When many people think of giving, they think of gifts and a commercialized Christmas season. Yet giving happens in every aspect of life and it includes intangible things such as time and attention. Many people over-give to the point of hurting themselves. People also often give the wrong thing. This happens very often in relationships where one person gives someone something that isn't wanted.
Bruce Painter, author and consultant says, "If you can give effectively and intelligently, it is the secret to getting what you want; more importantly, it's the secret to giving others what they want. If you can give others what they want, you're going to get what you want."
Bruce found himself in a situation where he gave everything he had away, and had nothing left. He was exhausted, in pain, and overspent. He had nothing left and became selfish in response. Through his painful experiences, he developed a plan to help others learn the basics of giving intelligently.
The first key is to understand when you are giving and who you should be giving to. Giving happens in relationships because giving, even to a random beggar, creates a relationship. While you can give to anyone, the one person you can't afford not to give to, is yourself. Most people know about sacrificial giving - usually time or money. Intelligent giving is also listening and loving.
The second key of giving is to recognize the signs of unintelligent giving. Every parent knows that their kids will ask for things that aren't good for them and they aren't the only ones. Beyond immediate harm, there is longer-term harm to watch out for. Such as the creation of dependency that constant giving creates or inappropriate gifts that kill, rather than strengthen relationships.
Here are some examples:
- Giving too much to children can actually cause them to be unprepared for life. If a mother always cooks every meal for her children, even in a spirit of generous giving, they will never learn the basics of choosing and preparing their own food. You might not think this is not so serious if an adult has to live off restaurants and microwave dinners but think if this same thing is done with money. Giving money, without a need to earn, creates disastrous irresponsibility. The child, now a young adult, probably won't even understand why it is so hard for them to get respect.
- Giving the wrong thing in a relationship due to lack of communication often has the opposite effect intended. The receiver, instead of feeling gratitude, will feel resentment. Some gifts are actually 'white elephants'. These rare creatures are hugely expensive to take care of, yet because of their rarity and spiritual significance, are not allowed to be put to work. This is a gift that hurts the receiver.
How to Make Intelligent Giving Decisions:
- The first step to give intelligently, correctly, joyfully and truthfully is to communicate. Communicate openly at work and at home. This means talking and listening.
- Be willing to ask people what they want and be willing to tell others what you want. Very few people are willing to do that.
- When you give to people, check with them and see if it is really what they want. Their situation might change and you don't want to force it.
The Character of a Good Giver:
- Be accountable rather than blaming. The most successful people are accountable. They take responsibility for what they are doing. Leaders will not point fingers at someone else, but look at themselves when things are not going well and try to see how they contributed to the problem. Likewise, they look for how they can contribute to a solution.
Types of Giving:
- Insincere or selfish giving. This is giving because you want to get something back.
- Giving out of obligation is the type of giving that is not done from the heart. Known as the 'guilt trip.' There is no pleasure in it, and the giver feels coerced into it.
- Mechanical giving has no real life or spirit in it. Ritual tithing often turns into this.
- The ultimate type of giving is given freely. It is a joy and a pleasure. It is the type of giving when you hit the giving zone. It is giving intelligently, giving to people what they want and allowing them to give back.
Empowering others is a very important part of giving. Teach others to give. This type of giving feeds the community. It can make a difference in the lives of everyone a person touches. Teaching others to give will have a huge impact and change the world. Teaching children to be givers feeds the future.
Children need to learn the joy of giving from a very young age. Give them the opportunity to give to others and they will feel proud about having the ability to give. Giving also teaches children responsibility.
Be a proactive, intelligent giver, developing your values and principles to reach your full potential.
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Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Balance Transfers Pay Credit Card Bills
We are all faced with the hassle of settling credit card debt. It is all very well when we are going around buying things with our cards. However, we cannot afford to forget that we are running up a tab which shall have to be paid off sooner or later. Many people use their credit cards like credit cards will soon be extinct. They seem to be under the delusion that credit cards are like free money. We automatically associate this attitude with the younger group of credit card holders.
However, older and supposedly more responsible people at times become guilty of this attitude. Of course, even those of us who use our credit cards sensibly occasionally can become rather upset by our credit card bills.
Thus, when the credit card bill does arrive, we do spend the day wondering what the best way of dealing with it would be. It would be terrific if we could have a credit card to pay off a credit card bill.
Well, one option that a lot of credit card holders go in for is the balance transfer credit card. This permits us to transfer our credit burden from a more expensive card to a cheaper one. Thus, when a current card seems to have become rather unaffordable, we can start searching for a credit card that will charge lower rates of interest. Moreover, there are a number of zero percent balance transfer credit cards which may be very cost-effective.
However, one problem associated with applying for a credit card balance transfer is that this does occasionally become a habit. As soon as the rates on our current card become too high to handle, we choose to go in for a shift. Do this a little too often and our chances of obtaining other great credit deals in the future may be adversely affected. In fact, too many balance transfers may hamper our chances of getting approved for even loans and mortgages later on.
Also, we should not apply for a balance transfer card thinking that this will unquestionably be cheaper. Some cards do offer zero percent interest rates. However, this is usually with respect to the balance that has been transferred. Cards that charge lower rates may even charge the transferred balance and your other purchases at different rates of interest. Thus, do not go in for a balance transfer card without carrying out some studies of your own. Read the fine print before you sign on the dotted line. Find out about the pros and cons before you make any decision.
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However, older and supposedly more responsible people at times become guilty of this attitude. Of course, even those of us who use our credit cards sensibly occasionally can become rather upset by our credit card bills.
Thus, when the credit card bill does arrive, we do spend the day wondering what the best way of dealing with it would be. It would be terrific if we could have a credit card to pay off a credit card bill.
Well, one option that a lot of credit card holders go in for is the balance transfer credit card. This permits us to transfer our credit burden from a more expensive card to a cheaper one. Thus, when a current card seems to have become rather unaffordable, we can start searching for a credit card that will charge lower rates of interest. Moreover, there are a number of zero percent balance transfer credit cards which may be very cost-effective.
However, one problem associated with applying for a credit card balance transfer is that this does occasionally become a habit. As soon as the rates on our current card become too high to handle, we choose to go in for a shift. Do this a little too often and our chances of obtaining other great credit deals in the future may be adversely affected. In fact, too many balance transfers may hamper our chances of getting approved for even loans and mortgages later on.
Also, we should not apply for a balance transfer card thinking that this will unquestionably be cheaper. Some cards do offer zero percent interest rates. However, this is usually with respect to the balance that has been transferred. Cards that charge lower rates may even charge the transferred balance and your other purchases at different rates of interest. Thus, do not go in for a balance transfer card without carrying out some studies of your own. Read the fine print before you sign on the dotted line. Find out about the pros and cons before you make any decision.
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Credit Cards Go Gimmicky
Winning over more customers seems to be the aim of most credit card companies. There is such great competition in the credit card markets that credit card sellers have no other option. There seem to be too many credit card providers, each of whom is offering scores of terrific credit card offers.
Too much competition among the vendors results in the customer being indulged a great deal. Thus, we can select from among a variety of credit cards that offer us various kinds of incentives. There are cash back credit cards. There are cards that offer us zero percent balance transfer. There are cards that give us a period of zero interest. And now, we even have credit cards to go with the hobbies of its customers.
Yes, you got that right. Credit cards are now appealing to people's likes and dislikes in their bid to expand their business. Credit cards that are sports-related are now in fashion.
For instance, the Bank of America will be bringing out team-branded cards for the benefit of the football fan in this year's National Football League season. Given the craze that football has, this has to be a calculated move. The Bank of America has made a smart move by teaming up with the NFL, and it probably hopes that it will profit from the football craze that will seize the country this year.
At such times, the question of "Will this or won't this work?" does arise. However, most credit card vendors start out with a given target clear in their minds. They are not ignorant of the risks involved. But they have their eye on the potential gains.
If you take a look at the various deals that have caught on in the credit card market in recent times, you cannot help but notice that they are all gimmicky in nature. It is just that some gimmicks tend to be more successful. The ones that are successful sometimes last for a long time. The ones that are not usually fade into oblivion till someone manages to design a new and improved version.
Of course, many customers fall prey to the gimmicks of credit card vendors. This is why it is so important to carry out a certain amount of research before finalizing the deal. The more one knows the less likely one will be to fall for a gimmick. This will also ensure that one is able to choose the best from a horde of deals. Thus, it is always good to do some preliminary study.
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Too much competition among the vendors results in the customer being indulged a great deal. Thus, we can select from among a variety of credit cards that offer us various kinds of incentives. There are cash back credit cards. There are cards that offer us zero percent balance transfer. There are cards that give us a period of zero interest. And now, we even have credit cards to go with the hobbies of its customers.
Yes, you got that right. Credit cards are now appealing to people's likes and dislikes in their bid to expand their business. Credit cards that are sports-related are now in fashion.
For instance, the Bank of America will be bringing out team-branded cards for the benefit of the football fan in this year's National Football League season. Given the craze that football has, this has to be a calculated move. The Bank of America has made a smart move by teaming up with the NFL, and it probably hopes that it will profit from the football craze that will seize the country this year.
At such times, the question of "Will this or won't this work?" does arise. However, most credit card vendors start out with a given target clear in their minds. They are not ignorant of the risks involved. But they have their eye on the potential gains.
If you take a look at the various deals that have caught on in the credit card market in recent times, you cannot help but notice that they are all gimmicky in nature. It is just that some gimmicks tend to be more successful. The ones that are successful sometimes last for a long time. The ones that are not usually fade into oblivion till someone manages to design a new and improved version.
Of course, many customers fall prey to the gimmicks of credit card vendors. This is why it is so important to carry out a certain amount of research before finalizing the deal. The more one knows the less likely one will be to fall for a gimmick. This will also ensure that one is able to choose the best from a horde of deals. Thus, it is always good to do some preliminary study.
73062
Brits Face 'Nightmare' In Budgeting Telecoms Costs
Consumers could well be finding pressure on their day-to-day finances is increasing due to consistently miscalculating the cost of their telephone bills, new studies show.
In research carried out by Post Office, when asked to estimate how much their landline and mobiles set them back, the typical British household misjudges this figure by some 79 pounds. And with the public said to "have little idea of the real cost of chatting", this lack of awareness about the cost of telephone bills could affect their ability to service other areas of their finances such as credit cards and loans.
Overall, residents in Scotland have the greatest capacity for factoring telecoms costs into their budgeting as they have the lowest average miscalculation at 58 pounds. This compares to people living in London who are some 134 pounds out when asked to judge how much of an impact this area has on their spending. According to the financial services provider, unclear bills and hidden charges are the main reasons for consumers' inability to budget accurately, in addition to people not taking the time to think about how much a call will set them back before making it.
Stewart Fox-Mills, telephony manager for Post Office, said: "Too often telecoms bills are confusing, with complex layers of billing and hidden charges."
Commenting on the news, Jasmine Birtles, a financial expert from moneymagpie, added: "Budgeting for technologies such as mobile phones can be a bit of a nightmare. In years gone by, telecoms costs were restricted to a single company providing a single telephone line. Now, there are so many different products and suppliers out there that we're overwhelmed by choice and confused by all the options available. We don't seem to be thinking about the cost of communicating.
"I hear endless tales of people using [a] mobile phone at home - which works out much more expensive than a landline. We are also often unaware of how much calls actually cost, which can really add up for a household using a landline and a number of different mobile telephones, on various price plans."
Meanwhile, findings from Post Office indicated that people find it easier to factor in the cost of internet access when creating a budget, which may also incorporate how much money they have able to pay off loans, credit cards and other demands on their finances. The typical household was revealed to have misjudged the annual cost of their internet bills by just 3 pounds.
Last month, a Citizens Advice representative claimed that the ability to set up - and stick to - a budget was crucial for improving the nation's capacity to manage their money more effectively. Stating that being able to plan for demands on their spending is "a fundamental building block of financial skills", the spokesperson suggested that the introduction of personal finance lessons in schools could consequently lead to young people attaining greater understanding and adopting a more responsible attitude towards loans and other forms of credit. In addition, it was asserted that much of the country's debt difficulties are caused through a lack of understanding about financial products such as unsecured loans.
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In research carried out by Post Office, when asked to estimate how much their landline and mobiles set them back, the typical British household misjudges this figure by some 79 pounds. And with the public said to "have little idea of the real cost of chatting", this lack of awareness about the cost of telephone bills could affect their ability to service other areas of their finances such as credit cards and loans.
Overall, residents in Scotland have the greatest capacity for factoring telecoms costs into their budgeting as they have the lowest average miscalculation at 58 pounds. This compares to people living in London who are some 134 pounds out when asked to judge how much of an impact this area has on their spending. According to the financial services provider, unclear bills and hidden charges are the main reasons for consumers' inability to budget accurately, in addition to people not taking the time to think about how much a call will set them back before making it.
Stewart Fox-Mills, telephony manager for Post Office, said: "Too often telecoms bills are confusing, with complex layers of billing and hidden charges."
Commenting on the news, Jasmine Birtles, a financial expert from moneymagpie, added: "Budgeting for technologies such as mobile phones can be a bit of a nightmare. In years gone by, telecoms costs were restricted to a single company providing a single telephone line. Now, there are so many different products and suppliers out there that we're overwhelmed by choice and confused by all the options available. We don't seem to be thinking about the cost of communicating.
"I hear endless tales of people using [a] mobile phone at home - which works out much more expensive than a landline. We are also often unaware of how much calls actually cost, which can really add up for a household using a landline and a number of different mobile telephones, on various price plans."
Meanwhile, findings from Post Office indicated that people find it easier to factor in the cost of internet access when creating a budget, which may also incorporate how much money they have able to pay off loans, credit cards and other demands on their finances. The typical household was revealed to have misjudged the annual cost of their internet bills by just 3 pounds.
Last month, a Citizens Advice representative claimed that the ability to set up - and stick to - a budget was crucial for improving the nation's capacity to manage their money more effectively. Stating that being able to plan for demands on their spending is "a fundamental building block of financial skills", the spokesperson suggested that the introduction of personal finance lessons in schools could consequently lead to young people attaining greater understanding and adopting a more responsible attitude towards loans and other forms of credit. In addition, it was asserted that much of the country's debt difficulties are caused through a lack of understanding about financial products such as unsecured loans.
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The Benefits of a GFE and Pre-Approval
Most real estate purchases are bought with loans so getting a good faith estimate and pre-approval letter from your lender helps the process start off on the right foot. The good faith estimate, or GFE for short, is required by law to be provided by lenders when you are seeking a loan. It lists out the estimated closing costs, monthly payments, and interest rates for the loan program you are looking at getting.
The pre-approval letter is provided by lenders once they have run your credit and get your income / debt information. By getting the GFE and pre-approval letter, you can be confident that the loan will get processed with no surprises. There are also additional benefits to getting pre-approval and GFE before you even begin the property search.
For one, by discussing your debt to income ratio with your lender and obtaining the GFE, you can determine your maximum price. It helps to know the maximum sales price when shopping around so that you do not waste time and energy looking a over-priced properties, and also vice verse, you do not waste time and energy looking at under-priced properties. You can find an area in your price range that fits your needs and narrow down your search. You also will determine your monthly payments with the GFE.
The monthly payments should include the property taxes, insurance, principle, and interest plus any private mortgage insurance (PMI). If the monthly payments are higher than you wanted, then you can adjust your sales price to be lower.
Another reason to get your pre-approval and GFE before starting your home search is that you may find out some issues with your credit or financial situation that you could clean up before moving forward with a purchase. For example, the first time I bought a house, I found out that I had a $50 charge on my credit report from 3 years ago, which brought my credit score down. And with a lower credit score, I would have gotten a worse interest rate on the loan. I say 'would have' because I was able to pay off this collection and clear up the ding on my credit before going into the loan underwriting process.
Finally, by getting a pre-approval letter, you have proof for a seller that a lender has confidence in being able to fund the purchase on your behalf. This helps with presenting offers and negotiating. Many sellers will not even accept an offer unless it is accompanied by a lender's letter.
Furthermore, if you do not have a letter, the seller may counter higher given that he feels he is taking on more risk that you may not be qualified for the loan amount. Also, if you happen to get into a multiple offer situation, your offer will be much stronger with a pre-approval letter.
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The pre-approval letter is provided by lenders once they have run your credit and get your income / debt information. By getting the GFE and pre-approval letter, you can be confident that the loan will get processed with no surprises. There are also additional benefits to getting pre-approval and GFE before you even begin the property search.
For one, by discussing your debt to income ratio with your lender and obtaining the GFE, you can determine your maximum price. It helps to know the maximum sales price when shopping around so that you do not waste time and energy looking a over-priced properties, and also vice verse, you do not waste time and energy looking at under-priced properties. You can find an area in your price range that fits your needs and narrow down your search. You also will determine your monthly payments with the GFE.
The monthly payments should include the property taxes, insurance, principle, and interest plus any private mortgage insurance (PMI). If the monthly payments are higher than you wanted, then you can adjust your sales price to be lower.
Another reason to get your pre-approval and GFE before starting your home search is that you may find out some issues with your credit or financial situation that you could clean up before moving forward with a purchase. For example, the first time I bought a house, I found out that I had a $50 charge on my credit report from 3 years ago, which brought my credit score down. And with a lower credit score, I would have gotten a worse interest rate on the loan. I say 'would have' because I was able to pay off this collection and clear up the ding on my credit before going into the loan underwriting process.
Finally, by getting a pre-approval letter, you have proof for a seller that a lender has confidence in being able to fund the purchase on your behalf. This helps with presenting offers and negotiating. Many sellers will not even accept an offer unless it is accompanied by a lender's letter.
Furthermore, if you do not have a letter, the seller may counter higher given that he feels he is taking on more risk that you may not be qualified for the loan amount. Also, if you happen to get into a multiple offer situation, your offer will be much stronger with a pre-approval letter.
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What to Look for in a Loan Part 1
When you decide to buy a house, one of the first tasks is to talk to a couple lenders and choose which lender & loan is best for you. With all the loan variables, it's tough to compare one lender to another. In this article, we'll go through each of the loan variables.
1. Down Payment:
In general, the more you can put down, the better interest rate you can get. There is a point at which it does not matter how much more you put down, and that point is usually either 20% or 30%, depending on the loan program. If you are looking for the best rate possible and can put down more, ask your lender about this option.
2. Loan Life:
The longer the term, the more total interest you will pay. This is partly because you will have a better interest rate with the 15 year; for instance, today's rate from a large bank is 6.375% for a 15 year and 6.75% for a 30 year.
The other reason you pay less interest over the life of the loan with a 15 year term is because you pay down your principle faster. Instead of getting a shorter life term on the loan up front, another option to pay less total interest is to pay more into your mortgage each month to pay the loan down quicker. For example, on a 30-year $240,000 loan at 6.5%, if you pay $272 more per month, you can end up paying the loan off in 15 years instead of 30.
3. Property Taxes:
When comparing lenders, this number should not vary because your property taxes are paid to the city, county, and state, not the lender. So, this number should be constant across all lenders. But, when you look at estimated payments from different lenders, the estimated taxes will vary because it is their best guesses at what the tax bill will be at the end of the year.
The easiest way to compare the lenders is to just compare the principal plus interest and add in the same number for taxes. Essentially, you are standarizing the estimated payments between the lenders so that you can compare the actual rates. Another way of doing this comparison is to ignore the estimated payments and rather concentrate on the actual interest rate they are quoting you.
4. Insurance Rate:
Again, the insurance is an estimate that the lenders will make. They may estimate differently, so be sure to normalize this number across all the estimated payments.
5. Interest Rate:
The interest rate is variable depending on your credit score, income, and loan type. The higher the credit score, the better the rate. Lenders have cut-offs for what they consider above average, average, and low. If you can be in the above-average group, they will get the best rates. Your income comes into play when they figure your debt-to-income ratio. This is basically a way to measure how much you are bringing in and how much you are spending. At some point, a lender will not create more debt for you than they think you can handle. One thing to consider about your debt is not what the lender says you can handle but what you want to handle. The loan type also has a heavy influence on your rate. A better rate is given to those who will owner occupy the property.
6. Points:
Points are paid by the Borrower in order to buy down the interest rate. If you get some insanely low interest rate from one lender that seems completely out of whack from the other quotes, this might be because they are quoting you a rate with points. A point is equal to 1% of the loan amount, and you pay this point as part of your closing costs. So for example, with a loan for $240,000, one point would be $2,400 and that point might buy your interest rate of 6.5% down to 6.25%. Buying down your rate will lower your monthly payment.
When comparing lenders, make sure they all quote you a rate with no points. This levels the playing field so that you can determine who has the best rate without having to do all kinds of crazy calculations.
7. Closing Costs:
In addition to points, the Borrower pays 2-3% in loan-related closing costs. The majority of closing costs are lender fees. To demonstrate the price you pay for borrowing money, if you pay cash for a property, the closing costs ends up being more like $300 instead of $6,000 for a $300,000 sales price. The fees you pay include loan origination fees, appraisal fee, lawyer fees, credit score application fee, and document preperation fees.
Ok, so those are the main components of the loan to sort through and compare. Now, the toughest part is to compare lenders and weigh out all the closing costs and points paid along with the interest rates. How do you compare one lender with a 6.5% interest rate with $5,000 in closing costs to another lender who has a 6.0% rate with $8,000 in closing costs? The rate is better but you are paying more for it at closing, so is that $3,000 extra really worth it? To compare this, the lender can provide you with the Annual Percentage Rate (APR), which is the interest rate calculated with closing costs wrapped into it. As long as you are comparing two exact same loan lifes and are putting the same amount down, the APR is the easiest way to determine who has the better overall package.
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1. Down Payment:
In general, the more you can put down, the better interest rate you can get. There is a point at which it does not matter how much more you put down, and that point is usually either 20% or 30%, depending on the loan program. If you are looking for the best rate possible and can put down more, ask your lender about this option.
2. Loan Life:
The longer the term, the more total interest you will pay. This is partly because you will have a better interest rate with the 15 year; for instance, today's rate from a large bank is 6.375% for a 15 year and 6.75% for a 30 year.
The other reason you pay less interest over the life of the loan with a 15 year term is because you pay down your principle faster. Instead of getting a shorter life term on the loan up front, another option to pay less total interest is to pay more into your mortgage each month to pay the loan down quicker. For example, on a 30-year $240,000 loan at 6.5%, if you pay $272 more per month, you can end up paying the loan off in 15 years instead of 30.
3. Property Taxes:
When comparing lenders, this number should not vary because your property taxes are paid to the city, county, and state, not the lender. So, this number should be constant across all lenders. But, when you look at estimated payments from different lenders, the estimated taxes will vary because it is their best guesses at what the tax bill will be at the end of the year.
The easiest way to compare the lenders is to just compare the principal plus interest and add in the same number for taxes. Essentially, you are standarizing the estimated payments between the lenders so that you can compare the actual rates. Another way of doing this comparison is to ignore the estimated payments and rather concentrate on the actual interest rate they are quoting you.
4. Insurance Rate:
Again, the insurance is an estimate that the lenders will make. They may estimate differently, so be sure to normalize this number across all the estimated payments.
5. Interest Rate:
The interest rate is variable depending on your credit score, income, and loan type. The higher the credit score, the better the rate. Lenders have cut-offs for what they consider above average, average, and low. If you can be in the above-average group, they will get the best rates. Your income comes into play when they figure your debt-to-income ratio. This is basically a way to measure how much you are bringing in and how much you are spending. At some point, a lender will not create more debt for you than they think you can handle. One thing to consider about your debt is not what the lender says you can handle but what you want to handle. The loan type also has a heavy influence on your rate. A better rate is given to those who will owner occupy the property.
6. Points:
Points are paid by the Borrower in order to buy down the interest rate. If you get some insanely low interest rate from one lender that seems completely out of whack from the other quotes, this might be because they are quoting you a rate with points. A point is equal to 1% of the loan amount, and you pay this point as part of your closing costs. So for example, with a loan for $240,000, one point would be $2,400 and that point might buy your interest rate of 6.5% down to 6.25%. Buying down your rate will lower your monthly payment.
When comparing lenders, make sure they all quote you a rate with no points. This levels the playing field so that you can determine who has the best rate without having to do all kinds of crazy calculations.
7. Closing Costs:
In addition to points, the Borrower pays 2-3% in loan-related closing costs. The majority of closing costs are lender fees. To demonstrate the price you pay for borrowing money, if you pay cash for a property, the closing costs ends up being more like $300 instead of $6,000 for a $300,000 sales price. The fees you pay include loan origination fees, appraisal fee, lawyer fees, credit score application fee, and document preperation fees.
Ok, so those are the main components of the loan to sort through and compare. Now, the toughest part is to compare lenders and weigh out all the closing costs and points paid along with the interest rates. How do you compare one lender with a 6.5% interest rate with $5,000 in closing costs to another lender who has a 6.0% rate with $8,000 in closing costs? The rate is better but you are paying more for it at closing, so is that $3,000 extra really worth it? To compare this, the lender can provide you with the Annual Percentage Rate (APR), which is the interest rate calculated with closing costs wrapped into it. As long as you are comparing two exact same loan lifes and are putting the same amount down, the APR is the easiest way to determine who has the better overall package.
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