Major moving violations also will affect your auto insurance rates in a big way. DWI or DUI will increase your rate usually by at least 10%, and sometimes 25% or more. Now imagine what your auto insurance rates will be like if you have a DUI and a few tickets as well!

The Amount of Time You Spend Behind the Wheel

Additional factors that affect your car insurance rates are the amount of time you spend behind the wheel as well as the reasons for driving. The amount of time behind the wheel increases the likelihood that you will be in an accident. Traveling a long distance to get to and from work will cause you to pay a higher premium than the person who works from home or drives a short distance to work. You may not be able to change the location of your job, but you can consider using your car less by carpooling or even choosing an alternate form of transportation to get to work.

Also consider that the business use of your automobile will impact your auto insurance rates. This will increase the insurance companies risk to insure you thus increasing the risk of them paying a claim at some point in time. Every indication is that auto insurance rates will continue to climb into the future, it is important to consider all options available that will assist you in reducing your online car insurance rates as much as possible.

Business start ups or expansions can be expensive and often involve at least some debt. As long as you have planned for it, and approached it sensibly borrowing can be a positive aspect of establishing a successful business. In fact, it may be a necessary expense to create future expense.

The business credit card is an ideal way to purchase what is necessary to operate a small or new business. It is almost like the line of credit given to larger and more established companies by financial institutions.

The fastest way to get a business credit card is to apply online. It works similarly to a personal credit card and it needs to be used responsibly so that you and your business can avoid going into a debt trap that is extremely hard to escape from.

You probably appreciate how credit card companies feel when people do not meet their payments when they should be met, or those people who skip an entire payment altogether. This will probably happen from time to time with your own customers. If you are having problems making the payment by the due date, you can easily ask the company to alter the date so that you can avoid late fees or fees for not paying at all.

Business credit cards also allow you to obtain cash advances when necessary. It allows you access to a loan in emergency situations without you needing to go to the bank cash in hand. However, the ease with which you can go to the ATM and get cash out can be a curse as much as a blessing. If you do it too often, your credit card balance will increase dramatically and cash advances are usually charged at much higher interest rates than straight purchases. If you are using your business credit card to keep your business going independent of immediate cash flow, it is wise to set up direct payment from your card to creditors and keep your cash to cover other needs so you don’t need to take cash advances.

Instead of distributing many checks to different people, you can simply write out one check to cover all of them. This makes accounting a lot easier. This also allows you to keep track of payments records that can be checked at any time.

All businesses experience ebbs and flows in income. Sometimes these are predictable and seasonal; sometimes they are an unpleasant surprise. It is therefore important to use your credit card responsibly and keep your payments up to date and your balance as low as possible. If you fall on hard times and need to rely on your credit card, you must have enough credit available to meet your needs.

A good credit rating comes in handy at times when you need to do cash advances. You will have met your payments on time and you will have used your card how it should be used. This will help you make it through leaner spells.