5 First Time Home Buyer Mistakes

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Buying your first home can be a great time if you are prepared. Finding the right home in the right place at the right price is sometimes an impossible task. On one of these points you may have to give in on. But the first time home buyer needs to look at more than these three criteria. There are many things to consider, that if not planned out well will turn a happy time into a disaster.

1. How much house can you afford. The biggest mistake many first time home buyers make is not knowing how much house they can afford. Knowing the true amount of house you can afford is not easy. Your mortgage company tells you one figure, the builder tells you another, and Uncle George tells you another. 

An easy way to get a quick and dirty figure is take your monthly expenses (excluding rent), including vehicle costs, student loan payments, credit card payments, groceries, health insurance, retirement savings and so on. Don’t forget major expenses that occur only once a year, like any insurance premiums you pay annually or annual vacations. Subtract this total from your take-home pay and you’ll know how much you can spend on your new home each month.

2. Getting pre-qualified for a mortgage. A first time buyer mortgage qualification consists of going to your lender and making an application to see if your credit and income are good enough to have a mortgage. No sense in wasting everyones time if you do not have the credit or income for a mortgage.

3. Consider additional home expenses. As a renter you had none of the expenses your going to have as a home owner. You have to add to your budget items like property taxes, insurance, roof repairs, furnace repairs, and a slew of other expenses seen and unseen. Some communities have homeowner associations with monthly maintenance costs.

4. Not having the home inspected before purchase. You need to know the true condition of the home before purchase. Suprises like a broken furnace, leaky roof, or termite damage is going to cost plenty to repair. These types of problems should be caught before purchasing a home. You may get a discount on the purchase price because of these defects. Having a good home inspection will give you the knowledge of the condition of your future home and definitely save you money.

5. Hire your own agent. This is the same as going to court and using your opponents lawyer. Having your own agent on your side helping you pay the lowest amount for the house will offset any fees you will have to pay. Agents are held to an ethical rule of acting in the best interest of their clients.

Buying your first home can be stressful and exhausting. Being aware of its pitfalls is half the battle. If you are aware of them ahead of time you are able to protect yourself and you won't make dumb mistakes.

A Successful Business Starts With A Good Accountant

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Entrepreneurs are fascinating people. They eat, live and sleep business. They live to create and build businesses. Their mind is always in gear with ideas to make money. They have a new idea about every five minutes on how to make money in a new and different way. They're our front line soldiers in growing the economy and getting the economy going again.

The one thing entrepreneurs are not good at is financial record keeping. They don't have the training needed to file complicated tax returns or the time to be familiar with tax law. That's where a good accountant can be of vital help.

Here are five ways an accountant can help your business:

1. Accountants can interpret and make sense out of your financial information. Your business generates huge amounts of data. Your invoices and accounts receivables can tell a lot about your business and its possible future. An accountant can interpret and organize this data. They can tell you if your business is growing or heading off a cliff. An accountant can give you the necessary information for you to make critical decisions in an intelligent way.

2. Accountants can see things clearer than the business owner. The business owner is stuck out in the field running the day-to-day operations of the business. They are not able to see the whole picture. An accountant can see things from a different perspective that would otherwise be missed. Accountants see the big picture and when you see the big picture you see new horizons and opportunities that can be taken advantage of.

3. Accountants have experience in the business world. Accountants are not only doing work for your business but they are doing work for many other businesses. They see the intricate workings of other types of industries and are able to use this knowledge to help your business. Not being locked into just one business as the entrepreneur is gives them a broad perspective. This perspective makes them a valuable asset to your company. Their experience lends itself to being a help in planning your business growth.

4. Accountants understand taxes. Taxes are not a simple problem for a company. The laws change almost every year and keeping up on them is a job unto itself. Rules and regulations having to do with payroll and government departments need to be kept up on. Your accountant can do this for you. Using an accountants knowledge of tax law will guarantee, you will be paying the minimum in taxes.

5. Accountants will see you through tax audits. When the tax man sends you a letter that you owe back taxes, there is no more frustrating and daunting experience. Clients of an accounting firm like www.liptrottandwoosey.co.uk are glad they are there to help them through all there accounting needs.

Can you survive without an outside accounting service? Maybe. But the help, guidance and knowledge given by a good accountant can be the catalyst that will make your business thrive.

Health Care or Social Care - What Will You Need In Retirement?

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When we look forward to retirement we usually imagine vacation and holiday time. Some think about visiting exotic places or playing a lot more golf. If we are healthy these dreams can come true. But eventually health issues begin to occur more frequently and some kind of long term care may be necessary.

Today, there is an issue of government claiming that some health issue remedies are not in it's inventory of services to provide the aging population. You can claim a medical health issue and hopefully they say that is an appropriate reason to provide care but if the issue is a social service need, it may determined that it doesn't fall under their jurisdiction and they shouldn't be asked to pay for it. 

Naturally there are some services that fall into a gray area which could fall under both social and health care. You could have a patient that needs help with dressing and eating, this falls under the heading of a social need. But if the feeding must be done intravenously this could be called a health need. 

Issues like this are not clearly defined in a health care framework so parties disagree to who should cover the need. 

Another care issue is a patient diagnosed with Alzheimer disease. Though a medical health condition and a metal health condition, it does not need medical care but just social care. Where does it fall under current law? Do health services pay for the care or does social services pay?

There are too many of these kinds of issues falling through the cracks of our current law framework. Many people who can not afford to pay end up selling assets like their homes to move to care facilities. It is possible to get a care fee refund and you can appeal the ruling of the law. It's not something an ill person needs to have happen to them. Seek appropriate professional help to help you alleviate this problem.

Using Your Credit Card--To Save Money

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A few simple steps will help you get the max out of your credit cards.

Advising someone to use a credit card as part of a sound financial plan sounds like telling someone to eat ice cream as part of a weight loss plan. The truth, however, is that credit cards can be used to your advantage.

The best way is to use them as a temporary replacement for the cash sitting in your bank account, rather than for cash you don't have. In other words, it isn't about carrying debt, but about carrying a credit card that's going to pay you back for you using it, and taking advantage of an interest-free loan between the time the purchase and paying the credit card bill.

What about those of us who carry a balance some (or all!) of the time? You still want to maximize your return. The card's interest rate is your biggest concern, but these tips will help you recoup some of that interest payment, or keep you from needlessly paying more.

Never pay before the due date

Most, if not all, major credit cards come with the option to set up automatic payments every month. Unless you tend to have erratic and low balances in your checking account, take advantage of this option. And when you do, set the payment date as the latest one allowed without incurring late fee. The reason: a credit card gives you an interest-free loan during the period between the purchase and your next billing cycle.

For instance, if you buy something May 1 and your monthly billing cycle ends May 15, with a payment due date of June 1, the credit card has loaned you interest-free money for 30 days). To maximize the savings, keep your cash in a high-interest savings or checking account.

One word of warning: it's always better to pay early if you fear you'll spend the money before the due date. The money you'll earn in interest is microscopic compared to the fees charged for late payments.

Take full advantage of cash-back rewards

Many credit cards offer cash-back rewards, typically equal to one percent of your annual spending. Others sweeten the deal by paying back a higher percentage on purchases for things like groceries, gas, or from specific vendors. Sites like billshrink.com help you figure out which card is likely to pay out the most, based on your spending habits. For instance, at one time the Chase Freedom Card paid 5% percent cash back on purchases from a rotating selection of merchants (check for current offers; they change quickly). They also paid a $100 bonus for spending $500 on the card within the first three months.

Avoid balance transfer fees

We've all seen the offers--"0% Interest on Balance Transfers for 12 Months!" And, yes, it's typically too good to be true. That's because many of those cards also charge an up-front fee (often 3 percent) based on the size of the transfer. So transfer $10,000 to the card and you'll pay $300 for the privilege. If you pay the balance off in a year, that $300 fee is the equivalent to more than 5% annual interest. And if you don't pay off the balance, forget about it--the hike in interest rates after the promotional period will likely wipe out the savings in no time.

Shop through credit card sites

Many card companies have negotiated special discounts with retailers, particularly those who sell online. When shopping, check your credit card site first. The American Express Blue card, for instance, offered savings on everything from car rentals to flowers to meals.

Don't pay a fee (usually)
Contrary to evidence from recent history, banks are smart. If they don't charge a fee, they've determined that they're better off giving you a card and earning money from interest you'll pay over the life of the account. Fee-based cards still want to earn money from your interest payments, but they also think you might find their "special" benefits worth ponying up an additional $50 or $75 a year. Unless you're a particularly big spender, the no-fee cards typically will end up costing you less (the aforementioned American Express Blue has a fee-based option, which pays higher percentages of cash back--only worthwhile if you rack up big charges). If you're uncertain, compare the fee and no-fee options and see how your spending habits affect your benefits.

Matthew Malone writes for the leading Roth IRA and online retirement planning resource, RothIRA.com. He is a CBS SmartPlanet contributing writer whose work has appeared in The New York Times, Cosmopolitan, Smartmoney.com, Fortune.com, Forbes.com, and other publications.