In September 2003, Frank, then the ranking Democrat on the Republican-led Financial Services Committee, opposed Bush administration proposals for transferring oversight of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac by creating an independent agency to supervise. The proposal would have moved oversight from Congress and the Department of Housing and Urban Development to the new agency. Frank stated in 2003, “The more people exaggerate these problems, the more pressure there is on these companies, the less we will see in terms of affordable housing.”[30] Frank stated that the bill would potentially “[weaken] the bargaining power of poorer families and their ability to get affordable housing”
And his “boyfriend” was instrumental in crafting todays collapse.
Frank’s former partner, Herb Moses, was an executive at Fannie from 1991 to 1998, where Moses helped develop many of Fannie’s affordable housing and home improvement lending programs. In 1991, Frank pushed for reduced restriction on two- and three-family home mortgages.[39] Frank and Moses’ relationship ended around the same time Moses left the company; Frank’s support of Fannie and Freddie predated and continued past that relationship

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barney_Frank

With Obama more of the same old politics, so much for the change he lied about to get elected.

Obama has little or no control over Barney Frank. Did 99% of the people here flunk civics?

You booked and delivered a great complimentary coaching session with an ideal client. The client is coachable and committed to big results, and you feel the synergy between you. Itâ??s time to ask for the financial commitment.

Suddenly, thereâ??s a knot in your stomach (where did that come from?) and you start to stammer. Your internal dialogue kicks into high gear. â??You canâ??t deliver what this client needs, and they wonâ??t pay that rate.â? In your mind you start coming up with reasons why they wonâ??t commit. Without realizing it, youâ??re getting in your own way. Have you been here? Can you relate?

Here at TLC Teresia LaRocque Coaching & Associates, we coach coaches â?? and weâ??ve discovered 3 things that make a huge difference when it comes time to ask for the financial commitment.

1. Be absolutely clear on the value you offer

In order to increase your clarity on this, identify and clarify your â??unique processesâ? â?? elements of your professional experience and personal history that support your coaching skills. For example, if you were a career counsellor, you used tools, strategies and processes in that position that would benefit your coaching clients. Even in our own personal development and learning, we have developed skills that have value to a coaching client. Identify and assess these skills by outlining them in writing.

All coaches know they have something to offer but havenâ??t sat down, packaged it and thereby communicated it with conviction and confidence.

2. Understand your beliefs and how they show up in client objections

Beliefs are feelings of certainty. What are your beliefs about asking for the financial commitment?

For clarity and insight on this, notice your prospectsâ?? objections. Are they a reflection of your core beliefs? For example, if your prospect says, â??Your services are too expensive!â?? investigate whether you secretly believe your services are too expensive. If your clients say â??I need to think about it,â? ask yourself if you tend to stop to think before making a commitment.

Notice in your life what internal dialogue you have going on around money and making financial commitments, whether theyâ??re big or small. What beliefs do you need to adopt that will support you in creating a win-win opportunity for both you and your potential client?

3. Know how to present your prices and services

When you polish the procedures and language you use to present your fees, you can be 100% present and communicate your services and fees with 100% confidence. Hereâ??s the basic strategy:

a. Get the commitment before you talk about fees. Test their commitment by saying, â??Coaching is all about commitment. Do you feel youâ??re at a place to get the results you stated you wanted today?â? If they say yes, you say, â??Great, do you want me to be your coach?â?

b. Walk through your services and prices. Be very clear as you communicate what you offer and how it works. Explain your programs and give (up to three) options.

c. Recommend or ask which program is best for them.

Once you have the financial commitment, itâ??s crucial that you congratulate and welcome your new client: â??Congratulations! I look forward to working with you. Letâ??s book our next session. My assistant will send you a welcome package. Payment is due at the beginning of each month. How will you be paying? We take MasterCard and Visa.â?

Being clear on the language and presentation of your services and fees allows you to guide the prospect with certainty, which increase their confidence in your ability to deliver what you say.

As coaches, itâ??s our job to support people in committing to have the life they truly want. If youâ??re not asking for the financial commitment, youâ??re not giving the prospect a chance to win. But when you follow these steps to sealing the deal, you position everyone to move ahead.

Teresia LaRocque
http://www.articlesbase.com/small-business-articles/how-to-conquer-the-fear-of-asking-for-a-financial-commitment-123358.html

Accountants are pictured in TV and the movies as generally living dull and boring lives until they figure out how to embezzle millions from the company and flee to Brazil. Stodgy is the word that comes to mind when picturing accountants. Be that as it may, accounting in the USA has undergone changes in this new age of technology that we live in. Today, online accounting is offered through individual computer programs and Inter companies which work with businesses in a number of different ways.

Once, online accounting services were viewed as experimental. Today they are now widely accepted. Some, like TAD Accounting, offer complete financial managing packages, including bookkeeping, quarterly taxes, general ledger maintenance, monthly financial reports, cash flow management and a number of other services. Other, like CBIZ, restrict themselves to providing only information on employee benefit programs

TAD Accounting, for example, has established a system for a number of Blockbuster stores in several regions of the US. All stores are processed in the same manner to provide consistent reporting to the owners. The information is broken into daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual reports. Within each time bracket, the data is broken down into each accounting cycle. This gives owners, at a glance, information regarding procedures being performed. They can also see when specific tasks and reports should be completed. The owners get quick, up to date information sales, payroll, expenditures, deposits, payment of invoices, vacation hours and many other things in highly specialized reports.

As well, TAD offers services to help a company catch up on back work or prepare for the annual audit. This includes a financial trend analysis, budget preparation and planning computer software conversion and many other things. It is generally quite cheaper for the business owner to outsource the bookkeeping and accounting to TAD Accounting than to hire and supervise it in-house. It is the responsibility of the accounting firm to bring on extra staff when needed, not the client. Savings for the business owner can be as much as 30% for some clients.

CBIZsolutions.com is an example of an online accounting firm which uses technology to provide a company’s employees with access to their personal financial information, improves company service and communications with its employees, and gives the company timely reports to help to effectively manage employee benefits.

By outsourcing work and engaging online accounting firms, businesses save money and get rapid access to the data they need in the format they want to make the correct financial decisions. Online accounting very effectively reduces the time required to exchange information between the clients and the accounting firm. The accounting firm no longer has to wait for the client to physically deliver its financial records. It is able to access to the client’s data base anytime information is needed.

Accounting services are moving from billable hours to a fixed fee for services rendered. This has forced them to become more efficient and more competitive. Online accounting gives clients immediate access to their financial information, in reports customized to their needs. This allows the client to make more accurate financial decisions. This translates into increased profits and happier clients.

Joe Goertz
http://www.articlesbase.com/advice-articles/how-to-increase-your-profits-with-online-accounting-69316.html

When investing in property, take care to structure your finances correctly or you could find yourself in a worse financial situation than where you started, especially in times of stagnant or declining property prices.

Example

Take Bob and Sarah Smith as an example. After 10 years of running their own small businesses, they are both now working full time, Bob as a clerk, earning $60,000 (Aust.) and Sarah as a cashier, earning $20,000 (Aust.). Being employed full time gave them the time and impetus to consider property investing.

Their first purchase was a 2 bedroom apartment in the outskirts of town. They borrowed $313,000 against the property which was valued at $303,000, using their own home as additional security. It is rented out at $240 (Aust.) per week.

Their second property was an “off the plan” purchase which wasn’t due for completion for 2 years. They paid the 10% deposit up front by way of a personal loan at the advice of an inexperienced broker.

Both their initial home loan and the loan on their first investment property had been set up incorrectly as Principal and Interest loans over 25 years. Adding the personal loan and a credit card debt to these meant that their outgoings were huge, compared to their income and the loans they were servicing. They were headed for a financial disaster when the time came to settle on the second property. To add to the mix Mrs Smith and her daughter wanted to buy into a small franchise and draw on the equity in their home.

Original Scenario

DESCRIPTION Original Valuation Value of loan Interest Rate Repayments/month

Own home $380,000 $220,000 6.9% $1,547

Property 1 $303,000 $313,000 6.9% $2,198

Property 2 $283,000 (deposit) $28,800 11.5% $637

Credit Cards $15,000 16% $450

TOTAL $576,000 $4,832

Result

Bob and Sarah were facing four possible options if they retained the above loan structure:

1. Being forced to sell the second investment property upon settlement as they couldn’t cope with the repayments.

2. Not be able to obtain finance or even settle the second property and losing their deposit and the $27,000 capital gain.

3. If they had kept going as they were and managed to settle the second property they may have started defaulting on loan repayments and paid more interest through the debt consolidation process by having to apply for a bad credit loan.*

4. Work harder and more hours to cope with the additional financial stress of an additional $1743 per month of outgoings.

Restructuring Issues

In the process of restructuring their portfolio there were a number of issues to consider:

1. There had been a recent interest rate rise and another imminent. Not only did this add to the size of their repayments but also negatively impacted the valuations on their own home and the first investment property, dropping $55,000 and $13,000 in value respectively. The second investment property increased in value by $27,000. This pushed the loan to value ratio (LVR) above 80%.

2. Sarah and her daughter’s intention to purchase the franchise business.

3. Limited incomes to service the loans.

New Scenario

DESCRIPTION New Valuation Value of loan Interest Rate Repayments/month

Own Home $325,000 $235,000 7.29% $1,427

Property 1 $290,000 $338,000 7.29% $2,053

Property 2 $310,000 $279,000 7.5% $1,743

TOTAL $925,000 $825,000 $5,223

Note:

Credit card debts were consolidated into the loan on their own home increasing it from $220,000 to $235,000.

The $28,000 personal loan for the deposit on the second investment property was consolidated to the investment side of the loan on the first property increasing it from $313,000 to $338,000 (the personal loan had reduced over the 2 years from approx $28,000 to $25,000).

These loan figures did not have Mortgage Insurance (LMI) premiums included. The premium was approx. $15,000 and the total LMI was capitalised to the investment portion of the loans. This allowed for tax effective structuring, (established in conjunction with accountant’s advice).

The second investment property was put to a different lender as this lender was able to lend against the recent valuation of the property, not the original purchase price.

New Result

The end result was Bob and Sarah settled on the second investment property with only a $400 per month increase in total outgoings. This was more than offset by a rental return on this property of $1213.00 per month.

Sarah obtained an unsecured business loan to buy the franchise. This eliminated $30,000 from being included in the calculations meaning Bob and Sarah were left with their portfolio being completely property related, apart from the consolidation of the credit cards.

* If you have defaulted on repayments this could have a negative affect on your credit rating. There are many websites that will provide a free credit report so you can assess your situation.

Colin Kidd, is the CEO of The Loan Saver Network a financial services company specialising in helping families who have been turned down by the banks.

Colin Kidd
http://www.articlesbase.com/real-estate-articles/restructuring-for-investment-success-80712.html