Have your own notebook/laptop PC and do not have internet service where you are staying?  So, where do you go?

Perhaps the best way to do it is to visit a restaurant, bar or library offering free WIFI service. Enjoy the ambiance and use their facilities in return for giving them your business.

While we are sure there may be more, here is a short list of locations offering free internet access that may be of help:

Gators Dockside – Cagan Crossings on South US27 (across From Walmart).

Devenny’s Irish Pub – intersection of west US192 and US27.

Beef ‘O’ Brady’s – intersection of US27 and Ronald Reagan Parkway.

TGI Fridays – west US192, close to Formosa Gardens.

Buffalo Wild Wings – Formosa Boulevard on west US192.

Smokey Bones Restaurant – intersection of US192 and SR535.

Frankie Farrell’s Irish Pub & Grille – Reebok Outlet Mall, SR 535.

Buffalo Wild Wings – Cross Roads Shopping Center, Lake Buena Vista.

Bad Ass Coffee of Hawaii – across From Café Tu Tu Tango, International Drive.

Corona Cigar Company – Plaza Venezia, Sand Lake Road, Dr. Phillips.

Barnes & Noble – Plaza Venezia, Sand Lake Road, Dr. Phillips.

Cagan Crossings Library – on south US27.

Kissimmee Library – East Dakin Avenue, downtown Kissimmee.

“More than half of the 390,000 mortgages permanently modified through the federal government’s Making Home Affordable Program have lengthened loan terms – in most cases from 30 years to 40 years, according to lenders and federal reports.

All of the modified loans have had their interest rates reduced.

Lenders participating in the federal foreclosure prevention programs are opting for interest rate reductions and longer loan terms before principal write-offs because the government called for that specific, stepped approach to modifying home loans.”

- Extract: Orlando Sentinel -  Aug 26, 2010 -

At this rate, the US will be on track to reach 1,000,000 foreclosures this year.

The implication for home value is clear; selling price points will continue to be under further eroding pressure.

– Data: RealtyTrac -

Just an example of the value of  having a strong Home Owner’s Association.

When deciding to refinance a home mortgage, be sure to understand the refinancing costs associated with doing so and then try to limit them as much as possible.

Refinancing an existing mortgage is very similar to securing an initial mortgage. In fact, your new mortgage will be used to pay off your existing one, so it is just like buying your home all over again. As such, there are certain costs associated with a refinancing, just as there was when the original mortgage was secured.

Closing costs such as broker fees, appraisal fees, title search, inspections and various administrative fees are all part of the fee structure associated with a mortgage refinance.

To reduce your closing costs and any other mortgage-related fees, Howard Bunmore, owner and author of ConsumerLoansDirectory.com offers the following tips:

- Try to refinance with your existing lender. They will want to keep your business and if they know you are looking to refinance, they will be motivated to offer the lowest rate possible and reduce your fees to keep you onboard with them.

- Take a look at your credit report to ensure there are no issues you are unaware of that might detract from your score. A high score will help you secure the lowest possible interest rate and this could save you thousands over the term of your loan.

- Do not hesitate to negotiate your fees. Many mortgage-related fees are controlled by the mortgage company so they have the ability to lower them. Administration fees are especially easy to get waived or reduced.

- Avoid having your closing costs included in your loan balance. Sure, this is a great way to avoid them altogether but the reality is that you will be paying for them each month during the length of your loan and, with interest included, you will end up paying a lot more in the long-run than if you had just paid them out of pocket upfront.

Written by Paige Tepping. RISMEDIA, July 2010

Here are four important steps to consider, according to the Insurance Information Institute:

STEP #1: Review Your Insurance Coverage

Be sure you have the right kind and amount of insurance, enough to rebuild your home and replace your belongings. Ask about flood insurance, which is not covered under a standard homeowners policy. Learn more about flood insurance at www.floodsmart.gov.

STEP #2: Create a Home Inventory

An up-to-date home inventory will speed up the claims process by substantiating losses and may provide documentation for tax purposes. It can also help you determine how much insurance to purchase. Visit www.knowyourstuff.org to download software to help make this process easier.

STEP #3: Protect Your Property

Keeping wind and water out of your home is critical. Invest in storm shutters and reinforced garage doors. Secure roof shingles and seal any openings, cracks and holes. Gable end walls and roof sheathing should be strongly attached and braced, and double doors should have heavy duty anchors at the top and bottom and a dead bolt at least 1” long.

STEP #4: Have an Evacuation Plan

Decide where you will go and how you will get there, and have more than one option. Keep a map, phone numbers and addresses handy. Think about what you’ll need to take with you — items like medicines, important documents, clothing and food — and have them ready to go.

Source: RIS Media July 2010. Written by Stephanie Andre. Published in  Lowes Daily Real Estate News.

Their web-site says “coming soon”. Will update when we know more.

Some have struggled unsuccessfully to keep their homes, and others have just walked away. Phillips decided he wanted revenge and was willing to ruin his credit record for it.

When a short sale didn’t work out as planned, the 32-year-old Chicagoan opted for Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation, a move that will leave Phillips with little except for the scant possessions in his one-bedroom condo. It also will leave his lender, Chase, with little except for, eventually, a condo that has lost value. Meanwhile, Phillips continues to live there, mortgage-free.

“I don’t feel shameful for what I’ve done,” Phillips said. “I’ve gotten past being shameful.”

Phillips’ move may seem an extreme riff on the difficult decisions homeowners make to unburden themselves of debt owed on properties that have lost substantial value. Lawyers and housing counselors say, however, that personal bankruptcy filings are becoming more commonplace as debt-holders seek sums due them, particularly on second “piggyback” mortgages used to buy homes.

“It’s a big trend,” said Dan Lindsey, a supervisory attorney at the Legal Assistance Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago. “Banks are having a hard enough time dealing with the first mortgages. The second (mortgages), there’s no equity there to collect, so they’re being charged off and sold to debt buyers and rearing their ugly heads later. It’s a drastic last resort to file Chapter 7, but in some cases it’s appropriate.”

Phillips bought the one-bedroom condo, tucked into a courtyard building, in May 2007 for $212,500, securing a first mortgage of $159,375 and a $53,125 second note, both from Chase Bank, according to county records. In January 2009, he lost his public affairs job, began drawing on his savings and, in April 2009, after the government began its Home Affordable Modification Program, applied for a mortgage loan modification from Chase.

Customer service representatives with Chase, he said, told him to keep paying the monthly mortgage of about $1,400 while he awaited a decision on his application. In September, the still-unemployed Phillips was turned down for a modification because, as the letter stated, his hardship “is not of a permanent nature.”

Phillips decided to stop paying the mortgage and try to sell his condo in a short sale, in which a homeowner sells the property, with the lender’s approval, for less than the amount owed on the mortgage. A short sale typically does not tarnish an individual’s credit history as much as a foreclosure.

Short sales have been portrayed as a salve in the housing crisis, although lenders have been slow to approve them. In Phillips’ case, though, an approval for the offer on his condo came with a catch. Chase notified Phillips that it would still have the legal right to pursue him at a later date for the approximately $54,000 owed on the second mortgage.

“A short sale may satisfy the first lien, but the customer could still be responsible for the second lien,” said a spokesman for Chase, while declining to discuss Phillips specifically.

Phillips sought help from Neighborhood Housing Services of Chicago Inc., a federal government-approved counseling agency, which broached the idea of filing personal bankruptcy.

“(Phillips) did everything right. He had good credit, and then he lost his job,” said Michael van Zalingen, director of homeownership services for Neighborhood Housing Services. “If your lender isn’t interested in helping you, or the only thing you qualify for hurts your household, I don’t think you have any moral obligation to stay bound in that mortgage or paying to that company when it no longer makes economic sense for you.”

Phillips bristled at the bankruptcy suggestion, but after consulting with an attorney, in late February he filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, not the Chapter 13 that would have negotiated his debts, including those with Chase.

“My other option was to say, ‘I’ll roll the dice with the bank,’ ” Phillips said. “Will they really come after me? I wouldn’t put it past the bank industry to do that. It’s going to kill me to pay a bank for a house I no longer owned. I was, like, there’s no way I’m going to pay the bank another dime.”

Lawyers say they are hearing about more instances of mortgage lenders selling the delinquent second loans used to buy homes during the industry’s heyday to third parties that are then pursuing debtors.

“He’s not outside the norm,” said Stephen Cleary, a Chicago attorney and board member of the Northwest Side Housing Center. “He can now sleep at night. The mental anguish has been relieved.”

For the year ended March 31, personal bankruptcy filings nationwide rose 28 percent, to almost 1.5 million cases, according to the administrative office of the U.S. Courts.

Still unemployed, Phillips says he wishes he had back the more than $12,000 he paid toward his mortgage while he sought a loan modification that never materialized. For now, he’s using part of his jobless benefits to pay his condo association fees while he looks for a job and considers moving out of state. Late last month he was served with a loan default notice by Chase, and Phillips estimates he’ll be able to stay in his condo seven more months while the foreclosure action works its way through the courts.

“I’m not a deadbeat,” Phillips said. “I’ve had to be very shrewd, like most business people. … I’m looking out for my best interests, and this is my best interests.”

By Mary Ellen Podmolik. (c) 2010, Chicago Tribune. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.