Top 3 Classic Pokies

The people you depend on to keep you cool in the dog days of summer are HVAC companies. But are some air conditioning repair men actually taking advantage of you. Recently we went undercover to find out what’s really going on.

When your air conditioner breaks,it’s an emergency. No one likes to be excessively hot not to mention the effect the heat has on air quality which makes it difficult for those with breathing problems. So,when it breaks,you call the AC Company of course trusting them to come and fix the problem at a fair price,but… are they really providing you the best solution at the best price? We’ve found that some companies are blowing you hot air when they hand you that big bill.

We called in a few companies to cool our house down. But when these AC repairmen show up we found that many of them were either being dishonest or all together incompetent. One after the other tried charging us big money for repairs that other experts say we didn’t need. We set up our test of these companies right smack in the middle of a heat wave.

First we rented a house in Delaware and had 3 AC experts inspect our system from top to bottom. –-– All 3 reported that the AC system was in great to very good condition. Then we brought in another expert to set up a common and easy to fix problem with the system. He set up a simple broken wire that shuts the unit down. He said he would charge less than $200 to fix it. We found that other technicians tell us that you need other work done to fix this problem. This begs us to ask,”Are you either being incompetent or are you just simply being dishonest”?

Once we set up the easy to fix problem,we called in six separate AC companies to come out and fix the problem. The first contractor finds our broken wire but instead of fixing it he wants to charge us for an expensive part. The part he wants to charge us for is called a capacitor. He wants to charge $395 to replace a part that we originally had inspected and found it had absolutely no problems. We called him out on this assessment and he left in a huff declining to comment or return our calls.

The next guy finds and fixes our broken wire rather quickly. But,instead of leaving it at that,he recommends we replace an expensive part saying that the unit is leaking combustible fluid. He claims it needs to be fixed today in order to fix the problem. The cost,$692! The part he claimed was leaking simply displayed harmless rust.

The 3^rd company tries to charge us for several expensive parts totally $850! The 4^th company claimed we needed new parts as well,including one that didn’t even exist in the system. The price for his repair… $950! At least this company ended up firing that technician for his dishonesty. The 5^th and 6^th companies did the same thing with trying to charge us for unnecessary repairs and parts.

In the end,6 out of 6 companies tried to charge us for parts and repairs we did not need. Honestly,we did not expect to see this level of dishonesty or incompetence from so many HVAC contractors in the area.

Experts say that you should get your unit serviced every year so it doesn’t break in the middle of a heat wave but even if it does of course despite what we found there are actually very honest A/C companies out there. To make it easy to find one in Delaware at least,we recommend you start with -.

Refinance Mortgage Loans

If you have been turned down for a mortgage refinance, especially a cash out or debt consolidation refinance, because your lender says your credit score is under 500, there are a variety of new options and strategies available which can help you get the cash you need now to pay off your credit card debts, collection accounts, and other derogatory or poor credit accounts and improve your FICO credit score to the point where you can qualify for a low interest, fixed rate loan.

First, you may be wondering why the number 500 is such a big deal. A FICO credit score is a number from 300 to 850 which is meant to represent your reliability as a borrower, and takes into account how much credit has been extended to you, how much money you owe and whether or not you pay it on time. Banks like to tell us that 99% of people in the US have credit scores of 500 or higher, and use this as an excuse not to even bother lending to people with credit scores under the magic 500 FICO score. As far as they’re concerned, since only 1% of the population has a FICO below 500, they simply don’t have the time to design programs to help these people buy or refinance homes.  Learn more about USDA mortgage loan programs by visiting Loan Trust.

We’ve worked with dozens of people who have come to us with FICO scores below 500 over the years, and every one of them says the same thing. ìI just need help right now, and everyone I talk to keeps saying NOî. This is because until very recently, it was extremely difficult to get a loan if your credit score was 499 or less, and even today, only a few mortgage lenders, whether they’re banks or brokers, have the time or attention required to focus on the needs of what they think are a few unfortunate people. So until very recently, if your credit score was under 500, the only chance you had at refinancing or obtaining a home loan was if you went to a hard money lender.

If you’ve ever come across these individuals, you might not have been able to tell the difference between hard money or private mortgage lenders and a loan shark, and while that comparison is not entirely fair, it is to a certain extent accurate. Hard money lenders are small investors who lend only against the hard equity in your home, generally not more than 60% or 70% of the property value, the loans are generally short term, very high interest rate (12% to 15% or more), command huge upfront fees and closing costs, often up to 10% of the loan amount, and rarely if ever do they report your timely payments to your credit bureaus, making it harder to improve your credit. Why would anyone borrow money from a lender like this? In the past and even today, banks and other mortgage lenders have said no to sub 500 credit score mortgages or home loan refinances, and sometimes you just need the money that badly.

Many people have touted the benefits of credit repair services to prospective borrowers with scores under 500. The proposal often reads like this, first, give them a thousand dollars out of your pocket to fix your credit, which they will accomplish in six months, and then once your scores are over 500, they get a loan done for you. Of course never mind that $1,000 is a lot of money for most people with 700 credit scores, and very often a heck of a lot for an individual seeking a mortgage / refinance to consolidate debts. Add to that the fact that conventional credit repair takes too long for most people to wait without the extra cash to pay off bills that you get with a refinance, and you can see that credit repair by itself is not a very efficient proposition if what you really need is a refinance loan today. That’s not to say credit repair doesn’t work, it’s just that it doesn’t work very well for most people who are under 500 FICO seeking a debt consolidation, refinance or home purchase loan.

Over the years we’ve taken a harder look at the numbers, and it turns out that the banks and credit reporting agencies may have drastically underestimated the number of people in this country whose credit ratings are actually under 500 FICO. There are literally millions of people nationwide who fit into this category, and we have spoken with our share. What do we know? That most people with credit scores below 500 are hardworking, honest people whose credit is suffering from the realities of living and working in America today. As tight as our budgets are stretched in this country today, it only takes a very short term disability or unemployment to severely damage our credit scores. And some of us might have gotten in a little over our heads when we were younger, but in the years since we’ve been trying to get back on the road to good credit, and we’re sick of getting charged sky high interest rates every time we get a new credit card, apply for a car loan, or get denied for a bank loan and wind up calling on the aforementioned hard money / private mortgage lenders. We knew the banks had missed something. Our friends below 500 were not only more numerous than they had previously estimated, they were also more than some credit score, they were good people. Learn more about Fix and Flip Loans by visiting Loan Trust.

So we developed a strategy which we are sharing in the hopes that other borrowers under 500 can reap some of the benefits that our own clients have. We’ve helped borrowers with no money in the bank, $50,000 of bad debt, and sky high monthly payments driving them into the poor house get out of debt, get some money in their pockets and eventually achieve major financial improvement in a very short amount of time.

And how does it work? First, there are a few major, institutional lenders which have programs that allow us to arrange and refinance real mortgage loans at competitive interest rates for borrowers with credit scores under 500. These are real, federally and state regulated lenders, not private investor groups who will take your last dollar and send you on your way. Ask your mortgage broker about these programs, and if he doesn’t know what you’re talking about, get a new broker.

The typical strategy is a credit improvement strategy, where the goal is to take enough cash out of your home to pay off as many of your past due, high interest, or high payment debts as possible. We recommend taking a little extra cash from closing if possible, or to use some of the savings from your lower overall payments so that you can enter stage two of the strategy, which is third party credit repair. A good quality credit repair agency should cost less than 300 dollars overall and can clean up your credit and remove a lot of delinquencies and other items which are negatively impacting your credit. Combined with all the truly harmful items which you’ve paid off with your debt consolidation refinance, you should be able to improve your credit score by 50, 100 points or even more. I have seen a client go from a 485 FICO and $65K in combined credit card and auto loan debt and a total monthly payment of over $2800 to a 610 credit score and a payment of $1900 per month in less than 4 months. How did that payment get so low? Once their credit score went over 600, we were able to qualify them for a new mortgage at a low interest rate, because now our friends had good credit, and paid off the few remaining debts which they had by consolidating through refinance. Before the process, their average interest rate across all debts including home, cards and cars was nearly 22%, and afterwards, the average rate was under 9%.

We hope you find this information useful in reshaping your own financial future, and hope that you tune in for the next mortgage series of articles.

To venture into private equity, you must profoundly understand business, finance, and management. Private equity is a type of investment in which wealthy people or organizations raise funds to invest in companies or startups that have the capacity for improvement and to generate high profits. In this article we will be focusing on one person who has shown professionalism and experience in exploring the complexities of private equity. This is none other than Australian born Businessman – Grant Kelley.

Big and famous equity firms like Colony Capital and Oaktree Capital Management are living proofs of his expertise. He played his role successfully and responsibly; in recognizing and implementing investment opportunities, handling portfolios, and generating substantial yields for stakeholders.

He had a unique way of analyzing financial statements and recognizing promising investments that others may need help identifying. His immense comprehension of accounting principles aided him in assessing economic well-being and capacity of the organization seamlessly. This professionalism is indispensable in the private equity sector because excellent investments is greatly reliant on recognizing unexploited resources and utilizing their true worth. 

Dealing with complex transactions and portfolios is another professional area where he performed excellently. Handling private equity deals can get very sophisticated, involving multiple parties, significant funding, and elaborate legal frameworks. However, it was different for him, as he displayed his ability to manage these transactions and ensured he reasonably considered all parties involved in the deal. 

Furthermore, the best of his numerous skillsets included leadership and communication skills. He is well known for leading teams to work productively irrespective of their various area of expertise backgrounds. When he communicates complex ideas, he does it lucidly and briefly, enabling easy understanding among his colleagues or workmates. His presence in an organization improves both the organization and the members involved. 

Irrespective of all that he has accomplished, he still carries on a life of discipline and profound humility. He has proven to be a man of integrity, and he does not lack dedication and a work ethic. As one who always wants more from learning and experience, he is always looking for new opportunities to increase his knowledge and professionalism. 

Conclusion

Anybody can be good at understanding and managing private equity in its complexities if they possess the needed set of skills. However, being outstanding in this industry may take time, as the standards are higher than we know. The best advice you can apply is to emulate the lifestyles of those who are already successful in this chosen path. You should hold people like Grant Kelley in very high regards, and let them serve as your mentor as you journey toward excellence in this sector. 

Despite the difficulties involved, these successful men are proof that it is more than possible. Ensure you keep them on your radar until you have developed expertise in financial analysis, leadership, and transaction management to be responsible for turning a middle profit-yielding industry into a mega one.