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You’ve been thinking about buying your own home for quite a long
time, and now you’re ready to take the plunge. You’ve been
saving money for a down payment, and you know the next step is
preparing to apply for a mortgage.
But where do you start?
Here are the top 5 things you need to know before approaching a
mortgage lender.
1. Understand Your Options All mortgages are not created equal.
There are several different types, which vary based on interest
rates and payment terms.
For example:
• With a fixed-rate mortgage, your monthly payments remain the
same during the entire length of the mortgage. There will be no
variations in monthly payments, regardless of changes in
interest rates and inflation.
• With an adjustable-rate mortgage, you will often receive a
lower initial interest rate, but your monthly payment amount can
rise and fall as interest rates fluctuate (within certain caps
or limits).
• With a balloon or reset mortgage, you once again may be
offered a low interest rate, but it will hold for a limited
time. After that, the balance of the mortgage will be due, or
you will need to refinance.
2. Become a Rate Watcher The state of the economy influences
interest rates, which ebb and flow on a regular basis.
Your daily newspaper tracks these rates, so stay current by
watching whether rates are rising, falling or remaining stable.
It behooves you to become as educated as possible about how
these rates will affect your mortgageand to see if you want to
postpone applying for one until rates drop.
3. Get Pre-Approved Consider getting pre-approved for a
mortgage, says Frank Nothaft, PhD, vice president and chief
economist for Freddie Mac, the stockholder-owned corporation
established by the United States Congress in 1970 to create a
continuous flow of funds to mortgage lenders in support of
homeownership and rental housing.
“A benefit of being pre-approved for a mortgage loan is that it
gives the prospective homebuyer additional bargaining leverage
when competing with other prospective buyers for a home,” he
says. “A home seller may be more likely to accept an offer from
a pre-approved borrowerbecause the seller knows the buyer can
get a loanthan from another bidder, who may be exactly the same
in financial qualifications and offer, except that he lacks the
pre-approval.”
4. Consider Making a Higher Down Payment Making a higher down
payment on a home will reduce your mortgage, but there are
definite pros and cons, according to Dr. Nothaft.
“The pro of putting down more money is that you can often obtain
lower-cost financing,” he says. “High down-payment loansthat
is, low loan-to-value ratiorepresent less default risk to a
lender, and are safer. That may translate into a lower interest
rate or obviate the need for mortgage loan insurance.
“The con,” he continues, “is that it may result in the borrower
having to delay a home purchase, because the borrower does not
have enough liquid assets to make a larger down payment. Low
down-payment loans are especially important for first-time home
buyers, who typically do not have the financial wherewithal to
make a large down payment.”
5. Select Your Lender Carefully As in any industry, there are
“bad apples” who ruin the reputations of respectable
professionals. In the mortgage business, these folks are known
as “predatory lenders”individuals who take advantage of
vulnerable consumers. Those most prone to becoming victims
include the ill-informed, the elderly, women, minorities,
low-income buyers and consumers with bad credit.
To avoid becoming “prey,” select a lender with solid
credentials. You can secure a referral from your bank or credit
union, real estate agent, government housing agency, or friends
and relatives who have successfully purchased homes.
Never trust a mortgage offer that arrives via email, as it
likely originated from a spammer.
—- Mortgage Relief specializes in assisting Australian
families with mortgages by making their monthly repayments more
manageable and decreasing their overall debt and total interest
paid over the life of their mortgage. Mortgage Relief is a
mortgage refinance provider that it part of Australia’s largest
Debt Relief organization. Visit Mortgage Relief on the web at
http://www.mortgagerelief.com.au or contact them directly on
1300 789 014.
Copyright 2005 strength-training-woman.com
Drive down any suburban or city street and you will witness an
overload of fast food marketing. Brightly colored signs, cheap
value meals, happy cartoon logos, and a familiar smell will fill
your senses. Fast food restaurants have established themselves
as a leader in our nation’s daily menu. What is the net affect
fast food and its ingredients have on our health? What, if any,
moral and social obligations do fast food companies have to
their consumers?
Obesity is believed to lead to diabetes, heart disease,
hypertension and other illnesses. Over 60% of Americans are
considered over weight, and the rise in diabetic individuals has
increased dramatically. In 1999 there were 42 billion people on
direct diabetes medicine. That figure has more than doubled in
less than three years.
“Fast food is literally shortening the life span of our
citizens,” states Lynn VanDyke, certified sports nutritionist,
personal trainer and owner of www.strength-training-woman.com.
McDonalds serves 46 million fast food meals every single day. As
the documentary Super Size Me points out, each McDonalds
employee is trained to up sell the size of each order. This
increase in meal and drink proportions is becoming so widely
acceptable that cars now come with larger cup holders.
The fast food process truly begins with the ingredients. As Eric
Schlosser mentions in his article “Why McDonalds French Fries
Taste So Good”, the federal Food and Drug Administration does
not require companies to disclose the ingredients of their color
or flavor additives so long as all the chemicals in them are
considered by the agency to be generally recognized as safe, or
GRAS. Unfortunately, consumers are not able to tell a products
full ingredient list by reading the nutrition label. Terms such
as ‘artificial’ and ‘natural flavoring’ are often seen at the
very end of most ingredient lists. We are completely unaware of
exactly what constitutes a natural or artificial flavor.
Fast food companies owe it to their consumers to disclose all
ingredient information. Many people have special dietary
restrictions due to allergies or religious affiliations. Some
people simply prefer not to eat a product that contains any
animal or any part of an animal. According to Schlosser, “The
Vegetarian Legal Action Network recently petitioned the FDA to
issue to labeling requirements for foods that contain natural
flavors.” At this point in time, it is difficult for anyone to
refrain from using animal products or added coloring or any a
specific chemical to do so.
Consumers cannot make educated decisions about a food product if
they do not know the full ingredients list. Some may be shocked
to know that Dannon strawberry yogurt gets its coloring from
Dactylopius coccus Costa, a female insect that feeds on berries
and produces berry colored larvae. “The insects are collected,
dried, and ground into a pigment. It takes about 70,000 of them
to produce a pound of carmine, which is used to make processed
foods look pink, red, or purple” states Schlosser.
Another example of a misleading ingredient label comes from
Burger King. Its strawberry milk shake lists artificial
strawberry flavor as one of its ingredients. By taking a closer
look, we learn that the following ingredients make up the
artificial strawberry flavoring: amyl acetate, amyl butyrate,
amyl valerate, anethol, anisyl formate, benzyl acetate, benzyl
isobutyrate, butyric acid, cinnamyl isobutyrate, cinnamyl
valerate, cognac essential oil, diacetyl, dipropyl ketone, ethyl
acetate, ethyl amyl ketone, ethyl butyrate, ethyl cinnamate,
ethyl heptanoate, ethyl heptylate, ethyl lactate, ethyl
methylphenylglycidate, ethyl nitrate, ethyl propionate, ethyl
valerate, heliotropin, hydroxyphenol-2-butanone (10% solution in
alcohol), a-ionone, isobutyl anthranilate, isobutyl butyrate,
lemon essential oil, maltol, 4-methyllacetophenone, methyl
anthranilate, methyl benzoate, methyl cinnamate, methyl heptine
carbonate, methyl naphthyl ketone, methyl salicylate, mint
essential oil, neroli essential oil, nerolin, neryl isobutyrate,
orris butter, phenethyl alcohol, rose, rum ether,
y-undecalactone, vanillin and solvent. Simply stating artificial
strawberry flavoring is not educating consumers on what they are
eating and what possible effects these food products could have
on their bodies.
Fast food companies have a responsibility to list all of their
ingredients. It is a basic consumer and human right to know what
we are ingesting. McDonalds and other companies complain that
giving away all their ingredients will result in them losing
their secret recipes. As a culture we must face the reality that
these ingredients and fast food products are making us extremely
overweight and very ill.
McDonalds is the fast food leader of the world. They market to
young children by providing playgrounds, happy meals, and
cartoon characters. Unfortunately, these children do not know
about the horrible side effects that eating fast food has on
their bodies. “On average, Americans now eat about four servings
of french fries every week” says Schlosser. The increase in
portion size and the increase in the volume of eating at fast
food restaurants directly relates to America’s bulging waist
lines.
Recently two over weight teens sued McDonalds because the teens
felt the restaurant neglected to properly inform them of the
side effects its food would have on their weight and health.
Lawsuits such as this one are becoming more and more popular.
There are two sides of this debate, but regardless of which side
you are on one thing can be agreed upon, fast food is not the
most nutritious meal available.
Fast food companies have a moral and social obligation to their
customers. We as a nation have a right to know what we are
eating. Once the truth is finally told and nutrition labels have
all ingredients and chemicals, consumers can begin to make
educated decisions. At that point the blame would rely solely on
the consumer and not on the fast food company. However, until
that point is reached we cannot expect Americans to understand
the impact fast food will have on their health and well being.
Morgan Spurlock, creator of the documentary Super Size Me,
explains how we live in a toxic, fast and cheap environment.
America is home to over 3 million vending machines and countless
convenient stores. Gas stations sell more candy and prepared
foods than gas. Soda machines are in our schools and our school
lunches are being filled by chain restaurants such as McDonalds
and Pizza Hut.
The availability of fast food products is overwhelming. The
abundance and mass marketing of fast foods along with the low
cost fare makes it a habit of continually eating these foods. We
grow used to the aroma, textures and tastes. Often a McDonalds
happy meal reminds us of happy childhood memories when we did
not have a care in the world. For many consumers to stop eating
fat food, it would be like breaking a smoking habit after 20+
years.
The increase in diseases and illnesses is alarming. Americans
are becoming more and more overweight. Obesity is in line to
become the number one cause of preventable death. Fast food
companies have the moral and social obligation to inform their
consumers of all ingredients. It should then be the consumer’s
decision to stop eating this toxic food.
Learning about proper nutrition does not take a degree form
Harvard. It takes the commitment and dedication to truly change
your life once and for all. Nutrition and fitness are our best
defenses against the mounting health care crisis. According to
the National Institute on Aging, “If exercise could be packed in
a pill, it would be the single most widely prescribed and
beneficial medicine in the nation.” I whole heartedly agree with
their statement.
Days 6, 7 & 8
Now I’m truly into the rhythm of the program and the first
weekend passed without problem. In fact I’m already finding
ten-minutes of exercise to be insufficient and am now doing
fifteen-minutes more acceptable. From doing this program before
I do know that in a few weeks from now I’ll exercise for 30
minutes every second day. That is why at the start I of the
program I stipulate just ten-minutes exercise session; it
enables you to break into the routine gradually. Your body will
dictate when you need more or less.
On Saturday, day 6, I dropped bread and pastry for the day. Day
7, Sunday, it was chocolate that was axed. In our house Sunday
is a big chocolate day because my wife is a chocoholic and it’s
the only day she allows chocolate to take over. When I was able
to get through Sunday without chocolate and not really miss it I
knew that I was fully into the routine and this weight loss
program would prove successful.
On Sunday morning we did our weekly shopping and I started by
parking the car as far from the store entrance as possible.
Y’know its really great when you don’t have to fight for a
parking space. Inside the Shopping Plaza we used stairs rather
than escalators in the knowledge that each extra piece of energy
expended was helping to achieve my weight loss target. I carry
this routine throughout the program questioning everything I do
and asking the question: How can I put a little more energy into
this task?
Monday was Day 8 and I was back to no potatoes for the day. If
you have been following the diary you will know that I leave an
empty space on my plate where potatoes would go. This space
reminds me that I am actually taking in less calories and it
also acts as a reminder that tomorrow I can eat potatoes again
so the sacrifice is less hard to bear. For dinner I had a diet
Chop Suey because I like an Asian taste with my food from time
to time and cooking by wok is very healthy.
Progress so far: On Monday evening I tightened my belt by an
extra notch. This is the first physical sign that something good
is happening.
This article is copyright © David McCarthy 2006. It may be
reproduced in its entirety with no addions.
Permanent hair removal has been available in some form for 125
years; the first electrolysis machine was invented in the late
1800s by an ophthalmologist who used the device to treat ingrown
eyelashes (trichiasis). Since then, numerous electrolysis
machines have been patented, but no new hair removal technology
appeared until lasers entered the consumer market in the 1960s.
While electrolysis is undeniably effective, it can only target
one hair at a time. The holy grail of permanent hair removal has
always been the bulk treatment of many hair follicles at once.
This reduces the time needed to treat an area of skin by a
factor of several hundred.
The first lasers used in dermatology in the mid to late 1960s
emitted a continuous wave, an impractical feature for hair
removal since the beam also damaged adjacent tissue. The
development of the Q-switch, similar to a camera shutter,
allowed the beam to be emitted in timed pulses.
In the late 60s, early laser hair removal devices targetted
individual follicles through a wire-thin fiberoptic probe, later
modified into a penlight-type device. These devices were
difficult to use, just as electrolysis probes are, and in
addition were ineffective at destroying the hair follicle. The
FDA forced the removal of these devices from the marketplace due
to false advertising.
In a repeat of history, the late 70’s saw the introduction of a
laser device to treat ingrown eyelashes. This led to the
introduction of argon laser equipment to treat unwanted hair
elsewhere on the body, but this device also proved to be useless
for body hair.
Other dermatologists noticed that lasers used to treat tatoos
and vascular lesions produced hair loss in the adjacent tissue,
which led to more experiments.
1995 the first FDA-approved laser hair removal device was
introduced, the SoftLight by ThermoLase. However, FDA approval
does not mean that a device is effective; it just means that
according to the FDA’s inspectors, it is not acutely dangerous
and makes no medicinal claims that have not been substantiated
by research.
The SoftLight used a carbon-based lotion which was rubbed into
the skin immediately following hair removal by waxing.
Theoretically, the lotion would penetrate into the open hair
follicle, and then the laser would be applied to heat the
accumulated carbon and destroy the follicle. However, this
device proved less effective than light devices that targeted
the hair follicle pigments naturally present in skin.
The company which produced SoftLight initially made an excellent
profit by offering what they claimed was permanent hair removal
through a chain of proprietary clinics called Spa Thira.
However, by 1997, a medical study which followed treated
patients found full hair regrowth, and in 1998 and 1999
successful lawsuits against the company forced it to cease
manufacturing the devices.
In 1997, the FDA approved several more devices which target the
melanin in the hair follicle. These devices have better results
than the earlier versions; however, some are still so new it is
difficult to tell if the hair removal is permanent. Of the 9
laser or light-based systems currently being used, 2 of these
use non-laser light. The non-laser technologies use columnated
light of many wavelengths which the system operator filters to
select the wavelength most likely to be absorbed by the melanin
in the patient’s follicles.
Some consumers claim they have experienced long-lasting hair
removal with the newer lasers. The treatments are safe if
performed properly, and are useful for large areas such as the
back or legs, where electrolysis would be a tedious, painstaking
process. Even when hair is not completely removed, it grows back
finer and lighter. Light-skinned patients with dark hair have
the best results. The treatments are said to be more comfortable
than electrolysis, and patients can usually tolerate them
without analgesics.
3-4 year results are available for some systems such as pulsed
light, but most of the newer machines have not been around long
enough for long-term data to be available. Also, light-based
devices do not work well on blondes or redheads, or people with
dark skin. Untrained technicians can cause burns, lesions, skin
discolorations and in some cases scars.
It is important to remember that any permanent hair removal
treatment must be repeated several times, over a period of at
least 1-2 years. At any given time, most hair follicles are in
the dormant stage, not producing any hairs, and if there is no
dark hair in a follicle, laser/light systems will not have any
effect. However, after a year or two, most follicles will have
restarted their growth cycle.