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Complete Checklist of Home Loan Questions for every Home Buyer

If you are looking to get a home loan, don’t get confused with all the “jargons” used within the finance industry. Prepare for your home loan with the checklist of typical questions asked by the lending officers employed by the lenders/credit providers. This checklist is useful when you are looking to:

>> Buy your first home

>> Refinance your existing mortgage

>> Consolidate your debts

>> Upgrade or renovate your home, or

>> Invest in another property

Question – What is the purpose of the credit you are considering?

Your response should be anyone of the following:

>> Purchasing a home to live in

>> Investing in another property

>> Renovating your home

>> Consolidating your debts, or

>> Refinancing your existing mortgage or any other needs

Question – What kind of loan repayment type are you considering?

You should consider your loan repayment options, such as:

Interest-Only repayments – You will only repay the interest on your home loan, and your loan balance will not reduce

Principal and Interest – You will have to repay the interest and principal amount together. It means your loan balance will gradually reduce.

Question – What kind of interest type are you considering?

You need to consider the interest rate type in terms of:

A Fixed Rate home loan – With this type of home loan, your interest rate is set for a fixed period, and your repayments remain the same for the duration of the fixed period, usually between one and five years, or

A Variable Interest Rate home loan – This type of home loan is very popular with first-home buyers who just want a loan product that is simple, easy to manage and offers a number of features and benefits.

Question – Are you concerned with the amount of interest rate percentage being charged?

If you are concerned with the amount of interest rate percentage being charged on your home loan, you can use comparison rates because they are a handy indicator to help you compare loans more easily. An expert finance broker will readily provide you with a number of impartial comparisons to help you when deciding and which a bank aligned lending officer is not willing to provide you.

Question – Are you concerned with interest rate movements (i.e. up or down)?

If you are concerned with the interest rates moving upwards, you should consider a Combination (Split) interest rate loan because it will allow a mixture of security and flexibility. This is how you will pay:

>> A fixed interest rate payment for an agreed portion of your home loan, and

>> A variable interest rate payment on the remaining portion of the home loan.

Question – What kind of features and benefits are you considering with your home loan?

You should make sure you fully understand all the features and benefits available to you, such as:

>> Taking advantage to make unlimited “extra repayments” each month. So, you can pay off your loan faster.

>> Taking advantage of “redraw facilities”, so you can withdraw any extra payments you have made on top of your normal repayment amounts, if you need the cash.

>> Taking advantage of “100 percent offset accounts”. If you decide to put as much of your spare cash as you can into an offset account, and keep the cash in the offset account for as many days as possible, your home loan repayments will reduce. It is because your savings are bringing down the interest incurred, and ultimately your loan will reduce much faster.

Question – How long do you expect to remain in the credit contract (i.e. your required loan term)?

You need to consider if you expect to sell the security property in a certain time frame, for example:

>> Long-term – over ten years

>> Medium-term – 5 to 10 years, or

>> Short-term – less than five years

Question – What is an Exit Strategy?

An exit strategy is a plan for what will happen with your loan when you retire. The lender/credit provider will need to see that you will be able to afford the repayments without having to sell your property (i.e. selling your house is not seen as being a valid exit strategy).

So, now you have a checklist of questions to help you get organised when getting a home loan or an investment loan. And, you should now be better prepared to make a decision that suits your personal needs and budget.

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Uses And Benefits Of Identity Management Using Blockchain Technology

Having a record about yourself, what you look like, qualities unique to you, the qualifications you possess, and traits that distinguish you from another is an essential part of the digital economy we currently live in. Today, digital identification is preferred over traditional identification methods for innumerable reasons, ranging from easy accessibility to all online services, streamlined processes and accuracy, to a superior protection of privacy. With digitization enabling the creation of handy, authenticatable identities, the necessity to ensure that sensitive information remains private has become absolutely necessary. Identity management, one of the crucial aspects of digital identity, is the technology based on which someone is granted or denied access to organizational services or systems.

How Does Blockchain Technology Support Identity Management?
With the arrival of blockchain technology, we have been made familiar with decentralized identification systems. These help us to manage our identity independently, with zero dependence on any centralized agency. Considering the fact that maintaining digital identity is subject to hindrances such as identity theft, maintaining a confusing collection of usernames and passwords to access different online services, it poses a general difficulty to manage. With blockchain technology, we can create identity management systems that are protected, encrypted, and user-friendly.

The basic idea is that sensitive identity-related data is saved directly onto a tamper-proof blockchain system which is always accessible exclusively to the owner online. Alternatively, third parties could be provided with access to the blockchain with data relating to the owners’ identity which would do away with the necessity to keep this data stored anywhere else.

Some Use Cases of the Blockchain Identity System
The scope of blockchain utilization for identity management is slowly unfolding; offerings related to the technology continue to develop and manifest:

Self Sovereign Identity- Conventional systems related to identity management have always been messy, convoluted, and prone to misuse. Utilizing the blockchain system of Self Sovereign Identity gives owners absolute control over their digital identity, eliminating involvement from intermediaries. For this purpose, trustless, portable blockchain based structures are already in use.
Generating permanent identity records- Information contained within a blockchain cannot be altered or tampered with, without disrupting the entire chain. Records created utilizing this technology are permanent, immutable, and absolutely protected.
Identity management for IoT systems- Identity management for IoT devices involves ensuring secure, accountable, and verifiable transactions for interactions involving IoT-to-Users and IoT-to-IoT. Currently, projects based on blockchain are employed to ensure secure IoT transactions.
Smart contracts- The concept of decentralized, shared ledger systems, formulated utilizing blockchain technology could be used to fabricate identity-enabled self-executing smart contracts.
Other applications- Identity verification while immigrating to another country, making online purchases, undergoing legal processes, applying for a loan, or background verification processes could be enacted utilizing this technology.
Benefits of Blockchain Based Identity Management
Let us take a closer look at some of the benefits of blockchain based identity management for users and businesses:

Trustlessness- In a distributed ledger system, decentralization is ensured, which entails that owners no longer have to place their faith on any third party.
Safety- Since all the information stored in a blockchain is encrypted and tamper-proof, the identity details remain secure, accessible to only the owner.
Elimination of dependency on paper-based identity management- The creation and storage of identity on blockchains means that you never have to go through the process of applying for a duplicate if the need ever arises, saving your time and resources in the process.
ID verification simplified- The automation of processes initiated by this technology does away with cumbersome manual chackes, streamlining processes for everyone involved.
Great user experience- Uploading digital identity onto a distributed ledger is a breeze, with the entire process being as uncomplicated as installing an app and entering identity related proof and information.
Transparent while being private- People involved in the blockchain system can track down details of transactions made, while privacy for everyone is made certain.
Uniqueness ensured- On the blockchain system, owners receive a unique ID number that is permanent, incorruptible, and can be used to efficiently validate themselves.
Overview

Blockchain, the technology previously associated almost exclusively with cryptocurrency, has evolved into a comprehensive framework that is being implemented into different industry sectors. As a still developing technology, blockchain is not completely impervious to contamination in that counterfeit data can still be verified, for example. Yet, it is still regarded as a secure and reliable solution for issues related to identity management. Utilizing blockchain technology along with artificial intelligence for identity verification ensures accuracy, privacy, transparency, and anonymity.

GeekyAnts, as a leading Blockchain and Internet of things( IoT) app development company, offers blockchain solutions for identity management to users and businesses looking to streamline, automate, and efficiently handle processes. The company is well known within the development community for their experimental approach towards all things tech and their work on blockchain based solutions. With an experience of 17+ years, they have already collaborated on numerous blockchain based projects, transforming a range of industries.

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An Overview of Nile Cruising Tours

Any tour to Egypt is simply incomplete without sailing on the river Nile, lifeline of Egypt. A Nile cruise tour is a journey of time that allows you to experience the aura of a bygone era whilst you enjoy state-of-the-art amenities and top-notch hospitality services aboard. On a Nile cruise tour, you would realise that Egypt is a perfect blend of past and present. While the pictorial beauty, cobbled streets, mud huts, farmers riding donkeys, and ancient temples give an impression that the country has remain unchanged for ages, the inevitable dust and dirt make you realize about the urbanization.
There is a variety of Nile cruise offers to choose from, usually lasting from three days to seven days. Though most of the Nile cruise ships operate between Luxor and Aswan, there are a few cruises beginning their journey from Cairo. Besides, itineraries of luxury Nile cruise toursoften includeone-day sightseeing in Cairo including a stay at a four star or five star hotels before embarking the cruise ship for a journey of lifetime.
Itinerary of Nile Cruise Tours: The itinerary remains similar for most of the cruise tours, be they budget-friendly or luxury Nile cruise tours, except for customized cruise offers. However, cruises having a longer duration include more time ashore and include overnight stays at some of the award-wining hotels of Egypt.
Places to visit:
• KomOmbo: An agricultural town famous for Temple of KomOmbo
• Philae: An island famous for Ancient Egyptian Temple Complex
• Luxor: World’s greatest open air museum
• Luxor Museum: A large Ancient Egyptian temple complex dating back to 1400 B.C.
• Aswan High Dam: Constructed between 1960 and 1970, the dam helps control floods and also generate hydro electricity
• Temples of the Queen Hatshepsut: Dedicated to the God, they are among the “incomparable monuments of ancient Egypt”
• El Deir El Bahari: A complex of mortuary temples and tombs
• The Valley of Kings and Queens: Tombs of Pharaohs were constructed here from 16th to 11th century
• The Colossi Memnon: are two massive stone statues of Pharaoh Amenhotep III
Nile cruise tours may be extended and included trips to Valley of Nobles and Valley of Dendara. Furthermore, to make an Eqypt tour more enthralling travellers can choose to customize their itineraries and visit Sharm El Sheikh to enjoy diving as well as snorkelling at the famous Red Sea resort.
Luxury Nile Cruise Ships: Luxury Nile cruise ships offer a better sailing experience than ordinary Nile cruise ships. They are well-appointed with high-tech amenities like Jacuzzis, gyms and internet as well as swimming pools, restaurants and bars. The Oberoi Zahra, the most famous luxury Nile cruise, has a theatre too on board and also offers spa treatments so that guests can revitalize and rejuvenate while they sail.
Felucca: Felucca is traditional Egyptian boat. Sailing on Nile without sojourning the tiny islands on a Felucca is like going to Paris and not visiting Eifel tower.

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