I knew these things were false all along. Great blog consumers need to see this.

Your welcome for the review.  We are trying to present the facts, and this is how we viewed these mortgage payoff programs after revieiwng the information on their website.

For more information about these programs, to find out more about NMA, or to contact us, please visit our site at www.nationalmortgageadvocate.com.

Eddy,

Your comment came in at the time of our response above.  Thank you for your comment and encouragement.

Thanks for this information.  I have heard of this, but didn't really know much about it before.

Boy, this is a perfect explanation. I have had a few people get in my face on another site when I told them that this is not as good as these companies sell it. I give them some facts.... but they say.... "it's a proven fact. It works>" And unfortunately people will believe this, because they HOPE for a better solution.

And as you pointed out, they misrepresent the facts.... yes.... SAD. This is the third company that I have seen come out with this so called program. Telling clients online that hundreds of people are signing up. Just making up numbers. And you know what is sad... They have the people that are working for them, brain-washed. I have seen this happen at other companies. You have this owner that has nice clothes, drives a nice car.... speaks well.... and preaches this to a group of young sales people. And they believe in it and then sell it so well, because there is no false hope in their voice. Very convincing. This is the sad part....and it does hurt and mislead consumers.

Again, great topic and great example...

Here's a great reason to pay your mortgage off.

No more house payments! That is a great feeling.

Just in case anyone wonders if they're missing out by not having that interest tax deduction anymore; just ask yourself this question??

I made the numbers easy to help everyone grasp the concept but the principal is the same no matter what your deduction numbers were/are.

"Would you rather pay the IRS an extra $1,000 per year in taxes or pay a bank another $5,000 a year in interest charges just to get the deduction???"

Jim,

I would rather do this...

Pay the IRS $1,000 less, pay the bank $5,000 in interest (net loss of $4,000), and earn $8,000 (tax-free) in my side investment account.  That puts me up $4,000 per year!

Oh, I am doing this exact scenario myself right now, only my numbers (including the spread) is much greater.

I am glad to pay my mortgage because my mortgage is funding my investments and growing my wealth much more quickly than I could do by paying off my mortgage!

Jim,

Thanks for showing another side of the equation, but remember that post shows that this is not the best way to pay off your mortgage.  Through proper mortgage planning, which we advocate, there are much better ways to pay your mortgage off if that is your ultimate goal.

Things to point out are similar to what Robert mentioned.  Financial freedom is not having to worry about money issues, and many people who focus on paying off their mortgages end up in financial crisis because they go about it the wrong way. 

We will post a blog on this subject since we can get rather lengthy in showing these concepts.  Look for it to come soon.

Thanks for the tips boys,

Since my primary mortgage is paid off and I put the money I would have spent on house payments into real estate investments I guess it's academic to me anyways.

hey... over here... LOL  Jim Lee....  if you would have said that the first time, I would make a bet that you wouldn't have received those 2 comments. In laymans terms, they are basically saying.... many who pay of their mortgages early, don't spend their money wisely. See, you paid your mortgage off, but are using that money to invest in other areas, even if it is in real estate. It's those that spend the money that they have and don't reinvest it..... that is the problem. Just like pay option arms. So many people take that money that they are saving and spend it.... and then they realize that they have no equity.... then nothing.

Jim,

Proper mortgage planning may help you grow your real estate portfolio, at least manage them better.  The key is to have a strategy and be disciplined to follow through on it.

Jeff,

Very well put.  It is the lack of discipline and/or the lack of a plan that is what keeps people from becoming wealthy.

My formula is simple.  Pay any extra money towards principal.

Having no mortgage is better for my brain (sanity) than calculating the financial positives if I invest in precious metals :^) instead (for example).

EVERYONE has a different goal, different ages, circumstances, etc.  Be careful not to lump everyone together.

Rob.... yes, everyone has their own goals. But for sanity purposes, if you took that extra money that you are applying towards principal, you can actually double your rate of return through other financial avenues. And I am not just talking about stocks.

But like you said.... everyone has their own goals. But read this quote, because I think it says a lot.

Jeff and Rob,

Both of you are right.  Mortgage planning is about proper integration of the mortgage into your financial and investment plans.  If your goal is to pay off your mortgage, then do it a better way. 

The quote Jeff posted is very true, we have to be open to new ideas.  What we have found is that most Americans are stuck in the old ways and resist change.  That is what is keeping them from meeting their financial goals.  Proper mortgage planning and an open mind is what will help Americans achieve that success. 

We have found that, while there are many "mortgage planners" out there, those that have obtained the Certified Mortgage Planning Specialist (CMPS) designation have taken the time to maximize the benefits for the consumer.

My personal MMA experience: Because it sounds like some of you out there have some questions about the MMA, I just want to point out some important facts I have found out about the program.  I am a current user of the MMA program and have been for over 2 years. I have over 13 years experience in multiple areas of the financial world. And probably just like you, I was skeptical that the concept of the MMA could out do my own efforts. In the beginning it looked like I could achieve the same results on my own. I ran some numbers on my financial calculator and compared them against the results of the MMA software. I ran some detailed spreadsheets in Excel and it looked as though I could achieve the same results. But I still decided to do a little more homework. I was able to confirm that a similar concept to the MMA had been used in several other countries and that It had caught on there very rapidly.  After doing a lot of research, I decided to give it a try. All I can say is I am glad I did. After 2 years of being on the program I have paid off over $31,000 in principal and I am on schedule to be paid off completely in 7.9 years. Taking all of the aspects of my financial information into account, when I run my numbers in Excel and on my financial calculator it shows that at the point I’m at right now, I would have paid down $15,842.00 in principal and I would still owe 13.8 years, trying to do this on my own.  I feel that I am very versed when it comes to finance so I did some further research to find out how this could happen. There are several reasons I have found that my “real life” numbers are so much better than what my initial excel numbers showed and what my initial MMA analysis showed.   First:  The initial MMA Analysis is basically programmed to “under promise” and over deliver in real life application of the MMA.  The reason why this is so, is because the initial MMA analysis is programmed to figure that you will withdraw all of the money you will pay toward your monthly expenses the same day that you deposit it.  I found that the reason the initial analysis calculator is programmed this way is because United First cannot predict how long each individual homeowner will have their monthly expense money in their MMA account until they pay it out toward expenses.  Example:  One homeowner could pay all of their expenses on the 1^st day of the month, when another homeowner could pay one expense on the 1^st, then another expense on the 5^th, then another on the 11^th and so on.  The bottom line is that the initial MMA analysis calculator is scaled way back from the results the “actual MMA user software” provides. Second:  I found that the MMA software takes far more variables into account than I ever imagined.  With excel and my financial calculator I realized that I thought I was taking everything into account on my own, but I realized that no matter how hard I tried I was still thinking inside the box. The MMA does all of the thinking for you, it basically thinks “way outside of the box” and customizes to every financial aspect of my life. The software knows to the penny and to the minute when and how much money to transfer and out performs anything I thought I could do on my own. Yes, you can see that I am a believer. But that is after using the program for over 2 years. In the beginning I was skeptical.  All I can say is that if you think you can out perform the MMA like I thought just by using Excel, a financial calculator, or some other program, you haven’t used the MMA YET.   Thanks, Jesse.

Jesse,

Thanks for posting your experience.  We need to clarify a few things here though.

First off, we never said it doesn't work and stated that we have not seen the software or utlized the program, so we cannot know whether it works or doesn't and cannot formulate a fact based answer regarding that. We do say that how well it works will depend highly on the users unique situation.

We always keep in open mind, but we base our recommendations on fact and advise clients to steer away from companies using false or misleading statements to sell their products, which is the case here.

Knowing what we know, rates on the HELOC/ALOC are much higher than they were in the past, so there are more limitations to those starting these days.

The reason we will never recommend them to anyone, at least through this company, is the numerous false and misleading statements made throughout the program. 

We are glad the program is working for you.  We advocate proper mortgage planning and Certified Mortgage Planning Specialists, those individuals that have devoted themselves to ALL strategies related to proper imtegration of your mortgage into your overall financial and investment plans. 

CMPS designees can show the best way to manage the mortgage and use it the mortgage as a financial tool.  Even the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago has said that what Certified Mortgage Planning Specialists can show you is the better way to handle your mortgage.  That report can be requested by contacting us.  We hope to have it available for download from our website as well.

As we said Jesse, we are glad the program is working for you, but we still must advise consumers away from the program due to misrepresentation of facts primarily, and insufficient evidence that those starting the program now will be better off than seeking a true mortgage professional.

Side note - we have been working in the financial services industry for nearly 10 years, covering all aspects of financial planning.  We have been involved in investing since the early 90s as consumers.  We make it our mission to learn all of the strategies and then advocate the best for the consumers as a whole, not the few.

Jesse,

One other question.  Did you join their sales team?  Just would like ot know in case we would like to learn more about it in the future.

No, I am not a member of thier agent sales team.  I am a financial planner.  I have spoken to them about some of the claims that you have made on this page about their service and the MMA and they have stated that a lot of what you have posted on this message is innacurate. They are also curious where you have gotten some of the information that you have stated as fact. They said they will be happy to speak with you.  Thanks. Jesse 

All information is straight from their website.  Hardly inaccurate.  Email us the contact info of the person and we will fit into our schedule.

BTW, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago released a 58-page report backing up the mortgage planning process (August 2006).  Also, please visit the CMPS website at www.cmpsinstitute.org to learn more about that designation, which is the most recognized designation by the Financial Planning Association.  We recommend reading Missed Fortune by Douglas Andrew, books by Ric Edelman, Bert Whitehead (CFP), and others that have utilized mortgage planning in their financial planner/advisor practice and have grown their clients' wealth safely over time.

There are numerous resources we study to provide proper advice to the borrowing community.  We would be happy to hear more about the software and the MMA strategy, so we can formulate a factual opinion on whether it is a strategy everyone can benefit from.

What website address are you pulling up? I dont see the information you have indicated on their website?

The website we visited was mmahome.us.  It has a video and dialogue explaining the program.

The charted information is gathered from information in their dialogue/tutorial (step 1).  The video goes into other aspects, but we had to take notes as it played.

Thank you for you help on this. The website address you have indicated is not their website address. Their website address is www.u1stfinancial.com.  I just spoke to someone in their customer support department and they told me that the address you have indicated has been posted by an unauthorized person and is not approved by United First Financial. They stated that they are already investigating the web address you indicated.    -Jesse.

Thanks for the info.  We will go to the website you mentioned and research what we can there.  They were advertising as being United First Financial, or at least a rep of theirs.  Thank you again for your contribution.

Damion,

I goal is to provide facts and we are already in the process of reviewing the information from the "real" site.  We will post a comment here and/or a new blog post once completed.

I actually spoke to one of the founders of UFF this morning, and that particular website was indicated as a rogue site. The owner and the agent that has authorized that site has been informed that he has violated corporate policy and has been asked to remove their web page.  He didn't tell me specifically that the agent in question would be terminated, because he's obviously not going to tell me internal information about proceedings against their own agents, but it doesn't sound like their too happy about his representation of their program.

#2, I think the original blogger of this story has been a little too rough on this particular companies program.  I've addressed it in my own blog that you can read, but frankly I think that the author did not understand the program or how to use it with his mortgage planning practive.  I've been using the mortgage planning program with my clients for the last year, and equity acceleration is one tool that I use to create opportunity later to invest in "Missed Fortune" type insurance and other investment programs. My partners and I have known of other programs similar to this one, but United First Financials is superior in many ways to any of the others I've seen.  For those whom wish to get a more neutral representation of their program, because I am not an UFF agent at this point, please board email me. 

Karl,

Thank you for adding to this.  We are glad that the agent responsible for the misrepresentation of this program will be addressed.  Now, from what we know of these programs, we understand them, although we cannot formulate a truly factual based review without seeing how the actual software works. 

Our goal is to present the best options for the consumer and to help them avoid being mislead.  That was the purpose of this blog and it did just that.  The misrepresentations we noted, were as we stated in the post. 

As we have stated repeatedly, we have not been ruled out that these are good programs, simply that the information provided to us was very misleading and false at some points.  We had no choice but to advocate to avoid this and it worked to help people find out where to go for "real" information.

Now that we have the "real" source of information, we have commented we will review the program and the facts presented and post a new blog with the new material in mind. 

We do come down hard on potential scams and other things that go against the consumers best interests as was the case with the particular website we encountered.  We will, in the consumers best interests provide our findings based on the new source.

We will also review your blog post and take your information into account as well.  We are glad to see you understand the mortgage planning concepts and look forward to reading your comments on other posts we do.

Note: We added the link in your second comment to the original comment so the link is active to your blog post for all readers to formulate their own opinion.  Also, anyone wishing to contact Karl, please do so via AR email only.  Also, our apologies to UFF regarding our focus, but the rep said they were one of their agents, which is why they were highlighted.  Readers of this post will want to check back when have finished our review of UFF's real website. 

Wow, lots of different info in this so far. Please chack out www.yrent.com for a complete comprehensive mortgage acceleration programbacked by GMAC. THis program can utilize the same priciples of banking your monay and allow for the outside investment as refered to in Missed Fortune by Douglas Andrew. It is an all in one resource. Watch the 40-minute movie online and contact me directly if you have any questions.

The program you are referring to from GMAC is actually a program that is offered through a company called CMG which is owned by GMAC. The reason I know this is because I checked this company out when I was trying to decide between United First Financial and the program through CMG.

The reason I decided to go through United First is because their program is far less risky and offers alot more benefits. With the CMG program that your referring to, you have to refinance your first mortgage into a variable rate first mortgage to make the program work. This means that your entire loan amount is subject to what ever rates do and you have a higher interest rate than you would on a regular first mortgage loan. Also, the user software that CMG provides doesnt have near the financial benefits of the Money Merge Account software & system.

With the MMA system, the software is incredible and does more than you could ever think of and you dont have to refinance your existing first mortgage loan. This means I was able to keep my low fixed rate. Also, the customer support department is so helpful. They coach you on how to maximize the benefits of the program. I know all of this because my friend use to use the CMG program and now they use the MMA. 

Brooke and Jesse,

Thanks for the added comments. 

Brooke...NMA will add www.yrent.com to our list of sites to review and post accordingly if either very good or bad in our review.  Keep in mind that no one program is right for everyone and the guidance of a Certified Mortgage Planning Specialist should be sought to ensure the proper strategy. 

Jesse...Thanks for your continued support of the MMA system.  We are still reviewing the documentation and formulating a review based on the facts that we have obtained from UFF and our conversation with Mr. Whitman. 

We believe there is some benefit to the program, but we cannot recommend it (nor continue to bash it) until our review is complete, hence the removal of the main post here.  The site the original post was about met its demise, which was good to see we are having an impact on the "bad ones".

I just wanted to thank everyone for thier comments here. I am going to be unavailable for some time traveling for business. I wish you all the best!

So what is the consensus on U.F.F.? I've been approached by a U.F.F. agent and am skeptical, but open-minded. I am trying to find out the precise math being done to reduce mortgage costs. Can anyone explain how it's really superior to a standard fixed rate mortgage? Thanks.

MRE

MRE,

Thank you for the comment.  Here is the update we have for you right now.  From what we have found, and have always reported, there is some benefit to these type programs.  UFF is one of the credible companies, but make sure you are dealing with UFF.  Our original post targeted one of UFFs agents who had portrayed the product as the best solution for everyone and provided a lot of false and misleading information on his website. 

Our research has found that the use of false and/or misleading information is very common in regards to these programs, which is unfortunate.  These products are good for some people, but we have found that the percentage is relatively low (<25%).  Also, we recommend working with someone who provides multiple solutions to you and helps you decide what is in your best interests.  Anyone stating this product is the best way to pay off your mortgage is most likely incorrect. 

Everyone's situation is unique and the person/company that is selling this type of product needs to understand that.  Additionally, they need to understand your unique situation, your goals, your risk tolerance, etc., before they can truly say this is the best prgoram for you.  Anyone who does not review all realistic options, take the time to get to know you, your goals, etc., is not likely giving you good advice and is just selling their product.  There are many mortgage professionals that do this anyways, which is why we recommend using mortgage professionals with designations and memberships with associations showing they are working in your best interests.

With that in mind, find out what this agent is saying and look at it with the idea that it will work for you.  It is a good product.  But, research the info and facts presented and verify their validity.  Also, don't limit yourself to just this option, look at other options.  We cannot recommend any individual, company, etc. per se, but we do recommend meeting with a CMPS or other desgnated mortgage planning professional who incorporates this product and others into their business and can provide the best solution for your specific needs.

We hope this helps you in your decision and feel free to contact us if you have any additional questions.  Also, we will be posting an updated review of these programs and our findings later this week, provided by one of our founders.  We will also be posting a review of the designations of various mortgage professionals and some of the associations you may want to ensure your mortgage professional is involved in.

Could someone please provide the full spreadsheet for the example used in the MMA video of both the Mortgage and the HELOC side by side for the full 10.4 years rather than just the 10-15 lines seen on the screen. Could you please show just the variables used in that screen over and over until both the mortgage and the Heloc are both paid off at the same time 10.4 years later. No one will show this example fully carried out like an amortization spreadsheet carried out for the full 30 years on a mortgage. That is all I want to see but cannot find a full example anywhere. I do not know how to set this up in excel or quicken or I would do this myself and show to everyone rather than ask this question. Thanks.

I sure do appreciate the views and comments of the National Mortgage Advocate above (dated 01/08/2007).

I say this as an Advocate of the Money Merge Account, and more especially, because I am an MMA client, and did exactly what was suggested above. I met with professionals, I invested the time in myself and my family---because it was my future, my family and my home on the line, not the UFF Agents. I did my homework and I never stopped asking questions.

Now, there is no questions that I stand by this Program, because I know what it's doing for me personally. However, i would plead with anyone seeking information on this Program to TAKE YOUR TIME AND DO YOUR RESEARCH. It doesn't hurt to weight and consider, to compare, so you can make an educated decision for you and your family. It angers me to hear of 'rogue' Agents, who willingly refuse to comply to the policies and procedures set out by United First Financial, who give false and/or misleading information....simply when it's not necessary.

This isn't solely about MMA's or UFF...it's about ANY decision you make about your home! I'm the father of nine (yes, I said nine) children, and the last thing I wanted to do, was play with circumstances that could pull the home out from under my sweetheart and children. I had to look at several scenarios using my income, my debts, where the money could be best spent...and I love what NMA said above: my personal goals. It just so happened that my personal circumstances were perfect for the MMA Program, and I am having great success.

It's another reason why i got together with my brothers (who also have success with the MMA) and created "The Jubilee Project". It was to create the single greatest independent online resource of knowledge concerning the Money Merge Account. I mention this, because I believe the National Mortgage Advocate would appreciate it: It is to educate the public, free of charge,...and we are 100% UFF Approved (you can contact them and ask about us directly). Every site page has been gone over by their compliance department. 

So if you have questions about the MMA, feel free to come to our site. Use it for free. Call us or not. We are NOT mortgage professionals, so please do NOT ask us for mortgage advice. We cannot do so. What we do is simply share what we know, freely, openly....and you decide for yourselves.

In fact, if it's not too much trouble, may I request the National Mortgage Advocate research our site and give a review? If we do meet your standards, it may be useful to have a recommended source of useful information where families can learn about this program in privacy and ask questions without being pushed to buy anything.

http://www.thejubileeproject.org 

Regardless, ladies and gentlemen...do your research and take your time! 

Wow oh wow, what a great discussion! I didn't get to view the opening discussion because it has been removed. I am an UFF agent and just wanted to point out a couple of things that was mentioned in this forum but not addressed:

 1. The interest rate on the mortgage and the Heloc do not matter in this program. Why? Because your mortgage is based on an ammortization schedule- hence, the bank makes lots of money while you lose lots. The MMA allows you to cancel out huge amounts of interest, therefore it doesn't matter the rate. You could re-finance for a lower rate, however it would more just to make you feel better than it would be as far as being great impact or something. 

2. You can claim the interest paid.

3. I have been observing yrent.com. The biggest difference other than what was mentioned above to me between their program and the MMA was MMA's software. MMA's software is what drives this all into possiblility. You need some sort of dashboard to monitor your HELOC and all it's activity. That's what the MMA's software does.

4. I have not met not one person that has been using the MMA and hasn't benefited from it greatly. To my understanding, you cannot obtain an MMA unless it will work for you. So I don't understand where the 23% came from as mentioned above.

Hope this helps! God Bless!

Does anyone have any info http://www.mortgageacceleratorplus.com/index_high.php

 One of their reps http://mortgage-accelerator.podomatic.com/ states the cost is 1/3 UFF

 Thanks

Al B.

Jaime,

Request noted.  We will put the site on our list and review it as time permits.  We are glad to see proponents of this product willing to put their websites on our list for review. 

We have been rather busy lately and unfortunately have not been able to keep up with the research, but we will begin reviews again later this month.

We will also review the link right above this comment as well.

Danna...We believe in the MMA program and know it to benefit some.  We are merely trying to make sure that those promoting it do not misguide or falsify information as we have seen done in a wide variety of ways.  The promotion of this product has been, in our opinion, even more misleading in many cases than the Option ARM product, you know, the 1% rate.  All loan products have their place and fit some people, but the borrower needs to see real side by side comparisons, with truthful comparisons of all other alternatives so they can clearly see what is best for them.

Thanks for the continued comments and we will begin updating our site, comments, and more posts hopefully by the end of the month.

I've researched the Mortgage Accelerato Plus it's a great product and yes it may cost 1/3 less than the UFF, but it's 1/3 the product... UFF is the best financial tool i have ever seen (even better than CMG's), but sometimes it get's a bad rap  because there is a muli-level component to it that the company placed to incent fast growth and market penetration.  Because of this there are quite a few unqualified and uneducated people representing the program!!  That being said, it's still a phenomenal product!

Cfile,

Thanks for the comment and discussion.  A thorugh review of the MMA options out there, its marketing, and other information is under review right now for a new report.  There are both good points and bad points with the MMA as with virtually everything else, so we ask readers to be patient and wait for a complete analysis before deciding one way or the other on the product or any other strategies.

Thank you all for your patience as we attempt to provide the best possible information.

It's interesting to note that in all the discussions, official websites, etc. that I've reviewed...  no actual cost for the MMA software is mentioned or revealed?  DOES ANYONE KNOW HOW MUCH IT COSTS? It seems the carrot is always dangled and the benefits are always highlighted, but COST is never mentioned... perhaps another reason to be wary.    

UFF's web based software for the Money Merge Account is $3,500 and is software only.  You still have to set up a ALOC/HELOC account which may cost extra.  Other programs have different costs, and likely will vary depending on your situation.

Be very careful if you are looking into these products as they are heavily marketed and many agents selling these products have been using false and/or misleading information to "pursuade" people into buying the product.  Find someone who sells a wide variety of products and solutions for your specific situation.

Has anyone very compare UFF's with FFII (Financial Freedom International INC. ) product?  The cost, programs that is offered, support, etc.  Just want to know the pros and cons with the company.

We have not heard of the FFII product, but if you contact us with a website, we will be glad to look into it when we can.

UFF and all the others who offer similar mortgage acceleration products and/or software received their concepts from Harj Gill.  Gill introduced the concepts in Australia in 1995.  He brought the concept to the U.S. and published a book in 2003 - How to Own Your Home Years Sooner.  He also has an online software - the Speed Equity system.  I've read on various discussion boards where UFF agents claim all other companies who offer similar programs as MMA, basically copied their idea and lawsuits are happening as a result.  That's all fine and dandy to say that if they were the true founders of such concepts; however, they just used Mr. Gill's concepts and developed a software system of their own.  There is nothing unique about the MMA software.  It is very good and well worth the $3,500 investment (if they were the only ones offering such product), but the Speed Equity System, right now, costs $59 (and in my situation, outperformed MMA).  This includes two online subscriptions and two books, so you can give one away.  After the first year, the software fee is $199/year.  I must say, the Speed Equity software is slick, very user friendly and my projected payoff was better than the MMA analysis I had ran last month (8.7 years vs. 9.2 years).  For me, the five month difference equated to an additional savings of $4,500 (5 less mortgage payments).  Although the MMA software tells you exactly when to move money from the HELOC to the primary mortgage "down to the penny", with the Speed Equity system, I got it down to the dollar.  For my situation, the Speed Equity system prompts me to make a $5,749 payment toward my primary  mortgage from the HELOC everytime the HELOC is paid to a zero balance.  When I messed with the numbers, $5,750 and $5,748 ended up costing me just a tad bit more of interest savings over the 8.7 years.   I don't know what the situation is but Harj Gill's products (book and online software) are being battled in the courts as of current.  By doing some searching on the internet, I was able to find his book and the Speed Equity system currently being sold by americanmortgageeducatorsinc.com.  They have the $59 promo going on until June 11.  I think once Mr. Gill resolves the court issue, UFF will either have to reduce their price to compete or go to a different marketing concept rather than MLM, which currently inflates the cost of their product by $2,500.  For cost comparison in my situation, the initial $59 fee (good for 1 year) followed by $199 fee per year for 8 years, total investment for Speed Equity is $1,659.  For MMA, I would have the one time $3,500 fee plus tack on the extra 5 months for payoff (compared to Speed Equity), $4,500, total MMA would be $6,341 more than Speed Equity.  Regarding performance of the two softwares (UFF claims their software is the best and no one else's software can do what their's can), from what I have gathered, Speed Equity was in development for 8 years, and MMA was in development for 2 years. 

$31,000  vs $15,842.00

im wondering what any of this has to do with the software.  in order to pay down 31K of your principle balance, you need to put that 31K into the home.  if you only put 15,842, you'll only pay it down that much.    Can someone show me how this is due to the program and not just a better budjet for finding more money?  it doesn't make sense.

how does advancing your payment to the mortgage company eliminate about 15K in interest payments so that money can go towards principle.  over a two year period....?  it doesn't make sense.  if you pay it at the beginning of the month and pay your ALOC back, how much difference can that make?  if you do it 3 or 4 months in one shot, then you have interest on the ALOC anyway.

can someone explain?  the software is just a calculator, someone ought to be able to replicate at least a piece of it, not just provide story-time number.

I am following-up on the comment posted on 6/5/07 regarding Freedom Financial International, Inc (FFII)(http://payaccel.com/index.htm); I was approached by a rep for the company and I too would like to know th pros and cons.

So ALOC's & HELOC's can work like a checking account where it is possible to always keep a positive balance?  Can someone confirm that?

This is what UFF claims:

The MMA Software Management System connects your ALOC checking account to your primary mortgage. Each time you deposit income into your account it registers as a decrease to your mortgage balance and lowers the amount of interest that accrues. By reducing the interest that accrues, the portion of your monthly payment which is credited toward your principal automatically increases.

 Where is the proof that a positive deposit to the ALOC/HELOC would register as a decrease to your mortgage balance?  And even if that were true, wouldn't it work on the reverse as well.  If you ran a negative balance, that would have to increase your mortgage balance, would it not?

The verbage they are using to describe this makes you think that the accounts are more linked than they are.  It appears that something magical is happening with the interest transaction, when it is really just the same old principle.  You are diverting more of your own earnings to pay down the principle.

Ok, so I did a little more research and answered some of my own questions and have come to the same conclusion. 

The line of credit account is not connected to the primary mortgage as far as cash flow goes, and also the account cannot have a positive balance.  In other words, there will always be a balance to pay on the line of credit.  UFF will totally agree with this.

The real question is, what is the definition of "standard of living"?  The claim is that this does not have to change.  In other words, you will not be allocating any more of your income toward your morgage than you currently are.  However, if you spend even one penny more out of your current income to lower the principle on your home loan, that claim is false.  And that is exactly what you will be doing.  In fact, the $3,500 up front fee is a $3,500 increase of your current standard of living, is it not?  Why in the world would someone that could not afford to put a greater down payment on their house to begin with, or get a shorter term which would save them time and money think that all of a sudden they can afford to shell out $3,500 of wasted money as well as the huge lump sums that will be requested out of their paycheck to pay down the mortgage?  The interest savings, if any, in the ALOC is going to be such a minute piece of the equation.

Here are a few more facts about some of the posts above regarding the performance of the MMA:

It is impossible to know whether or not those who talk up the MMA even have a mortgage.

If they do, it is impossible to know if they are even using the system.

If they are using the system, it is impossible to verify if their numbers are accurate.

If their numbers are accurate, it is impossible to know what percentage of their mortgage was paid down with their own extra income they threw at it versus that which came from the interest they saved in the ALOC using the MMA.

You can't know for sure just by reading what someone says.

United First Financial Featured in the Broker Banker Magazine...

Check out http://www.brokerbanker.com and click on the most recent issue.

 Here you will see testimonials from Mortgage Professionals.

 I am a UFirst Agent as well as a Client on the MMA Software and LOVE IT!