A dedicated server is a type of web hosting system where the client leases a web server for themselves only, and no-one else shares it. Having a secure private network can give great peace of mind, particularly for firms who have sensitive personal and financial information concerning their clients.

This also means that you can be assured having full access to the data processing power and memory of the server whenever you may need it, as opposed to being at the mercy of other users on your server who may decide to take up a lot of power or memory just when you need it most.

Many suppliers of dedicated servers will let you have unlimited bandwidth, which means that you can have as much online traffic as you want to your dedicated server without being charged any extra fees. A major advantage of leasing dedicated servers is that you can always have the latest top of the range hardware for your business applications, just like when you lease a car and change it after three months to another newer model.

The suppler will have access to the latest technology and you will not be stuck with equipment that is getting more and more out of date. Similarly the dedicated server supplier will be able to save you money. For example they will be able to broker advantageous licensing deals for associated services like control panel access.

Another major advantage of dedicated servers is the ability to choose your operating system, for example Linux or Windows, so you can have the kind of operating system that fits the needs of your business. The ability to have full remote control of your dedicated server is an important requirement. This way, you can have access to the server control panel whenever you want, from anywhere in the world. You may need for example to re-boot your server, and with this capability you can do it yourself.

Effective technical support is vital if you have a dedicated server. You need to have access to experts whenever you need them, and the best dedicated server suppliers will be able to provide this kind of support twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. These experts will be able to manage and monitor your server, particular during times when there is a lot of online traffic.

The best dedicated server suppliers will have assembled a comprehensive online knowledge base, where you can read frequently asked questions. This is a great way to get a steer on what to do, especially at the beginning of a new arrangement. It is important to work with a dedicated server suppler who has a flexible back-up capability, which can be added to as your business grows, or you amalgamate with other companies.

Most suppliers of dedicated servers will have a number of packages that they can offer you. These will be typical arrangements of hardware and levels of management and monitoring that they find works well with other clients who are similar to you in size and business needs.

Do you have several credit cards that have reached their limits and you find that paying the minimum monthly requirement is getting difficult? If you add the expenses of car payments, insurance, and mortgages on top of your mounting debt this can lead to a feeling of being financially overwhelmed. The way a debt reduction service operates is when you owe a particular balance to a creditor and negotiate to pay a lower balance. This differs from debt consolidation in that when you consolidate you pay a lump sum to an agency that then disperses the monies to the creditors that you owe. Creditors will agree to debt reduction if they believe that it is in their best interest.

Typically, those who request debt reduction services are individuals who are considering the option of bankruptcy as a form of clearing out their debt. Certain situations affect the pay off amount that creditors will offer. They will look at your credit report to see how you are paying your other debts. If it appears, you are paying everyone else in a timely fashion and neglecting them, they will most likely offer a high settlement based on the fact you appear to have the finances to be faithful to your other obligations. On the other hand, if they notice that your credit report shows you are not paying anyone they may offer a lower settlement. If their offer is in your opinion to high, then you can gather your financial information, including all incomes received and outgoing expenses to negotiate for a lower settlement offer.

When you have received a settlement offer either through a company you have hired or through negotiating yourself the creditor expects you to pay off the settlement with a one-time lump sum payment. There are exceptions to this rule such as if your debt is significantly high the creditor may consider payment arrangements over a short period. Usually they will offer up to six months. Another option is in using a debt reduction service that can negotiate for the settlement payments to stretch over a period up to four years.

The idea of using debt reduction services as a form of reducing your debt in and of itself sounds like a great idea. There are some points to consider if you are an individual who has good credit and has found himself or herself in a difficult spot financially, consider carefully before engaging in a debt reduction service. Once you do use this method, it will significantly lower your credit score, making obtaining credit more difficult. If you, on the other hand, are someone who has had a history of poor credit actually using a debt reduction service can change your bad credit rating from poor to good thus enhancing your credit status.

When you’re put in a position where credit counseling seems like a financial saving grace, don’t hesitate, yet do proceed with knowledge and a bit of caution. Especially in a situation where handing over your financial information to a company occurs, you must -stressing the word “must” – know who you’re sending that information to, being certain they’re indeed looking out for your best interests and not theirs. What’s needed, or rather, required on their end is absolute assistance, not deception. You need a credit counseling service to heal you and help you, not pull a fast one on you. To avoid being swindled by seemingly reputable credit counseling companies there are a few easy steps, or questions, you can take and ask to ensure 100% assistance and hopefully, at the close of credit counseling, relieve debt all together.

Weeding Out The Bad From The Good

The major draw back to finding financial companies is dealing with the few charlatans out there looking to capitalize on the current economic and debt hardship period through using particular malicious practices, ones taking advantage of indebted persons seeking help. This said, asking questions, even in an excessive amount is O.K. when speaking with numerous credit counseling agencies. It’s a necessary and time consuming process to weed out the bad from the good. Doing this will ensure you’re dealing with an ameliorative company, rather than a cloaked, villainous one.

Ask away – the worst thing that could happen is knowing more, and isn’t knowing half the battle to anything?

Are You, Counseling Company X, Affiliated To Major Industry Groups?

Ask this particular question to find out if your desired credit counseling company is affiliated with either the National Foundation for Credit Counseling or the Association of Independent Consumer Credit Counseling Agencies. Belonging to one of these is one way to at least know that their policies require Company X to abide to detailed standards and guidelines. There’s some comfort in knowing that.

Are Your Upfront Fees Substantial or Reasonable?

As a start up procedure for setting up your account companies will usually charge you a fair amount. This relatively standard amount is then carried over for monthly administering of your plan. Now, if the fee is initially a bit high, proceed with caution or avoid this company all together. Many companies in the past were known for charging extremely high set up fees, and then, poof, were almost instantaneously gone with all the clients’ money. Avoid being scammed like this and having your money syphoned into a credit counseling company’s back pocket. Be certain your funds are being placed toward finalizing you debt instead.

Are All These Promises You’re Stating Going To Be Fulfilled?

Most times, what credit counseling companies offer you seem to good to true. Sometimes though, they actually are. Avoid promises stating you’ll be able to settle debts through minimal amounts of money without harming your credit rating; these are completely unrealistic. The costs are there and the financial realities quite grim when ushering services from a credit counseling company. If outlandish promises are insistent on their end, ask for them to be provided to you in writing.

Which Creditors Have You Successfully Worked With?

Inquire about this to see just who, in terms of creditors, Company X are familiar and successful with. Compare their answers with your creditors. Ask if they’ve been successful in reducing payments, lessening interest rates and getting rid of fees for your particular creditors. It’s important to ask this as not all creditors will actually work with a credit counseling company. If none or only a few of your creditors are mentioned, take this into consideration. Again, ask for a written list, if not just to compare with yours and to see in front of you, but also for record purposes.

Asking not only the above questions but even further inquiries will ensure you’re getting true assistance from a credit counseling company. Also, ask how you will pay Company X per month, when account statements will be provided to you and how you can contact these individuals with questions and concerns through the counseling term. Don’t be afraid to ask away, you’re not hassling these credit counseling people; after all, if Company X is indeed real and reliable they’ll be glad to answer all your queries, not irritated to do so.

I have a simple strategy that I use when I want to get a short sale sold. Here is the process:

1. List the Property
2. Get an Investor Offer on the Property
3. Collect current Financials & other Short Sale Documents
4. Submit entire short sale packet to lender(s)
5. Order BPO/Appraisal and lender’s BPO/Appraisal
6. Start a “Dutch Auction” list price weekly reduction
7. Negotiate lowest acceptable net price to lender
8. Compare Highest & Best offer with lender’s approved price/value
9. Close transaction

Here is a short summary of the reasoning behind each step:

1. List the Property For Sale

The lender wants to know that we are doing everything we can to facilitate a sale. If the lender knows that it is listed and marketed on the MLS then we have the best chance of finding a qualified end buyer.

They also know that the offers from a listed property represent “market value” and are more willing to negotiate a good settlement value.

2. Get an Investor Offer on the Property

Investors will always offer a low price on any property in order to get the best deal available. At this stage of the game it doesn’t matter, we just need a legitimate offer that we can submit to the lender to get the short sale process started (we are always honest and never fabricate an offer). We also want that offer to be low so that we can find the lowest acceptable value that the lender will approve.

3. Collect current Financials & other Short Sale Documents

The financial information needs to be current so it is collected when we have an offer. I have a network of investors so I know I’ll have an offer within a couple days of listing the property so I begin to collect this information immediately.

The short sale documents include all the financial information to “prove” to the lender that the seller can no longer afford to keep the property and that they need to sell it. These documents also show what happened to the seller because they could afford the property when they bought it and now they can’t they afford it. All information needs to be truthful and honest.

4. Submit entire short sale packet to lender(s)

All the information is submitted in one packet to the lender. This keeps information from becoming lost and allows the process to move forward more quickly. Since most lenders are backed up with other short sales and foreclosures, the first several calls to the lender will just be checking on information and making sure that all information then lender needs has been submitted. Any missing information can quickly be resubmitted.

5. Order BPO/Appraisal and lender’s BPO/Appraisal

While almost no one does this, we order our own BPO on each property. We want to have an independent opinion of value and price. The 1st mortgage lender will almost always order their own BPO (an appraisal if the loan is over FHA limits) to establish value. With our own BPO in hand we will meet the BPO agent and show them the property and give them a copy of the BPO as a second opinion. We will point out those things which are important to the value of the property but that may not be obvious to someone not already familiar with the property. Our main objective is to get an idea of where that agent feels the value of the property will be (although they never tell us their value). We also use our BPO to send to any junior lien-holders so they are also aware of value (which makes negotiations with them go more smoothly).

6. Start a “Dutch Auction” list price weekly reduction

To get the best price available we need to have competing offers. Once the BPO has been completed by the lender we start to lower the price each week until we start to get offers on the property. If we don’t see any offers during the week we lower the price. (I like to lower the price on Thursday so that anyone looking for homes to view over the weekend will see the price change and come to see the home.)

7. Negotiate lowest acceptable net price to lender

Once all of the paperwork has been received by the lender the case/file is assigned to a negotiator who then orders the BPO/appraisal. (Note: We hold any subsequent offers until the negotiation is concluded to establish the best possible pay-off/settlement the lender will allow for the seller.) Once the BPO has been received by the lender we begin the actual negotiations. We know that the lender’s BPO value represents the price that the lender believes they can sell the property for (should they take the property back through foreclosure).

We know that the lender’s bottom line is below that number because the foreclosure process is very expensive (attorney’s fees, property insurance, loan interest to Fed, selling costs, commissions, concessions, and dropping property values…not to mention the problems the lenders are having with too much bad debt on their books). Those costs generally add up to 15-20% of the property value (they can be significantly higher in upper-end homes). The lender will negotiate a value that is as high as possible but at least higher than their bottom line through the foreclosure process. Once they agree to a net value it is logged into their system.

8. Compare Highest & Best offer with lender’s approved price/value

Once we have determined the lender’s bottom line we will compare that value with our highest & best offer on the property. If the H&B offer is significantly higher than the lender’s approved bottom line then the investor will buy the property and resell it to the buyer with the H&B offer. However, if the H&B offer is not significantly higher then the lender’s bottom line then the H&B offer is submitted to the lender for approval and that buyer will close a single transaction. (Significantly higher means about 12-15% of the property value. The investor will have costs associated with 2 closings: 1% 1st closing costs, 3% money costs, 1% 2nd closing costs, 3% commission to 2nd buyer’s agent and the investor’s profit. So if the investor finds their own buyer they can reduce the sales price by 3% and still be profitable.)

9. Close transaction

Finally we close the transaction, either with or without the investor. The seller should be done with this settlement and no further negative reporting from the lender (our agreement with the lender states something to the effect of “satisfaction in full to seller”). Because the lender is writing off the “bad debt” lost in the negotiations, the seller may see a 1099 tax form which shows the lender’s loss as income for the seller. If the property was the seller’s principle residence then that “income” may be excluded from their taxes (some restrictions apply so consult your tax advisor).

Conclusion

At the end of the day this process is not 100% successful. However, it is a process that gives the seller the best chance of getting an approved short sale from their lender that is sellable in today’s market.

When you start managing your own money, you begin to realize how much there is to organize, especially if you have a variety of assets on top of your regular checking, savings and credit card accounts. A money manager has to be able to keep track of loans and investments, as well as spending and income. One way to make this easier if you are managing your own money is to use personal finance software.

Using the computer to manage your money

Personal finance software is designed to help you keep track of your income and expenditures, but many programs are also designed to help you organize your investments and other financial transactions. It is possible for you to update your accounts and reconcile them when statements arrive, and to make changes when you do something new. The computer can make money management much more efficient and organized.

Backing up your financial information

Computers, of course, are fallible. Sometimes they crash, and information can be lost. If you use personal finance software to help you manage your money, it is a good idea to back it up when you make changes. You can do this by putting the information on disk, or on an external drive, like a zip drive, external back up drive or a flash stick. It is important to back up your financial information so that it is not lost if your computer has problems. It only takes a few seconds, and it can save your hours of work re-entering all of the information.

If you want to be your own money manager, it can be done with a little education, and some help from a personal finance software program.