someone want to break down quickly what a MMA or a DIY is? And HELOC? I understand its a debt consolidation?...or a way to pay off a mortgage quicker?

On Topic: I've said it before, but substitute teaching is a great way to supplement income. Most places have an online schedule for the month, where you can fill in shifts, and some do a calling service the night before they need a sub. a lot pay around $100-$120 a day. 8-2:30pm, no prep time needed, no manual labor.

In the beginning of your airline career, you can bid weekend trips, and sub during the week.

 

DIY is do-it-yourself.

I'm starting to get a bit more "fishy" with this whole thing anyway. The person I was emailing that ran a "simulation" for me just blocked my IP. I guess the questions I was asking didn't sit well with her.

I pointed this out to her (using her example though). Using TOGA's example, you pay about $54k in interest in about 9 years.

Starting balance of $203,500
Ending balance of $257,000

"Effective rate" of 2.8%, NOT his quoted 1.72%. Not even close. Makes me wonder what else is off (ie total interest paid...which would screw up the APR rate as well).

Stay away until some really smart people start touting it, like the Wall Street Journal.

 

Lisa ring a bell?

 

ImperialxRat-

HELOC = Home Equity Line Of Credit. An MMA (Money Merge Account) is not a debt consolidation program, it's a software package and website that works in conjunction with a HELOC to pay down your mortgage (and any other debt you might have) without ever paying extra (unless you wanted to, of course). Please email me at [email protected] if you have any further questions.

Fosters -

I'm sorry you're feeling "fishy". I did, too. The reason we feel fishy when we first hear about MMAs is because the banks have us so well trained to believe that there's no way to 'game' their system. Well, there is . . . and this is it. There's nothing fishy about this, it's just math. You're not relying on some tax loophole or sketchy financial arrangement. No one but you ever has access to any of your accounts & you don't have to do a re-fi. You will almost definitely never see anything about this in any of the mainstream financial media outlets . . . mortgage lenders stand to lose hundreds of millions of your interest dollars as this catches on. This has only been in the U.S. for about two years, but banks in Australia and Europe have been selling similar financing packages for decades. The MMA is simply a work-around, since U.S. banks don't offer anything like this. Why would they when immediate suspicion is our response to simple math that could save us so much?! We are that well trained by the establishment.
As for why the numbers would vary, I'm not sure . . . did the other person you spoke to use exactly the same numbers you provided to me? Did she use an MMA, or one of those 'el cheapo' packages from a box at an electronics store? What about the assumptions I had to make? The MMA numbers are guaranteed . . . if I provide you with an MMA analysis, everything you told me is true, you follow the prompts the MMA provides, and you don't do at least as well as projected, you get your money back . . . yes, we put that in writing. In fact, most clients do 15% - 25% better than their initial analysis because it's specifically designed to provide a conservative estimate . . . 'under-promise, over-deliver, thrive on the referrals'. As for DIY . . . that sounds like a good idea 'til you actually try to put a plan of action together. Would you know exactly how much to overpay your mortgage and when to maximize your interest saved? How many months or years of trial and error would it take to figure out the specifics? How many hours would you spend in front of a spreadsheet? Having gone DIY, how many multiples of $3500 would you have cost yourself, as compared to a 'plug & play' MMA with 24/7 customer service, budget forecasting, free updates and action prompts that keep you on track to save the most? Not to mention the fact that you don't simply pay $3500 cash for an MMA, it just goes on the HELOC, and that's where the system starts . . . it will have paid for itself several times over within a few months. As you can see, I'm new to this board . . . I didn't realize that there's no PM function. Please email me at [email protected] . . . I promise I won't block your IP!

 

She was doing it thru U First Financial. I gave her the exact same numbers I gave you, nothing more, nothing less.

I can see the concept, and it sounds pretty good, and plausible, if you still have a large outstanding balance on your mortgage account. It actually makes sense in my head. One thing that actually makes me less skeptical is that they don't require you to open up a HELOC with them (U First Financial). Essentially, they have nothing to gain from having you run up a balance on your HELOC.

Of course they can guarantee if what you say is true it will work as planned. Real Estate taxes here have gone up 50% in the last 2 years. Unless you overestimate your bills it would be impossible to predict how much discretionary income you can use and that you will be able to meet your goal.

The DIY version was just tacking on $1000 in extra payments per month, not borrowing against a HELOC. So no risk in running of balances and interest. But with that comes a slightly slower payoff and slightly more interest.

That effective interest rate still baffles me...how did they come up with that? Through simple math I proved your example wasn't true.

 

Fosters -

I got your email . . . thanks for being in touch, I'll reply soon. I wanted to post a reply for anyone else who's following this. As for my numbers being wrong, here's a BankRate.com amortization table showing $203,500 amortized over 30 years at 1.73% . . . ending with $57,499.10 total interest paid:

http://www.bankrate.com/brm/amortiza...tization+Table

This thing does work, it just takes some 'free-thinking' to get your head wrapped around it. As for unforseen expenses (e.g.: property tax increases), you are correct, there is no way to account for that specifically. However, the guarantee pertains to totals, not specifics. In other words, if your property taxes go up by $1000/yr, but so does your income (or you save $1000/yr somewhere else in your budget), the net numbers are the same, so the guarantee's still valid. I'm hoping my income more than keeps pace with property taxes and all other factors of inflation through the years. So, if I'm understanding the concept you're calling DIY, you'd actually be paying more money in total mortgage payments, right? If so, therein lies a huge advantage of the MMA . . . you get to use the bank's money, not yours! If not, then I simply don't understand.

 

I started an Aerial Photography company in my home city. Takes about a year to get word out then just repeat business from Real Estate agents. We usually schedule one flight a week to make sure we have multiple targets to shoot per trip which keeps costs down. In an hour of flying you can shoot 3 or 4 houses if they are spaced near your base. My minimum charge is a little more than $200. More $$ for more extra angles, more prints and special requests. I use FBO aircraft and flight instructors when I'm out of town (even sometimes when I'm in town).
It does take some cash to get started (quality digital SLR, large format screen with speedy computer [apple], High quality large format photo printer [epson] and a FBO where you can get a good rate on an aircraft)
It's worked great for me, been at it for 4 years now.
Just stay out of my city. I don't like competition.

 

Ah I see how they figure it - they are comparing it to a 30 year loan where I was comparing it over the life of the loan (just 8.5 years or so). Still pretty low. That makes sense.

Yes, you are correct. The MMA beat the DIY version by a little over $20k and almost 2 years.

 

Okay, I see where the confusion was on the 'comparable APR' issue. Two more years without a mortgage payment (or two more years paying on another property) is worth a mint. I sent you a quick email earlier.

 

If this product performs as advertised it's pretty incredible. The thing is, I doubt the majority of the population will even consider it. Most people don't make any additional payments on their mortgage and those that do either do the bi-weekly thing or a 13th payment. That's almost pointless at what effect it has short term (<5 years) or even mid-term (<10 years). At that point you might as well just keep the money. I doubt fewer people would even apply ALL the extra money toward their mortgage - they want to go spend it vs. getting no short term return.

How do you go about convincing people to throw all their money into it? They must be pretty skeptical (like I was).