How to Sell Your Car

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For all licensing information, go to nmlsconsumeraccess.org, corporate NMLS number 1330, equal housing lender, not licensed in Alaska, Hawaii, Georgia, Massachusetts, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Utah. Today's version of MoneyWise Live is prerecorded so our phone lines are not open. You picked out the make and model and you've been saving your money waiting to buy a new car, maybe even found the car you want. Now the question is, what to do with the old one? Hi, I'm Rob West. If your current vehicle still has value, you can trade it in if you're buying from a dealer or sell it yourself.

If that thought fills you with fear and loathing, don't worry, I'll tell you how to do it. Then we have some great calls lined up, but please don't call in today because we're prerecorded. This is MoneyWise Live, where God's financial principles always steer you in the right direction. So, there's no question that a lot of people simply don't want the hassle of selling their old vehicle privately, but the truth is, in most cases, you'll end up with more money by doing it yourself. That's because the dealership has overhead. They have to clean and prep the vehicle and then price it to make a profit, but that's money you could make by selling it yourself.

So, first, gather up your papers. That starts with the vehicle title, which is gather up your papers. That starts with the vehicle title. You won't have one if there's a lien on the car and you still owe money. In that case, it's best to wait until you have paid it off before selling the vehicle.

All right, title in hand. The next thing is go online to your Department of Motor Vehicles to see what forms are needed to transfer ownership, like a downloadable bill of sale. Also, check to see if the license plates stay with the car after it's sold.

Then, order a vehicle history report from Carfax or AutoCheck. Buyers will want to check it and we've got links in our show notes today. Now, with all of your paperwork in hand, now you get to set your asking price.

Go online to Edmunds or Kelly Blue Book. Plug in your make, model, mileage, features, and condition to get an estimated value. Set your price a bit higher to give room to negotiate.

Now, you have your asking price. Time to roll up your sleeves and give your car a thorough cleaning. Outside, you want curb appeal, so wash and wax. Inside, remove all the stuff that's accumulated in the glove box, under the seats, and in the trunk.

Pull out the floor mats and scrub them clean and finally vacuum the carpet. If the car starts to look too good to sell, you know you've done a good job. All right, the next step, advertise.

Take lots of photos inside and out and choose the best half dozen or so. Include the best features like low tread wear on the tires. Now, you're ready to start posting ads and you can do that at Craigslist, AutoTrader, or eBay Motors. Craigslist is free. AutoTrader ad rates start at $25, but it's worth it because the site is used by serious buyers. At eBay Motors, you can either auction the car or buy an ad. In any case, enter basic information about the car, make, model, mileage, price, and so on. You'll also write a short description where you can list special features like Bluetooth or a reverse cam. Once your ad is up, you'll hear from prospective buyers either by phone or email. Screen them.

If you give a phone number, let it go to voicemail so you can choose who to call back. Now, watch out for buyers who lowball you or negotiate before seeing the vehicle. They could be flippers who buy low and then put the vehicle back on the market at a higher price. Be ready to discuss the car's features. When you have a good prospect, you'll want to set up a test drive. Don't do it from your home though. Choose a safe public location like a big box store parking lot.

Take a friend with you if you can. Let the buyer drive the car, but go along for the ride. I would resist negotiating at that point. Instead, just answer any questions the buyer may have. If they want to have a mechanic inspect the car, agree, but insist they pay for it. Now, if the inspection reveals items that need immediate attention, you may have to lower your price to compensate, but don't address every item on a long list of potential problems.

It is, after all, a used car. Now, it's time to close the deal. Don't make the first offer. If you're asked for your best price, say you're asking price is fair, but you'll consider an offer. If you agree to a price, tell the buyer you'll only accept cash or a cashier's check. Then, with the money in hand, you sign and date the title and give the buyer a completed bill of sale and that's it.

Well, but is it? Actually, you have one more option that allows you to skip the entire selling process. You can donate the vehicle. First, check with your local church to see if there's interest in taking the donation. The church could use it to bring people to services or give it to a member in need.

You can also donate your car to the Salvation Army or another Christian charity, and we'll have a link in today's show notes so you know exactly what that might look like. Bottom line is, it's not as difficult as you might think. You can do it.

I believe in you. You're listening to an encore presentation of MoneyWise Live. You can find out more information about the topics we're talking about when you visit our website, MoneyWiseLive.org.

Today's program is prerecorded, so keep that in mind. We're going to pause for a brief break, but we'll be back in a moment with more MoneyWise Live. Welcome back to MoneyWise Live, where we apply God's truth to your financial life. You know, as we mind the Scriptures, we understand that God is the owner, and we're the managers, and money is a tool to accomplish God's purposes. And the good news? There's 2300 verses in the Bible that tell us how we should manage money, the principles that the Lord lays out for us that we can apply to every financial situation. And you know what?

They're simple. You know, if we live within our means, if we avoid the use of debt, if we give generously and have some margin or some savings in our financial life, and then we set long-term goals, we'll be well on our way to experiencing God's best in this area. Doesn't mean we won't still struggle from time to time, or we may find ourselves where we have an abundance at some points. Regardless, it's about being found faithful as a manager of what God has entrusted to us today. And that's what we want to do here on this program is celebrate God's provision in our life, and then talk together about how we can be found faithful in that. Hey, before we take some more calls today, let me remind you, the MoneyWise app is available in your app store as a free download. It's available when you search for MoneyWise Biblical Finance. You'll find our Discover tab with the best podcasts, articles, and videos in Christian finance. You'll find our community, where you can post a question and get feedback from others on the journey, as well as our MoneyWise coaches. You'll also find our digital envelope system, where you can organize your spending, download your transactions from your institutions automatically, have them categorized, and then know in every envelope where you stand throughout the month. That's going to be key to living within your means. So go download it today. We'd love for you to do that, and when you upgrade to a MoneyWise Pro subscription, it's a great way not only to manage your finances easier, but also to support the work of MoneyWise and MoneyWise Media, our coaches, our online programming and content, not to mention this broadcast we produce each day. All of that is through your generous support, and certainly you being a pro subscriber in the MoneyWise app will go a long way to helping us do what we do and following the Lord's lead in serving you in your finances. So thanks so much in advance. All right, let's turn to our phones.

We first go to Lakeland, Florida. Joanne, what's on your mind today? Yes, sir. Good afternoon.

Thank you for taking my call. I recently became a widow in January. I'm 69 years old.

We didn't have any money invested in the stock market. We only have it in the bank, and I just wanted to make sure the money is going to work for me for the rest of my life, Lord willing, you know, if I have a long life. Should I tell you how much I have? Yeah, that would be, if you don't mind, sure. I have approximately $150,000 in the bank, give or take a little bit, along with some coins that are turning out to be valuable.

I don't have those fully appraised as yet, but from what I've been told, it's looking good, which I have no clue what that means. Okay. But anyway, I have talked to a financial counselor and he wants to set me up with an annuity. Now I know that's going to tie up the money. And I told the person that I called, you know, when the person that answered your phone, I told them that two weeks after my husband passed, my son was diagnosed with leukemia and I've been staying in Lakeland with him ever since then, ever since he was diagnosed.

And I really don't want to tie the money up in case we need it for something that might come up with him. So I just need wisdom. I asked my church family Sunday to pray for me and with me about this because I really don't know what to do.

Yeah. Well, I appreciate that background, Joanne. I'm so sorry to hear about your husband's passing and your son's diagnosis. We're going to ask the Lord to be near to you and join your church family in praying for you. Maybe we'll have a chance to do that today before we end our time together on the phone. But, you know, as you pause and think and really seek godly counsel, you know, that's exactly the right thing to do, Joanne.

Not to make any quick decisions, but really just to allow the Lord to give you some clarity about what this next season will look like, to lean into him during a time of loss. Obviously you're grieving and yet you're still trying to make wise decisions related to the resources God has entrusted to you and you have a significant sum of money there. Let me ask you, related to your income, I realize there's unexpected medical expenses that may come down the road, things like that. But if we set that aside for a moment, just your basic monthly expenses, are they covered through Social Security and any other income sources? My husband was retired military, but we did not sign me into the pension plan. So that has gone away totally, along with a small VA disability that he got every month.

That will go away as well. My monthly income is going to be right between our Social Security and we both work for a county government after he retired from the military. So I'm getting his pension from that as well as my small one plus a portion of his Social Security. So I'm looking at roughly somewhere between $3,500 and $4,000 a month for income. We have no debt. The house is paid for.

I use a credit card for gas and groceries and I pay it off the minute it comes in. So really, I have no debt. That's a huge blessing. Oh, it's enormous.

Yeah, there's no question about that. Joanne, have you done a budget where you try to account for not only those bills you get every month, but some of those non-recurring expenses and even those that might come a couple of times a year? Do you feel like you've got all that in one place? And if so, do you feel like the $3,500 to $4,000 will cover that?

I believe so, yes. I mean, you know, the things like the electric bill and the homeowner's insurance and car insurance are fairly minimal. So, you know, I don't have cable TV.

I don't even own a TV. So, you know, we operated on a bare minimum of frivolity, I guess you could say. Well, yeah, you're living modestly and obviously putting yourself in a position where you're completely debt-free, including your home, is a huge blessing because that keeps your expenses as low as possible. If you want some other ideas on how to set up your spending plan, how to manage the flow of money in and out every month, getting on a budget, tracking and controlling your expenses, it sounds like you've got a great handle on it already. But if you need some ideas on that, perhaps your husband handled certain aspects of it that you're now handling.

Perhaps you have questions or maybe you're on a comfortable with portions of it. Be sure to connect with one of our MoneyWise coaches. They'd be delighted to walk alongside you for several weeks to answer your questions and get you set up. You just go to our website or if you don't use a computer, perhaps a family member or a friend could help you. MoneyWiseLive.org.

Click connect with a coach and we'd love to be of assistance to you. With regard to that $150,000, the real blessing here, Joanne, is that you don't need the money today. And as you said, if the Lord tarries and you're in good health for a long time, we want this money to last for a long time.

We also want it to be there. And yeah, you could give it to an insurance company in exchange for some sort of guaranteed growth rate that could be over time annuitized that could provide a supplemental income stream to you. But as you said, you would be giving up access to the money without surrender charges and fees.

And I'm not a big fan of that, especially in a situation like you're in where, you know, your basic expenses, everything that it needs to, you know, take care of your lifestyle on an annual basis is covered by the Lord's grace through Social Security and the various pensions that you have access to. So I like the idea of investing this money conservatively in a way that is really focused on preserving the capital, but having growth in it that's reasonable, given your age and your risk tolerance goals and objectives. So we're not looking to beat the market, we're not trying to do six or eight or 10% a year, we'd probably be looking to achieve maybe a 4% growth rate a year where you could pull some money out over time if you needed to and not impact the principal. And if you didn't need to touch it, you'd have a larger sum five or 10 years down the road if you needed it for long term care assistance, or to assist your son, something like that, where you have full access to the principal, but you've got a growth component in there, you've got a growth component in there. And if the market was down that portion of it that was in stocks, you wouldn't ever sell it.

While it was down, you'd let it recover because the majority of it would still be in fixed income type investments like bonds. I think, though, it's going to be really important, Joanne, to have an investment professional, not just trying to sell you an insurance product, but somebody who can manage this money based on your goals and objectives. Remember, you're the steward, no one else.

And so it needs to be managed accordingly. I'd recommend with two or three certified kingdom advisors there in Lakeland, visit with them, perhaps take a friend or family member with you find the one that you believe is the best fit. These are men and women with significant experience. They've met character requirements and regulatory reviews, but they also understand the Council of Scripture and can bring that to bear in the context of professional, competent financial advice.

So again, you'd go to our website, click Find a CKA, put in your zip code. And again, I'd interview two or three and just describe to them exactly what you did to me as to where you feel like the Lord is leading, the purpose of this money. They'll get a full understanding through discovery of everything going on in your life.

And then you and that professional would agree on an investment strategy moving forward. Does that make sense to you? That helps a lot. Thank you so much. All right, Joanne. Listen, may the Lord bless you.

Let me pray for you. Father, we just lift Joanne up to you today. We just want to thank you, Lord, that you are in control, Lord, that everything she has comes from you. And in this time of loss, Lord, we know you're near to the broken hearted. We pray that you would just make yourself known to her. You'd walk with her.

You'd give her wisdom and clarity about this next season and real confidence about the decision she should make with your money. Lord, we love you. We're so thankful that you hold us in the palm of your hand, and we ask all this in Jesus' name.

Amen. We'll be right back. You're listening to a Best of broadcast of MoneyWise Live. This program is prerecorded, so we're not available to take your calls today, but you can email us at questions at moneywise.org. Welcome back to MoneyWise Live. So glad to have you along with us today. Just ahead, we'll talk about how you can transfer money when purchasing a car.

Also, how to find a reputable company to invest in. But first, we're going to head to Phoenix. Stanley, what's on your mind today? How can we help you, sir?

Thanks for taking my call. I'm working on a reciprocal retirement. Hopefully, I'll get before the year's over, and I may have some money left over.

I was wondering, would it be best to invest in an IRA Roth or a money market, or what would you recommend? Okay, very good. Help me understand the source of the funds. So you said you're about to retire, is that right? And then you're going to, do you have a 401k, or where are the funds coming from?

I believe it's, we're traveling like three different systems, and so they're like reciprocal for each other at this, combining the years together. So I think they said the 401a, if I remember right. Okay. All of them are 401a's, I believe.

Okay. Well, so if it's qualified money, meaning their retirement accounts on a pre-tax basis, what you would typically do is roll that out to an IRA. And even if you had multiple accounts, those could all roll into a single IRA, so you could consolidate the funds there. If you then converted that to a Roth that would all become taxable, which is typically not advisable as you're entering retirement, for a couple of reasons. Number one, you lack the benefit of the tax-free growth of the Roth, because you're getting more conservative in your investments, and so the real benefit of that compounding growth over time inside the Roth IRA is lost. Secondly, you could create a real tax burden for yourself by converting a large sum of money that all becomes taxable as income to you in the current year. So I'd probably look at rolling that to a traditional IRA, assuming that's, again, pre-tax qualified money. And once it's in that traditional IRA, at that point, you would want to then deploy an investment strategy consistent with what you're trying to accomplish, your goals and objectives. Do you know, Stanley, roughly how much you'd be receiving all in?

Actually, I kind of missed something that I left out. It's not all going to be going into the investment. What's happening is I've got to buy back some years from two of the other three companies that I work for. And so after that, what's left, which they say may be around $5,000 or so, I don't know for sure yet. That's what they told me I need to find out where I wanted to invest that instead of the whole amount, because all of it's going to be going, the rest of it's going to be going to buying back my years so I can retire. I see.

All right. And what is your income source going to look like in retirement? Well, right now I'm a deputy sheriff, so I'm making around $73,000 a year. So August, I'll have 15 years there. And then I'm buying back eight years and then another year and a half from another system. And then I've already got about nine years and certain amount of months with third system. So they're going to combine all those years. So until I find out where the excess money is going to be going and give them that information, then they can't really give me the rest of it.

I see where I'm at right now. Presumably, though, all those years of service would end up giving you a retirement income stream that would cover your lifestyle. I think the key, though, is to find out what kind of money this is. If it is qualified money on a pre-tax basis, then you'd want to open an IRA, probably a Charles Schwab or Vanguard. And then once that account's open, you give them the information. Once you receive the funds, then you could deploy that into an investment strategy that's consistent with your goals and objectives. They've got some automated solutions, what they call robo advisors. For instance, the Charles Schwab Intelligent Portfolios would be a great option for you, where it's low cost, very well diversified, and the investment strategy is based on the answers you provide to the questions they ask. So I'd probably go that direction. Again, Charles Schwab, Vanguard, any of those would be great.

Provide that information to your employer, and they'll get the money transferred over. We're going to pause with a quick break, back with your questions after this. Stay with us. Welcome back to MoneyWise Live. Are you looking for an answer to a financial question?

Well, there's two ways you can get them to us. In addition to calling in, we offer two additional options. You can email us questions at moneywise.org, questions at moneywise.org. We use that source to find some questions to answer on the air.

And so I'll try to answer as many as I can periodically when you send those in. The other way is to go to our website, moneywiselive.org, and click Ask a Question. We have a team of coaches that are ready to respond to your financial questions.

They'll always respond with a personal response to try to address whatever's on your mind. You can do that, moneywiselive.org. Let's go back to the phones. Tampa, Florida. Luke, I understand you're a first-time home buyer. How can we help you today?

Absolutely. And by the way, thank you very much, and God bless you for your show. I hope he continues to bless you, our Lord, with the gift of wisdom he's giving you to share with others, sir.

And thank you for sharing it with me today. Sir, I'm a humble age of 26. I work a humble job as a customer service agent, about 32 or more a year, a thousand a year. First-time home buyer looking to move in with my wife. The difficulty I'm coming across is the market right now. The prices are a little higher, and I'm kind of being pushed out of the city where my and my wife's job is. So just looking from your advice, you know, buy now, wait, what do you think?

Yeah, that's a great question, Luke. And certainly we like the idea of home ownership, owning something that you can build equity in over time, and that is an asset you can enjoy and build a family there, but it's also appreciating and as long as you buy it properly. But I don't want you to do that and put yourself in a position where you get overextended by either buying too much house or going in with not enough in the form of a down payment or where you have too much uncertainty in your life as to, you know, are you going to stay in one city or perhaps you're going to need to relocate in a short period of time, especially with a high-flying market like we're in right now. Best estimates are nationally home prices are about five and a half percent above what is the real market value. You know, we were just talking earlier today with the team about an upcoming program we're doing and, you know, based on our research, you know, this is different than 2008 where we were in a housing bubble that resulted in a housing and financial crisis that rippled throughout the world.

This is not that in the sense that the lending standards are much stricter today. The millennials are turning age 30 and so they're buying homes and having kids and looking for more space. During the pandemic people are moving out of smaller apartments looking for some more space because they can work from home or they're educating the kids at home. You know, there's a lot of reasons why, you know, home prices are where they are today.

Not to mention there's a real lack of inventory. There's just not enough homes nationally to meet the demand that exists today. So all of that is real and yet I don't believe that we're going to continue to see the growth rates in the housing market that we have the last 10 years and certainly the last, you know, 18 months.

It's just not sustainable. We're going to cool off although in my estimation this is not a bubble where we're going to see a dramatic fall. So I think the bottom line for you is, you know, as you think about making your first purchase the starting point is always am I ready to make this purchase regardless of the market. You know, the home that's going to meet my needs and the location I want and maybe not the location as you said maybe you're going to have to move a little bit further from town just because of what's going on. You know, am I able to buy that home in such a way that I have at least 20% to put down?

Will the resulting mortgage payment be no more than 25% of my take-home pay including not only the principal and interest but the taxes and the insurance on the home? And if so, then I think, you know, that would indicate that you're, you know, someone who's ready to buy and then it's just a matter of, you know, not getting lured into spending more than you want because of the market conditions right now. You know, we're hearing stories of people paying 10, 20, 30, 40% over the true market value just to get a home because there's so much competition out there right now.

I don't want you to fall into that trap and so you need to be ready to take your time, trust the Lord, make this a matter of prayer and let's see if we can find something that truly meets your needs but fits well within your budget. And then the last thing would just be, Luke, you know, where you'd want to plan to stay in that home for at least five to seven years, preferably even longer than that, so that, you know, if we did see the housing market cool off, even take a short-term dip, you know, you don't find yourself in a position where you've lost a lot of value or you're even upside down. But given that, tell me kind of where you're at personally and how what I've just shared aligns with what you're trying to accomplish. You know, you touched on some very good points. You know, the artificial inflation is going to cause an artificial downturn and likewise the opposite.

And you're right, you actually hit it on a dime. You know, I'm in a situation where I'm in an apartment pretty much paying what I would consider a price of a mortgage. They're raising my rent, so I'm getting less for more and I figure, well, if I'm going to get my rent raised, pay more money for the same apartment, a studio apartment, I might as well get a house, pay the same amount that I'm paying for a studio and have two bedrooms and a two bathroom. Yeah, no, but you're right. I think I'm in a position where I might have to continue renting, get a place that might be cheaper, save some money and wait because this is all too artificial, you're right. Well, you know, I think there's real demand there.

There's no question. I mean, again, this is not 2008 all over again. We've got better lending practices. We've got real demand for millennials. We've got people moving out into the suburbs, you know, out of the downtown apartments because of work at home restrictions, you know, in easing. We've got, you know, all kinds of factors that are driving what we're seeing here, including just a real lack of inventory nationwide for homes. So what you're seeing in terms of the housing prices increasing is real, even though they've gotten by all best estimates about 5% ahead of themselves. I think the key is, you know, the savings, if you don't have that 20% to put down, it's not just a matter of matching the mortgage payment for the current rent payment, you need that 20%. So if you're looking to spend, you know, 150,000, you need 30,000 ready to put down and I'm not talking about your emergency fund. If you're not there, then I'd wait.

But if you have that saved, then I think you could make a purchase now go ahead and get into something that you can stay with for a long time, even though you may need to move a little bit further out from the city. So hopefully that's helpful to you, my friend, make this a matter of prayer and let us know how it turns out. We appreciate your call today.

To Clinton, Missouri, Sharon, how can we help you today? Hi, we have a couple of brokers involved. It's kind of been family rolled forward type stuff. And we also know that they only do stock type stuff, and there are other investment sources and areas you can go into. But when you try to reinvest, like the one broker who's a relative, which is not the best, because you hate to change anything when it's family related, but when they want to go into blue chips and cap chips and global funds and different things like that. And then I look on a list I have here, which says we need to fight voter integrity laws. Some corporations just say they're not going to go along with, well, it's a lot of changes, I'm afraid that are going on. And I'm afraid would not be something our Lord would really want us to be putting money into. And so I have questions.

How do you find out who these companies are? Or are there any left that aren't that way? Because I have heard that a law was just passed that all of the companies and the stock markets have to include diversity on their boards and so forth. So I'm just really confused where to go with all this. Sharon, you raised some great points. We're going to take a quick break. We come back, I want to address these.

There's a growing segment of the investment landscape called faith-based investing that's really designed to deal with so much of what you just described. We'll talk about it right after this short break. Stay with us, faith-based investing and much more right around the corner. This is our final segment of a broadcast we previously recorded. Thanks so much for being with us today and we hope you'll stick around and enjoy the rest of today's program. Welcome back to MoneyWise Live. I'm Rob West.

So glad to have you along with us today. Just before the break, we were talking with Sharon in Clinton, Missouri. Sharon's wondering how you understand the companies that you're investing in.

Who are they? How are they using their corporate profits? What is their primary business activity and does that align with your values as a believer? Someone who has deeply held values and convictions as a child of God and as you use and invest God's money and become an owner in companies, do they align with your values? And what's exciting is, Sharon, is that we're seeing a growing segment of the investing landscape that's committed to what's called faith-based investing. Years ago, this was a very small segment of the investing landscape and it has flourished over the last several years in particular. We're seeing many more investment solutions in this space where Christians can invest in wonderful companies seeking a great return on God's money and world class and even award-winning funds and ETFs and even individual stocks on a screened basis, but doing it in a way that really aligns with their values and priorities as believers.

And so that's really exciting. I think there's a couple of things in terms of your next step. Number one, if you want to do some research yourself, there's a couple of resources to take advantage of. Number one is what's called inspireinsight.com. Inspireinsight.com. Inspire is a partner of ours, an underwriter here at MoneyWise, and they offer a free resource where you can screen any company, any publicly traded company, any mutual fund or exchange traded fund, and it will actually run through a filter using an aggregator service, pulling in all kinds of data from sources literally all over the globe to give you an understanding of how that particular company or fund may or may not align with your values and will even flag some things that you may want to take notice of as a believer. So inspireinsight.com would be a great way for you to do some of your own research. You could also seek out some of the faith-based investing fund families. So we talk a lot about Eventide here, and you can find more at investeventide.com. A wonderful faith-based investing mutual fund.

Praxis would be another one. P-R-A-X-I-S, the Praxis funds. And then Inspire has their own line of mutual funds as well. These would be representative of, again, world-class investments in this growing faith-based investing landscape. The other thing I would offer to you, Sharon, is perhaps it's time to look for an advisor. And I realize this, as you said, could get sticky if you have a family member managing your money.

So be sure to put the relationship first and pray through that, handle that well. But, you know, this may be an opportunity for you to look for an advisor who really specializes in faith-based investing. And there's a growing number of advisors and specifically CKAs that do just that. And so you'd want to approach your advisor, either an existing one or one you're interviewing, to say, do you offer faith-based investing? Do you offer investments that are screened to make sure they align with my values so we can exclude companies that don't? Do you offer positive screens where you can embrace companies that have a kingdom impact or at least are making a positive impact in the world? And then thirdly, do you help with engagement as a shareholder so that I can vote proxies and make my values known to the leaders of the company that I own? And many advisors will help you do just that. So I would engage your financial advisor and ask about faith-based investing.

And if he or she is not able to provide that service, perhaps it's time to look for someone who does. But it's an exciting space and I'm thrilled for you to be able to explore it more fully and we appreciate your call today. Let's head to Austin, Texas. Stephanie, you're next on MoneyWise Live. Go ahead. Oh, how are you doing, sir?

Thank you for your service. Yes, I just have a question about the bell at the bank when you want to, because I know you're talking about cars today when you're trying to sell cars. And say, for example, because I have bought a car.

It's been almost a year, but if I decide, I'm almost paying it off, I put a good amount of money down on this car. And if I wanted to sell it for like, say, 15,000, do you think they'll be a good option to transfer money? Like, because they'll add themselves to banks are saying that it's best to use it for family and friends or people you may know. Yes, they try not. They try to say and in their little small writing, try not to use it just for anybody. But if you're making a perk, if you're trying to sell an item to someone, a good transaction, I wouldn't want to expect $15,000 in cash from somebody.

I would want to have that money transferred into my account or they give me a cashier's check or whatever. But Zelle wanted a popular app through a lot of finance, a lot of the banks. And we also have others. There's other apps to like Cash App. You know, you have several out there. But yeah, it's a great question.

I would probably not use Zelle. And you're right, they do even say right there in front and center on their website. This is for sending money to people you know. So this is not really a platform to do business with third parties or folks that you just don't have a relationship with. I would probably opt in that case, Stephanie, for something like PayPal. In particular, PayPal offers similar to credit card transactions, some protections when it comes to, you know, transacting business.

So if a problem came up, you're going to more likely be able to get some sort of recourse through PayPal to help negotiate a solution, as opposed to Zelle, which is going to be more like a cash transfer. You could also opt for a cashier's check a more traditional approach. A couple of other notes just about purchasing a car from an individual, Stephanie, you don't want to pay money up front to hold the car, you only want to pay for something that you've seen and driven and decided to buy. At that point, you want to make sure the seller has the title and offers a legitimate bill of sale. Where you transact the business, you know, physically is important as well. You want to do it in a public place where you can view and test drive the car.

You could use your local police station. I know mine has a space with a sign that specifically says for Craigslist and other, you know, type transactions, and it's monitored with a camera 24 hours a day with proper lighting. And so you know, that'd be a great place for you to, you know, safely transact business, especially when you're doing something with someone that you've met over the internet.

And then of course, you always want to have a mechanic take a look at the car before you buy. So, you know, those are important tips. But in terms of what I would use to actually transfer the funds, if you want to do it through electronic means, I would opt for PayPal for the reasons that I mentioned, we appreciate your call today. On to West Palm Beach, Florida, Heather, you're next on the program. Go ahead. Hello, good afternoon. Thank you for taking my call. How are you today? We're great. Thanks.

Awesome. My question today is, if I should refinance my mortgage, or should I just pay additional money towards it? Currently the refinance option we have is to move it from 22 years, we would like to bring it down to 10 years. It would cost us $3,000.

And it would bring us down roughly 1%. We're at 3.375 interest rate right now. Okay, do you have a good credit score, Heather?

Yes, I do, over 770. Okay, very good. The only thing I'm questioning is, I mean, what is the value, the total amount of the mortgage? My mortgage right now is $98,000. We purchased the home for about $118,000. Okay. But since we've purchased it, the value has gone up, the property appraiser values it at about $200,000.

Yeah, very good. And how many bids did you get? How many different lenders have you talked to? I spoke with the lender that I hear on Moody Radio Lot Fellowship Home Loan. And they and my current mortgage company have the similar pricing. And I also use Bankrate.com. And they have some similar things, I would find one or two companies that had a lower cost for the refinance.

Okay, very good. Well, the only question I have is, I mean, $3,000 is not out of line, I'd love to see that closer to 2% of the value of the mortgage, which would be around 2000. But I realized for some smaller mortgages, you can often pay a little bit more in closing costs. And so I get that with a 10 year mortgage, I'd love to see you closer to three, if not under 3%. For a rate, I realize rates have ticked up lately, but that's a short term mortgage at 10 years.

So I think everything checks out, you're certainly reducing the term. You know, you've got your expenses under control, you've got multiple bids, and you're lowering the rate by at least a point. All of those are checkmarks for me, I might just get one more offer with whoever has the best lending programs right now at Bankrate.com. And see if you can get a rate under 3% or at 3% at no more closing costs than you're already talking about.

If you can't, then then I'd stick with what you got. Sounds like you've got a great offer here. And as long as you're planning to stay in this home for at least five to seven years or until it's paid off, then I think you're headed in the right direction. And we appreciate your call today. Well, that's going to do it for us. We're so thankful that you stopped by today.

Let me remind you of a couple of things. Number one, MoneyWise Live is listener supported. And so here at the end of the month, we'd be grateful if you consider a gift to the ministry to help us close the month out strong. We operate on a budget just like you.

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MoneyWise Live is a partnership between Moody Radio and MoneyWise Media. I hope you come back and join us tomorrow. We've got another great program planned for you. In the meantime, may the Lord bless you, and we'll see you then. Bye-bye.