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If you have been putting off your home purchase because you lack the necessary down payment, there are mortgage options available that can help you. In the past homebuyers without the necessary down payment were required to purchase expensive Private Mortgage Insurance. There are now mortgage options that can get you approved without this costly insurance; this type of mortgage is called an 80/20 mortgage loan.

An 80/20 mortgage is two mortgages that cover 100% of your homes purchase price. Your first mortgage will cover 80% of the purchase price and a second loan, often from a second lender covers the remaining 20%. Structuring your mortgage loan in this manner will prevent your primary lender from requiring Private Mortgage Insurance.

If you are a homeowner with poor credit, this type of mortgage could help you qualify for a better interest rate. Having the necessary down payment will allow you to qualify for an interest rate as much as 2-3% less than if you had financed the loan outright with one mortgage. When you finance 100% of the purchase price with two mortgages, you can expect the interest rate on the second loan to be slightly higher than the interest rate on the primary mortgage. There reason for this is because the second lender assumes more risk than the primary mortgage lender; this risk is passed on to the borrower in the form of a higher interest rate.

Remember that you will typically have two monthly payments when using an 80/20 mortgage; it is important to budget accordingly because if you fall behind on either loan the lenders can take your home. If you are considering an 80/20 mortgage for your home it is important to shop around for the most competitive interest rates on both mortgages. You can learn more about your mortgage options, including common mistakes to avoid by registering for a free mortgage guidebook.

Smart car leasing consumers know that it costs less to lease vehicle makes and models that depreciate the least. That is, vehicles that hold high resale values. Since lease payments are based on the difference between initial selling price and lease-end residual (resale) value, those vehicles with high residuals will cost less to lease than comparably priced vehicles that have lower residual values (depreciate faster).

For example, a Honda Accord will have significantly lower lease payments than a Chevrolet Impala of the same price. Honda vehicles depreciate at a much slower rate than Chevrolet vehicles.

LeaseCompare.com publishes a quarterly list of the most requested lease vehicles. These are based on lease quote requests to their web site by educated leasing consumers.

The latest "top 10" list of most-requested new lease vehicles from LeaseCompare.com is as follows:

1. Infiniti G35

2. BMW 5 Series

3. Acura TL

4. BMW 330 Series

5. BMW 325 Series

6. Honda Accord

7. Audi A4

8. Acura MDX

9. Mercedes E Class

10. Chevrolet Corvette

Notice that the list is made up mostly of luxury or near-luxury vehicles, which are the categories for which leasing provides the greatest benefits. Furthermore, consumers who are interested in these types of vehicles are generally those who know the value of not tying up their money in assets that depreciate in value. Leasing provides an ideal solution for those people.

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Infiniti Dealers Want Fresh Product!

It has taken Infiniti some time to get there, but the luxury Nissan division is selling more vehicles than ever before. Still, as far as U.S. dealers are concerned, the Infiniti line needs some new product to keep the momentum going. Dealers are complaining about bloated inventory, reduced profitability, as well as the lack of fresh products amongst their chief complaints about the brand. Gee, you would almost think that they are talking about Lincoln

The Audi Advantage is Ending

Audis free maintenance program, the Audi Advantage, is being discontinued by the German automaker effective with the release of 2007 model year vehicles.

Audi Advantage, the four-year/50,000-mile, maintenance program has been a hit for the automaker ever since introduced in the late 1980s in a bid to boost sales, according to a report in the Automotive News.

Audi is still likely to continue free maintenance for the first year of ownership but the company says they are discontinuing the program because of cost. BMW still offers a similar program for its owners.

Chinese Cars: Delayed!

I have been writing extensively about the coming invasion of Chinese built vehicles to the North American market. Two companies, Chery and Geely have been eyeing the market and plans to bring their cars over have been underway for some time.

Not so fast! According to an article appearing in a recent edition of USAToday, that may not happen that quickly. Apparently, there is a little bit of problem with emissions controls and crash safety, so much so that any cars that do show up here will likely be complete redesigns.

Engines seem to be a big problem: too polluting. For either automaker to buy engines from other manufacturers would be problematic as prices of the cars would then be pushed up to around $10,000, much closer to the price range of several other better built and better accepted models.