The Chase Business Platinum Visa offers the most appealing set of credit card features for landlords, rental companies and home contractors interested in saving money on their many of their everyday business purchases.  

With 3% cashback on the most common purchases these companies make, this card reduces expenses by an additional 2% over more common 1% cards, leaving more money in your pocket on every job.  Further, with online account management capabilities, you can keep track of all your business spending in one place.  See below for sign up details and more features of this card.

Sign Up for the Chase Business Rewards Card

Apply for the 3% cash back Chase Business Rewards Card

3% Cash Back Bonus Explained

The Chase Business Platinum Visa offers 3% cash back* on business purchases made at the store types listed below, and 1% back on all other purchases. 

• Home Improvement Stores
• Hardware Stores
• Office Supply Stores
• Restaurants
• Gas Stations

*Some terms and conditions apply.  See the secure sign-up page.

Other Features

• 0% on Balance Transfers Feature
• 0% on Purchases Feature
• Free additional cards for employees/partners
• Free account management reports
• Free online management tools

What if I’m not a Corporation, LLC, or Partnership?

It is both customary and acceptable to operate a business as a sole proprietership using only your social security number as your tax ID.  The Chase Business Rewards sign-up page allows you to substitute your social security number for this employer/tax ID.

Most independent landlords and other rental property owners operate as sole proprietorships.

What if I’m not a Landlord or Contractor?

This card may still be right for you. For instance, you may purchase $500 a month at major office supply stores. This card will pay you 3% for those purchases, even though you don’t take advantage of the Home Improvement and Hardware Store benefits.

Allstate Insurance Company: “Dear Customer, We’re writing you to let you know about a change we’re making to the Allstate Insurance company property policy referred to above [our home].  At that policy’s upcoming renewal, it will add a mandatory Tropical Cyclone Deductible to your policy in an amount equal to 3% of your Dwelling Protection coverage limit.“  Italics are theirs, not mine.

Fred & Kim: “Let’s see, 3% times…. carry the…  multiply by the fraction of … that’s um… that’s a $9,900 deductible!  That can’t be what they mean… let’s call the agent.”

…So we called our agent and got his assistant (We’re in good hands, you know).  I asked the two questions I could think of: ”What exactly qualifies as a Tropical Cyclone?“  and, “You’ve got to be kidding right? Isn’t the point of insurance not to outlay that much money in a disaster?”

The agent’s assistant said that Allstate defines a Tropical Cyclone as any storm named by the National Weather Service (Andrew, Isabel, Katrina, etc.)  She also said that it would be unlikely for us to be hit with that type of storm in the Maryland area.  (eh hem… if that’s the case, it begs the question why the deductible needs to be so high in the first place). 

Anyhow, I can only assume she isn’t from here.  Back in 2003, Hurricane Isabel came straight up the coast, boasting 80mph gusts when she got here.  Since Maryland isn’t in hurricane alley, those winds knocked down countless shallow-rooted trees.  In fact, our previous house had a tree fall on the roof during the storm.  My insurance company at the time (Harleysville Mutual) paid more than $4000.00, and this without sending out an adjuster!  And, since I removed the tree with the help of friends, they waived my deductible ($500.00)!  Had I been with Allstate under this new policy, they would have paid a big fat zero… zilch… nada.

As for the answer to my second question… well… they weren’t kidding.  To his credit, our agent promptly called me back and acknowledged that it was a lot of money.  He said he’d call corporate and see if they could do anything about it.  I noted that we have two properties insured with Allstate, and that there was no way we could stay with the company with the potential of a $17,000 bill if both were damaged in the same storm.  Ultimately, corporate wouldn’t budge.  Our agent referred me to a friend of his who is an insurance broker for a broad range of companies.  That I liked.  At least he’s being a good salesman (if you can’t get the commission, at least get the referall fee).

So we’re leaving Allstate (at least for homeowners).  But I think there’s a bigger issue here:

Is Allstate Being Deceptive?

I can understand that Allstate needs to recover their losses and price their coverage to make a profit.  But there’s a bigger issue here in the manner in which they’ve disclosed this increase:  Allstate could have easily quoted the actual dollar figure for the deductible instead of citing it only as a % of the Dwelling Coverage limit.  My guess is that many people will see 3% and will not realize the magnitude of the outlay they are committing to.  Further, I think Allstate knows this, and that’s why they chose this way of presenting the increase.  What’s worse is that people will be hit with this cost at a moment of weakness - likely when their house has been destroyed during a storm.

What do you think?  Do you have Allstate?  Does Allstate have a responsibility to more fully disclose this information, or am I overreacting?

Photo: There’s a House Under There… Somewhere by billums.

Visa and Lowes have partnered up to offer an online coupon for $10.00 off a $25.00 purchase at Lowes stores nationwide.  The purchase must be made in store (not lowes.com) on qualifying items (merchandise, services, and rentals) between 4/5/2008 and 7/31/2008.  You can read all the terms and conditions and print the coupon at this link:

http://www.lifetakesvisa.com/?id=lawn_editorial2 

House & Home Improvement Bloggers: Feel free to pass this along to your own readers…

>>Thanks to Jim over at Blueprint for Financial Prosperity for forwarding this along. 

photo courtesy of: mcclave

Discover Card’s Rewards program just rolled over into the new quarter today (April 1, 2008).  This quarter (April 1 - June 30, 2008), Home Improvement centers are on the list for 5% cash back!  

I just enrolled our account and thought I’d spread the word!

How Do I Sign Up?

If you’re not a Discover Card member and you want to be a part of this program, you can signup for a Discover Platinum Card here. Once you’re approved, you can enroll in the program immediately. 

If you’re already a Discover Card member and have online access, simply login to your online Discover Card account, select Cashback Bonus and then select Get More.  Follow the resulting prompts.  It’s pretty simple.  If you don’t use Discover’s online access program (which is great, by the way), you can call 1-800-DISCOVER and sign up over the phone, just have your account # ready.

What Purchases Qualify for the 5% Rebate?

Up to $400 in purchases made at the following types of stores qualify: 

• Department Stores
• Clothing Stores
• Home Improvement Centers
• Lawn & Garden Centers

Cash Back on Other Purchases?

Each quarter, Discover Card offers a new 5% cash back promotion.  July-September includes gas and hotels, October-December features restaurants and movies.

Of course, Discover Card (marketed as “the card that pays you back”) offers up to 1% cash back on all purchases throughout the year.

Any Limitations?

Like all credit cards, there are certain limitations (purchase/reward limits, qualification for the card,  Discover can change the program at any time, etc.)  Just read the terms and conditions at Discover’s site or on the sign-up form.

At least 3 times a week I hear a commercial on the TV, radio or internet selling a home equity loan or home equity line of credit (HELOC). “You deserve it!” the ad tells me, encouraging me to take that vacation the family has always dreamed of, or buy that car we’ve always wanted, or put on that addition we’ve been putting off for so long. Of course, this is no surprise. Even with the subprime (and now prime) lending markets in the tank, lenders still need to make a buck. After all, someone has to cover all that bad debt.

Well, I rarely dream of vacations, and I’m quite happy with my gas efficient Toyota Corolla. But even I’ll admit that taking a loan for a home improvement project does entice me. Sure, we’d be paying down the loan for years… but imagine how much we’d love that kitchen, or hot tub, or master bathroom upgrade! Well, despite my temptations, we’ve never taken the leap on getting a loan for an improvement project. We haven’t completely ruled out the idea, but I would say odds are slim. I decided to put together a list of the considerations that run through my head and see if anyone in the community wants to weigh in with their own ideas. So, here goes:

Is the Project About Keeping Up with the Jones’

Several years ago I heard a familiar question and an interesting answer on the radio. The question was: “How much money is enough money?” And the answer the host (or guest, I can’t remember) gave was “More than your friends have.” You can replace “money” with “house” and this question and answer become apropos to the conversation.

What a revealing statement about how we humans behave! Most of us are willing to accept that Hollywood types get to be rich and famous and we don’t. But it is much harder for us to accept that our close friends have 3 times as much house as we do. For Kim and I, this is perhaps the most important question to ponder… it gets to the root of the issue. Would we take this home equity loan to improve our house just to keep up with someone else? If the answer is yes, we shouldn’t pursue it further.

Affordability

Can we really afford the payments? Most of us know that banks will loan far more money than anyone should ever borrow. The bank doesn’t care if you’re house poor. If the payments on a loan will cut into something more important in life (like saving for college, planning for retirement, or supporting charities), the loan is off limits.

Quality of Life

Assuming we can afford the payments, we must question whether we want to afford them. Will this home improvement project really bring us joy? Will we get a lot of use out of it? Will it benefit our friends, family and community to have it? For some people, installing a pool is a great move for their community – they’ll share it with everyone. For others, a pool might represent just another cleaning obligation. We must weigh each dollar spent on improvement with what it really gains us.

Added Value to the Property / House?

This is a tough one. Some people are willing to put a lot of money into an improvement even if that improvement doesn’t net back value in the house. Many home additions simply don’t add as much value as they’ll cost to put on. Now, that doesn’t necessarily mean it shouldn’t be pursued – particularly if you’re planning on living in the house forever. But for me, I want to know that we can get the money back out if we have to leave. If we’re not getting the money back, we really need to address how much we’ll like it even more.

Better Alternatives for the Money

This is very similar to my quality of life consideration above, except that it is focused on examining the alternatives. A new kitchen might cost $30,000. What else could be purchased with $30,000? In Guatemala, $30,000 will pay for 80 children to eat for an entire year. It will also pay for a very nice mid-level luxury sedan in the US, or 10 nice family vacations in the US.Peace of Mind

There’s a Biblical Proverb that comes to mind here: “…the borrower is the servant to the lender” (22:7b). I believe this concept is true. Our family eventually wants to be debt free. (Our current debts include mortgages on this house and a rental property). Taking out another loan means a longer horizon before we get there, and I don’t like being a servant to Wells Fargo.

What do you think? Is there something missing from my list? Do you have any thoughts on loans for home improvement projects?

Photo by SqueakyMarmot.