Avoid Foreclosure

August 29, 2008

There is one “f” word that we do not want to hear when talking about our mortgages and our homes. That word is foreclosure. Foreclosure is something that many people fear could happen to them if they do not watch out. You need to make sure that you do all you can do avoid foreclosure, and that is why we are here right now. The following are some of the top ways that you can avoid foreclosure in your life, and not struggle doing so. Make sure that you take your time though, because this is not something that needs to be rushed through. Your home is a valuable asset. Do not let something like foreclosure tear that away.

Foreclosure Prevention

There are companies out there that will tell you that they can help you with foreclosure prevention. You need to make sure that you watch out who you give your money to because these people can be trouble. They will say they are going to represent you with the foreclosure companies. All this really does is charge you more money when you probably could have gotten this help for free. This is just something that you need to stay away from whenever possible. Prevent foreclosure on your own terms.

Do Not Sidestep the Trouble

You might find that your foreclosure notice comes in the mail. This is why you need to make sure that you take your time and do not throw away any mail regarding your home. If you ever do receive one of these pieces of mail then you need to make sure that you know what you have to do in order to fight this trouble. Do not wait around for a second or third notice before you kick into gear. By that time it actually might be too late for you to do anything. Those who fight through this problem are the ones who go on the offensive.

Your Home Might Have to Be Sold

We know that you love your home, and we know that you want to keep it. Unfortunately, there might come a time when you have to sell your home. Think about it this way: Would you rather sell your home and make some money or would you rather have your home taken from you with nothing to show for it? When it is put that way then selling your home might not be a bad option. You never want to have to just give a home away. See if there is something else that you can do in order to make sure things go smoothly.

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FAP872: Hurricanes, Education Finance Partners, Free Stuff

August 29, 2008

FAP872: Hurricanes, Education Finance Partners, Free Stuff

Listen now:

Student Financial Aid News
+ NASFAA/SF Chronicle: “Education Finance Partners, one of the companies at the center of New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo’s investigation into student-lending practices last year, has abruptly ceased making student loans and is clearing out of its San Francisco headquarters,” The San Francisco Chronicle reports. “The timing was especially bad in this case. ‘It’s right when students are paying bills and all the money they were counting on evaporated. I’ve been getting calls from students in many states about this,’ says Mark Kantrowitz, publisher of Finaid.com. Robert Shireman, director of the Project on Student Debt, estimates that 2 percent of college students ‘are experiencing some hassle and difficulty’ obtaining student loans because of the credit crisis. Most students whose loans fall through will be able to get other, in some cases better, loans.”
+ IHE: Many Louisiana colleges are closing early today and some are planning to stay closed until next Wednesday or Thursday to encourage students and employees to evacuate in anticipation of Gustav landing in the state. Delgado Community College is ending all classes at noon today and hasn’t yet decided on a schedule for next week. Loyola University New Orleans is requiring students to evacuate the campus tomorrow. Xavier University of Louisiana will close at noon today and classes will not resume until Thursday. Southern University at New Orleans is shutting down at noon today, but hoping to resume classes on Tuesday. McNeese State University is advising professors to take important materials with them when they leave work today. Tulane University is planning to close at noon today, to re-open business operations Wednesday and to resume classes on Thursday.
+ Check out the NHC and Weather Underground for the latest
+ Third anniversary of Katrina

Scholarship Update
+ Study in Scandinavia
+ Applicants must have a well-defined research or study project that makes a stay in Scandinavia essential. Applicants must be United States citizens or permanent residents. Applicants must have completed their undergraduate education by the start of their project in Scandinavia. Team projects are eligible, but each member must apply as an individual, submitting a separate, fully-document- ed application. First priority will be given to applicants who have not previously received an ASF award. Only in exceptional cases will a third award be considered. Projects should be planned to fall within the summer 2009 - summer 2010 period. Grantsare considered especially suitable for post-graduate scholars, professionals, and candidates in the arts to carry out research or study visits of one to three months duration. Fellowshipsare intended to support a year-long stay. Priority is given to candidates at the graduate level for dissertation-related study or research. The awards support project-related costs, including maintenance, trans- Atlantic round-trip travel, in-country travel, tuition and fees (where applica- ble) and materials expenditures (e.g., books, photocopying, art supplies).
+ Awards range from Grants (normally $5,000) to Fellowships (up to $23,000). The number of awards varies each year according to total funds available. Over $300,000 is available for the 2009-10 competition.
+ November 1, 2008 deadline
+ Details at our free college scholarship search site
+ Woo! $9,600,170,116!

Free Stuff Friday
+ On Labor Day, Chick-fil-A is giving three free chicken strips to anyone who comes in wearing something with their favorite team’s logo on it.
+ CalorieLab tells you exactly why you don’t eat out much any more
+ Windows SmartPhone self destruct
+ Palm Centro phones have this feature as well
+ Mail2Web stands in for MobileMe
+ Lifehacker has 8 great back to school apps
+ Songbird alternative music player now in beta
+ Speedread for Windows
+ Free cat litter
+ Arm & Hammer Cleaning Kit
+ Christina Aguilera’s perfume
+ Sephora makeup kit

Free Song of the Week
+ I Will Wait For You, Matthew Ebel

Did you enjoy today’s show? If so, please consider subscribing for free to get it delivered to you. Subscribing for free means you don’t have to remember to download it every day.
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Direct MP3 file download: Click here to download the MP3

Reminders
+
+ Financial Aid Podcast Show Notes at FinancialAidPodcast.com.
+ Free scholarship search secrets eBook at StudentScholarshipSearch.com/ebook
+ Open an FDIC-insured savings account today!
+ Stafford federal student loans at StaffordLoan.com
+ Parent PLUS loans at ParentPLUSLoan.com
+ Graduate student loans at GradLoans.com
+ Private student loans available at any time - visit AlternativeStudentLoan.com
+ Private student loan consolidation at StudentLoanConsolidator.com
+ FAFSA form tutorials and free help at FAFSAonline.com
+ Get FAFSA news at the FAFSA blog

+ The Financial Aid Podcast is a publication of the Student Loan Network.

I want to hear from you! Email me at financialaidpodcast {at} gmail {dot} com, visit http://www.FinancialAidPodcast.com, or call 206-350-1208.

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Millions of home sellers failed Econ 101?

August 29, 2008

We are going to keep this simple because millions of people must have failed Econ 101 or missed the month of supply demand charts and it's influence on prices.

If you owned a car dealership full of cars that weren't selling what would you do?

Hey maybe have an enormous sale:

This is the current for sale inventory of existing single family homes in the U.S.:

from our friends at Calculated Risk.

Maybe the millions of sellers should pore a huge cup of coffee and wake up to today's market. But, who am I to judge that asking prices are too high? Maybe these sellers are aware of 5 million wealthy Asian and Arab buyers that are dying to move in and pay full sticker price. Sure and Santa Clause hangs out with the tooth fairy in the Cayman Islands during August summer break.

The way this standoff resolves itself is with declining prices to meet the available buyers or staying stuborn and waiting for the market to rise up to the current asking prices. Homes are selling every day... that are priced right. And now for a laugh from my favorite newspaper comic when I was a kid. Calvin and Hobbes.

FAP871: State FAFSA deadlines, broadband scholarship, job references

August 28, 2008

FAP871: State FAFSA deadlines, broadband scholarship, job references

Listen now:

Student Financial Aid News
+ Forbes: “Corinthian Colleges is boosting its profits by increasing student enrollment, but the downside for the for-profit operator of North American colleges and trade schools is that it now expects an increased number of defaults,” Forbes reports. “‘During the fourth quarter, we implemented several changes to offset the loss of Sallie Mae privates tudent loans for students with subprime credit profiles. We established a new company-sponsored student lending program, ACCESS, and thus far, have arranged financing for the vast majority of students through Title IV, cash payments, ACCESS and other resources,’ said Corinthian Colleges Chief Executive Officer Jack Massimino. Corinthian said student loan defaults increased to 9.1% of revenue in the fourth quarter vs. 6.2% in the prior year. Revenue for the quarter rose 18.3% to $274 million, from $231.6 million a year earlier, below analysts’ expectations of $276.6 million.”
+ Boston Globe: For most students, college is a four-year rite of passage - a time to dabble in multiple subjects before settling on a major or a chance to spend a semester abroad - with frat parties sprinkled in between, That’s a luxury some students say they can no longer afford. Soaring tuition costs are prompting a small but growing number of students to compress their college careers into three years and, in the process, save their parents and themselves tens of thousands of dollars. The crop of early graduates often comes from middle-class families who might not qualify for need-based financial aid, college officials say.
+ Some policies adopted by local colleges can make it easier to graduate early. Suffolk University introduced online courses this summer to help working students squeeze in extra credits at their own pace. Berklee College of Music allows students who test out of classes to receive credits for those classes, at no charge. Like some other schools, Wellesley College offers classes during semester breaks.

Scholarship Update
+ Broadband Changed My Life Scholarship
+ The goal of the Alliance for Public Technology’s national Broadband Changed My Life! campaign is to raise awareness of the benefits of advanced broadband and encourage its universal deployment and adoption.
+ Now you can enter the new Tell the Next President Contest! Stories should be 50-300 words ideally, although they can be longer. The focus is to share the story of how high-speed internet access has changed your life and your family members’ lives, or how you would like to see broadband used to change the lives of others.
+ The deadline for entries is October 1, 2008. Three winners will be announced in late October and the prizes will be $1,000 for first place, $500 for second place and $250 for third place. A panel of APT Board members and staff will judge the entries. Early next year, a memorandum with the best contest entries will be sent to the new President and the first place winner will receive a trip to Washington and a ticket to an Inaugural ball.
+ Details at our free college scholarship search site

Mail Bag
+ Hi. My name is Cecilia and I began college last year without financial aid, which was a mistake. Now I am interested in filling a fafsa form out but my state’s(california) deadline was januray 1 to march 2,2008. Does that mean I am too late? And if my mother claimed me for her taxes in 2007 and she is a nurse but now I am living with my father and he can only pay some of the tution. Also he has been claiming me most of my life. Does that also mean I have to wait till 2009? Thank you for your time. Please try to help with my questions because I’m very confused.
+ File your FAFSA anyway - it’s free!
+ State deadlines are different than federal deadlines - at the least, you’ll be able to get some Stafford loans
+ State deadlines only affect state financial aid like the CalGrant
+ Whoever you lived with more than 50% of tax year 2007 is the claimant on the FAFSA for this year’s FAFSA
+ On January 1, the 2009 FAFSA opens up for the 2009-2010 school year and whoever you lived with more than 50% of 2008 is the claimant

Jobcast
+ Recommendations are critical to the success of a resume portfolio
+ Think of these as short references - testimonials
+ Gather them in places like LinkedIn
+ Gather them the old-fashioned way, too
+ Ask for recommendations diplomatically but earnestly
+ Ask for recommendations with details if possible and appropriate
+ Bad: John did a fine job as our summer intern. I’d recommend him for the future.
+ Good: John did a fine job as our summer intern, handling customer service issues and helping to keep our loan applications on track, especially when it came to calling back customers.
+ Great: John did a fine job as our summer intern, handling customer service issues and helping to keep our loan applications on track, especially when it came to calling back customers. He managed to call back a record 267 customers in just 10 days and closed 44 loans entirely by himself.

Did you enjoy today’s show? If so, please consider subscribing for free to get it delivered to you. Subscribing for free means you don’t have to remember to download it every day.
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Direct MP3 file download: Click here to download the MP3

+ The Financial Aid Podcast is a publication of the Student Loan Network.

I want to hear from you! Email me at financialaidpodcast {at} gmail {dot} com, visit http://www.FinancialAidPodcast.com, or call 206-350-1208.

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FAP870: The History of the Financial Aid Podcast

August 27, 2008

FAP870: The History of the Financial Aid Podcast

Listen now:

Expert Interview
+ A brief history of the Financial Aid Podcast and why we started this grand adventure
+ April 2005 was the first show
+ Started with FAFSA training internally
+ Everything changed in June 2005 with iTunes
+ Since then… 751,229 downloads, 5 eBooks, and tons of folks helped
+ I love the stories of making a difference most - Nolan racking up thousands of dollars in scholarships, Scott and Jim as parents getting their kids into college and on partial scholarship, locating missing kids using MySpace, College Goal Sunday, and so much more
+ As the podcast changes to a weekly show, we’re going to do some format changes and lots more blogging on ways to save money, pay for college, and so much more
+ Really important though to say this - thank you to everyone who tunes in, whether you’ve been listening since show #1 or just tuned in today
+ Leave comments in this blog post about things you’d like to see more of, things that work well for you, and things that need improvement!

Did you enjoy today’s show? If so, please consider subscribing for free to get it delivered to you. Subscribing for free means you don’t have to remember to download it every day.
+
+
+

Direct MP3 file download: Click here to download the MP3

+ The Financial Aid Podcast is a publication of the Student Loan Network.

I want to hear from you! Email me at financialaidpodcast {at} gmail {dot} com, visit http://www.FinancialAidPodcast.com, or call 206-350-1208.

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Loan-Topics.com

Avoid Foreclosure

Foreclosure Prevention

Do Not Sidestep the Trouble

Your Home Might Have to Be Sold

Additional Resources:

FAP872: Hurricanes, Education Finance Partners, Free Stuff

Millions of home sellers failed Econ 101?

FAP871: State FAFSA deadlines, broadband scholarship, job references

FAP870: The History of the Financial Aid Podcast

Loan Calculator