Best open source E-commerce applications

OsCommerce

http://www.oscommerce.com

OsCommerce has a number of store owners on its books, notable customers include TruffleShuffle and LinuxUk.

So what features do you get with OsCommerce? There are multiple payment Gateway’s to choose from including (but not limited to) – 2Checkout.com, Authorize.Net, ChronoPay, iPayment, PayNova, Paypal, PSIGate, SecPay and TrustCommerce.

As expected from a platform such as this its jam-packed with features

Notable Features

• Supports unlimited products and categories
• Multicurrency support
• Support for physical (shippable) and virtual (downloadable) products
• Object oriented PHP backend
• Web Browser Install and Plugin support

Problems – front end of OsCommerce is not developed using CSS, therefore skinning and reskinning is a bit of a nightmare, that said installation is a breeze – and if you are more comfortable with tables then OsCommerce is probably for you.

You can however always add on one of the popular template systems plugins and save some time -but its not supported out of the box. The code base is also overly complex which makes extending more difficult.

OsCommerce is widely popular and thus has a larger support base, and forum if you need help.

ZenCart

http://www.zencart.com

Zencart’s website doesn’t do justice to the professionalism of the end product, and although it doesn’t not offer as many payment processing options as OsCommerce and other e-commerce platforms it is a more mature product, with OsCommerce often taking quite a long time to release fixes for important issues such as security. ZenCart is a fork of OsCommerce so you can expect very similar sorts of features, its also easier for the newbie developer to get into than Osc. Payment gateways include LinkPoint, Authorize.Net and Paypal.

Notable Features

• User frontend is validated to XHTML 1.0 Transitional
• Any PHP coding changes can be protected during upgrades by using the built-in override protection system
• Integrate with phpBB
• Meta Tags keywords and descriptions can be controlled at the per-product level

VirtueMart

http://www.virtuemart.net

VirtueMart is an Open Source E-Commerce solution designed to be used with Joomla! (but also works with Mambo). Joomla and VirtueMart are written in PHP and made for easy use in a PHP / MySQL environment.

Notable Features

• Stock Level Control for Products and Item
• Ajax-powered Product Overview allows to quickly add Products to the cart
• Product Attributes (like Size or Color) can be added to Product
• Manage different Currencies, Countries & States
• Product Availability: show how fast a Customer can expect delivery

Payment Gateways supported include Authorize.net, PayPal, 2Checkout, eWay, Worldpay, PayMate and NoChex. If you have an existing Joomla based site, integration is particularly easy <5 minutes (if you have a working installation of Joomla, <10 minutes otherwise. Virtuemart uses Joomla’s admin interface for store administration, and because it is implemented inside an already rich CMS, administration will come very easily to Joomla users. Given that Joomla is (probably) one of the best CMS systems out there, it may easily give OsCommerce and others a run for their money.

Magento

http://www.magentocommerce.com

Varien, a Los Angeles web development firm is the brainchild behind Magento, and my what a fantastic job they have done on this product. It’s by far one of the more exciting e-commerce platforms available for free on the market today. Dripping with features, they really have thought of everything. Wishlists, shop by price and category, item comparison – all the things we’ve come to expect from professional web stores. Its software as good as this that really keeps licensed software on their toes..

Just some of the features, for a full list download the pdf

Notable Features

• Integrated with Google Analytics
• Multiple Images with Zoom
• Add to Wishlist
• Send to a Friend
• Batch Import and Export of Catalog
• One Page Checkout
• Multi Lingual

DashCommerce

http://www.dashcommerce.org

If you are a advocate of all things Microsoft this wont be the first time you’ve come a cropper with finding open source software. One of the only Open source .NET e-commerce platforms on the market we could lay claim to was Dashcommerce (formerly the Microsoft Commerce Starter Kit) at its present status can only provide us with Paypal support for payment integration, and its lead developer has recently announced that the Roadmap for the product appears to be going in a more commerce route. If you need one of the other payment vendors listed above, you are going to have to rip the source code apart and tackle it yourself. Some sites which have been built using Dash include Grossi Wines and GoWheelChair.

Notable Features

• Single Page Checkout
• Partial Refunds
• Configurable Shipping Rates
• Drop-In Themes / Skinning

CubeCart

http://www.cubecart.com

Cubecart have released two different versions of their product. Cubecart 3 is their free version, Cubecart 4 is their inexpensive commercial version. The pricing structure for Cubecart can been seen below.

Cost
Copyright Removal Key (Optional)	$89.95	$89.95
Installation Service (Optional)	$59.95	$59.95
Upgrade Eligibility	All Releases of v3	All Releases of v4

One of Cubecart’s main strength’s lies with its variety of different payment merchant vendor, including but not limited to the following for the free version:

2Checkout, AsianPay, Authorize AIM / SIM , BluePay, ccAvenue, ccNow, ChronoPay, PayPal Pro Direct Payment (US), PayPal Express Checkout, HSBC (API), Linkpoint Connect, Mals-E, Moneybookers, Nochex (Basic & APC), PayJunction, PayMate, PayOffline, PayPal Standard & IPN, Print Order Form, Protx (VPS Form), psiGate, SECPay, Verisign, WorldPay Junior

Notable Features

• Professionally Security Audited
• 100% Template Driven
• Customer Order History
• Multi Currency Support
• Tell a Friend

X-Cart

http://www.x-cart.com

Whilst not free, X-Cart costs $229.00 for the Gold version (see features here) and $575.00 for the professional version (see features here). X-Cart is well thought of piece of software amongst the developer community. X-Cart is an easy-to-use cart, although many customers say that its learning curve is too difficult for beginners. A knowledge of the templating engine that it uses (Smarty) would be a major advantage if you do decide to use it, and would make the learning curve that bit easier. X-Cart has a relative ease of self-maintenance, and your clients will find it easier to use than LiteCommerce.

Notable Features

• Unlimited product options
• Variety of payment gateways
• Import/export all types of X-Cart
• Real-time USPS, FedEx and UPS shipping calculation
• Support for E-goods
• Membership levels and membership-based pricing
• Add-To-Cart buttons for existing websites

LiteCommerce

http://www.litecommerce.com

LiteCommerce is developed by the same people as X-Cart, and is a cut down version of the product. It really lends itself towards smaller stores, and if you are needing a quick version, with easier code maintainance that works then LiteCommerce is for you. It also has a few features such as the bulk shopping add on option which X-Cart doesn’t have. LiteCommerce has 97% of its source code open – whilst X-Cart has 100%, but for some developers this stipulation wont factor much. LiteCommerce also uses the FLEXY template engine, whereas X-Cart uses Smarty.

Notable Features

• 27 Payment Gateways
  
• Gentler learning curve than X-Cart
• FLEXY template Engine
• No programming required to Setup -Windows Program
• Control Panel for Windows

But if you clients budget doesn’t stretch that far, and you would be happy to integrate a shop with a hosted solution you wont go far wrong with Shopify, see below:

Shopify

http://www.shopify.com

Shopify – built on Ruby on Rails technology is a full-stack hosted e-commerce package, which basically means everything you need is right there at your fingertips. You shop will be Standards-compliant, fully customizable and requires very little technical skill to get going. Best of all setting up a store is free Creating a store is free. Shopify takes a 3.75% commission on all sales, which can take the fear of setting a shop up away for some clients who want to test the water.

Notable Features

• Faster and Easier to setup than any other solution
• SEO Build in! Shopify has been designed by SEO experts and every default theme is carefully crafted with SEO in mind
• Discount codes with fine-grained options
• XML Sitemap automatically generated for search engine indexing
• A full featured Asset system which lets you use and re-use your stock photography, logos or product pdf’s wherever you need them.
• New order notifications via email, RSS, and on your mobile phone with SMS messaging

nopCommerce – Open Source E-Commerce

nopCommerce is an open source e-commerce solution that contains both a catalog frontend and an administration tool backend. nopCommerce is a fully customizable shopping cart. It’s stable and highly usable. From downloads to documentation, nopCommerce.com offers a comprehensive base of information, resources, and support to the nopCommerce community.

Features of nopCommerce:

General Catalog Features

• Supports categories and manufacturers
• Categories can also be fully nested to any level desired (sub-categories)
• Products can be mapped to more than one category or manufacturer
• Anonymous checkout
• Support for kit products (e.g. Build your own computer)
• Multilingual support
• Multicurrency support
• Measure weights, measure dimensions
• Real-time currency exchange rates (ECB)
• SSL support
• Export to XML
• Fully 100% customizable design using templates
• Configurable list of allowed countries
• For registration
• For billing
• For shipping

Product Features

• Product attributes (e.g. color, size)
• Supports multiple images per product
• Auto image resizing
• Downloadable products supported
• Text options on products (e.g. require initials for monogrammed products, require text name for product customization, etc)
• Support for simple products (e.g. a book) or products with variants
• Support for sale prices
• Product search
• Featured products, sale products or new products
• Inventory tracking
• Disable buy buttons for specific products
• Product specifications (e.g. processor, memory, graphic card)
• Compare product feature (if enabled)
• Breadcrumbs

Marketing & Promotions

• Ability to assign design on category, manufacturer or product (unique design per category/manufacturer/product)
• Supports related products
• Marketing manager (campaigns)
• Customer groups can be marked as free shipping
• Customer groups can be marked as tax exempt
• Supports discounts
• Supports coupons
• Discount amount can either be a fixed value or a percent off. e.g.
• $10.00 off or 20% off
• You can specify a start date and an end date when the coupon is valid
• Discounts can be assigned to products
• Discounts can be assigned to categories
• Discounts can be assigned to whole order.
• Discounts can be filtered by a customer role
• Volume discounts (Tier prices)
• Recently added products page. RSS.
• Recently viewed products page
• Free Shipping Option
• Customers can review & rate products (if enabled)
• Require administrator approval of product reviews for all reviews
• Product review helpfulness (“Was this review helpful for you?”)
• Search Engine Friendly URL’s
• Automated URL Re-Writing
• Every product, category and manufacturer page can have their own custom search engine meta tags, page title
• Customize default SEO meta tags
• Store news items supported. News RSS. News comments
• Polls supported
• Store blog supported
• Forum supported
• Supports affiliate programs
• Froogle (google base) product feed
• Google XML site map
• Customizable email templates
• Completely customize the layout & appearance of any category,
• manufacturer, or product page
• CMS Topics
• Breadcrumb trail for easy site navigation
• “Store is closed” feature

Shipping Features

• Integrated for real-time shipping rates from: UPS, USPS
  Calculate shipping by order total
• Calculate shipping by order weight
• Calculate shipping by country & total order weight
• Free shipping over $X
• Supports warehouses
• Specify all orders as free shipping
• Admin defined shipping methods (e.g. Ground, Next Day, 2nd Day, etc)
• Specify all orders as free shipping
• Support for download products
• Support for “no shipping required” products (e.g. services)
• Admin defined shipping methods
• Customer groups can be marked as free shipping
• Tax Features
• Apply tax by country
• Apply tax by state
• Apply tax by zip
• Strike Iron tax provider
• Individual products can be marked taxable or tax-exempt
• Tax classes supported by product (e.g. goods, services, alcohol, etc)
• Customer groups can be marked as tax exempt
• VAT support
• Allow store owner to specify which tax based on:
• billing/shipping/default/shipping origin address
• Allow store owner to specify whether prices include tax
• Allow customer to choose tax display type (incl/excl tax)
• Allow store owner to specify tax display type (incl/excl tax)
• Allow store owner to specify whether shipping is taxable
• Allow store owner to specify whether shipping prices include tax
• Allow store owner to specify whether to hide zero tax
• Allow store owner to specify whether to hide tax in order summary when prices are shown tax inclusive

Payment Methods, Gateways

• Cash On Delivery payment method
• Accept Purchase Order.
• Accept Checks / Money Order.
• Accept all major credit and debit cards
• Store can be set to authorize only, or auth-capture credit card mode.
• You can then capture payment at shipment if desired
• Real-time or offline credit card processing
• Manual gateway (just collects order & payment information for offline processing)
• 2Checkout
• Authorize.NET
• CDGcommerce
• eWay (Australia)
• Google Checkout
• Moneybookers
• PayPal Standard
• PayPal Website Payments Pro (Direct and Express)
• Paypal PayFlow Pro
• PSI Gate
• Worldpay

Customer Service Features

• Allow customers to register/login by email or by username
  Wish list
• Customers can view their order history and order statuses
• Customer has an address book
• Customizable Order Emails
• Multiple billing and shipping addresses per customer
• Customer roles (groups)
• Time zone support
• Built-in forum
• Password recovery
• Several account registration/activation types
• Automatic registration (no approving)
• Email validation during registration
• “Email a friend” feature
• Compare product feature (if enabled)
• News RSS
• Recently added products RSS.
• Image capture on login/registration.
• Contact Us form
• Installation wizard

CAMERON DIAZ

CAMERON DIAZ

 

CAMERON DIAZ is the most luminescent newcomer to silver screen in the 1990′s.  At age 21 and only with her modeling experience under the hood, Diaz landed a potentially sky-rocketing role opposite rising superstar comedian Jim Carrey in The Mask.  With her foot well in the door of Hollywood films, she was next afforded the chance to kick Hollywood ass in the feature film version of Mortal Kombat.  For this role, Diaz would require martial arts training.  But luck would send Diaz down a different road after she injured her wrist karate-chopping her trainer’s head.  Diaz instead returned to some high-paying modeling jobs and found smaller, low-paying roles in independent films.  Cameron states, “I think that definitely your chances of coming across material in independent films–material that is more interesting and more challenging–is more likely than in big-studio films.  You always have to leave your doors open to independent films so you have that opportunity.”

Download queen Cindy Margolis

Cindy Margolis is an Internet Star, Host, Spokesperson, Supermodel, Actress, Producer, Author, and a Mother

Cindy Margolis, is nothing less than an American success story. The most popular celebrity on the Internet, Cindy, is a desired Supermodel, an accomplished host, producer and actress. She brings huge publicity to her projects and is a perennial favorite of talk, entertainment and radio shows. Cindy is a self -made icon of the Twenty-First Century.

Online her feats are amazing! While best known for her #1 Rated Celebrity Website, “The Most Downloaded Woman”, has been labeled a phenomenon by everyone from Yahoo!, America On Line’s Woman of the Year, Guinness Book of World Records to Forbes, Time and People Magazine’s “50 Most Beautiful People.”

Born and raised in the San Fernando Valley by her single mother, Cindy had big Hollywood dreams. A self starter, Cindy began modeling on the cover of her own greeting card line. What began as a class project for a college business course, Cindy took her idea for a greeting card company and through her own dedication, tenacity and ingenuity it was not long before the company was a success and her entertainment career was launched.

Cindy’s debut was as a Barker Beauty on The Price Is Right. Her first film role was as a Fembot in “Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery.” She went on to land guest starring roles on a variety of television series such as Baywatch, Boston Public, Ally McBeal, and Melrose Place to name a few. Cindy has appeared in many commercials and graced the covers of numerous leading magazines. However, it was when Cindy was named “America’s #1 Pin-Up” by being the largest selling poster model ever that she saw the future and the opportunity of a lifetime by being the first celebrity to have their own website.
Always a pioneer and trend setter, Cindy first took the Internet world by storm with her innovative fan friendly website that offered everything from girlfriend and motherly advice to E-commerce and live streaming video. Cindy subsequently wound up at the hosting forefront microphone in hand – of some of the hottest live Internet events. Cindy reinvented the term ‘following’ through her worldwide fan base where she brought in record numbers of cyber viewers. With women comprising the largest percentage of visitors to Cindy’s website, her “Girl Talk”section is one of the most popular communities on the Internet.
Cindy has broad appeal as well and reaches far beyond the Internet with her television shows;
“In Your Dreams with Cindy Margolis” which she hosted and produced along with her CBS series “The Cindy Margolis Show.” Cindy also produced a truly touching television Special called ‘Cindy Margolis Inside Out.’ An  in-depth look into Cindy’s career and personal life. Camera crews followed Cindy around for three months capturing her struggle with infertility and dream of having a second child.
Cindy now adds author to her growing resume with a very special book due out at the end of this year entitled “Having a Baby – When the Old Fashioned way isn’t working”. (Perigee Books, G.P. Putnam Sons).  Near and dear to her heart, Cindy is the Official Celebrity Spokesperson for RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association. Cindy serves as a voice for women and men struggling with infertility to help raise awareness about the issues and to support people experiencing infertility. Cindy and RESOLVE greatly contribute to the important work being done towards family building issues, from lobbying for greater insurance coverage, research and public education to helping more women and men cope with their challenge and make informed choices about their treatment and other options. Cindy travels the country to tell the story of her struggle of tragedy and triumph with having her precious baby boy and her journey with surrogacy to have her beautiful twin girls. Giving hope to everyone who wants to have a baby…when the old fashioned way isn’t working.
Cindy Margolis is the perfect celebrity spokesperson for the ‘Face of Infertility’ as she has the attention of such a wide variety of audiences and markets all over the world. She is loved and respected for her charity work, leadership, beauty, Internet feats and passion for infertility awareness, education and support.

In Year,  2006 

LOS ANGELES – She’s been heralded for years as the most downloaded person on the Internet, which means … aw, heck, you know what it means. People love looking at Cindy Margolis.

What it hasn’t meant, all these years, though, as all those millions of lookers know, is seeing even one picture of this 21st-century pinup queen without at least a little something covering her.

Total solar eclipse of July 22 2009

The total solar eclipse of July 22 2009 will be visible across south-east Asia and the western Pacific. This will be a spectacular total eclipse, lasting over 6½ minutes at maximum and visible to millions of people over a path up to 258 km wide.

The total eclipse begins just off the coast of India at 00:51:17 UT on July 22, and ends in Polynesia at 04:19:26 UT on July 22. The maximum eclipse is at 02:35:21 UT on July 22, when the total phase will last a stunning 6 minutes and 39 seconds. The partial eclipse will be visible over south-east Asia, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Pacific between 23:58:19 UT on July 21 and 05:12:25 UT on July 22.

Home Loan Modification Tips for Mortgage Paying Homeowners

For most mortgage paying homeowners, a loan modification is an important part that they  have not heard of, let alone considered. They came to know only when they are on verge of losing their home to a foreclosure and they have no choice other than to explore the options available to them to save their property. Loan modification may sound like an overwhelming option for some people and some homeowners don’t even know where to start with this process. But the truth is that while it isn’t exactly an easy process, it really isn’t as complicated as many assume. The most important thing is to seek out professional advice from a respected company. And just remember throughout the entire process that it will be worth it if you are able to lower your monthly outgoings and ultimately save your home from foreclosure.

The most straightforward means of modifying a loan is to extend the period of time over which you repay it. By means of a simplistic example, that would mean loan modification in such a way that you only pay 50% of your current payment, but over twice as long as you had initially agreed. Of course, that is a very simplistic example cited, but that is the general idea. It really is worth paying for advice of a professional as the returns on having someone experienced act on your behalf could be massive. As well as relieving you of the burden of the process, through loan modification you could potentially lower your outgoings on your mortgage substantially to offset the fee of your professional. This professional is then your representative and guide throughout the process. He or she will be able to take a close look at your own personal specific circumstances and present the viable options for you in a clear and coherent way. Once they have worked with you to closely in this way, they will prepare the proposal and ask for your approval before submitting it to your lender.

Whichever means of loan modification you undertake and however you work the negotiations with your lender, the outcome should be the same:- lower monthly payments and thus more manageable finances overall. Worrying about meeting high monthly payments is a really stressful added burden to many people’s lives. Thanks to loan modification, it is possible to entirely remove this problem.

To learn more about getting assistance from Best Mortgage Rate Company  for your mortgage, visit http://www.cornerstonefinanacia.ie where you’ll find this and much more, including how to apply for a home loan modification with success. They also provide Best Insurance Quote and Illness Cover.

Review of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is equally good and not a misstep in the Harry Potter series of movies as much as it is the slow build to an extremely entertaining conclusion to one of the better fantasy stories to be told. The truth is Harry Potter films are become such comfortable and genuine that it could not disappoint the public unless the filmmakers actively tried.

The story begins just moments after the battle between Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) and Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) at the end of Order of the Phoenix. With confirmation the Dark Lord has returned, Voldemort’s faithful subjects (known as Death Eaters) aren’t afraid to let themselves be known by raising havoc across the land. At the same time Harry has been recognized as the Chosen One, a.k.a. the one that must face Voldemort in an epic battle of magic, and as a result his fame has grown, but he has duties he must attend to. Duties designated by Dumbledore as well as by his maturity.

While Dumbledore and Harry bounce around time and space through the use of stored memories detailing clues from the past, and manipulation to get the information they need to learn of Voldemort’s secret for eternal life, Half-Blood Prince is a story of maturation. Harry’s quiet fascination with Ginny Weasley (Bonnie Wright) is instantly noticeable all while the untold desires Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermione (Emma Watson) share for one another continue to blossom. There’s a whole lot of “snogging” as love-potions enchant the mind and jealousy bubbles to the surface causing tears and bedside comforting. I would go so far as to say Yates could have actually cut back on the relationship story-telling a tad as it does get a bit repetitive, but if he had he wouldn’t have been left with much as “Half-Blood Prince” is one of the more sparse novels in Rowling’s Potter stories. This story serves as more of a developmental and maturation place-holder for her characters rather than a fantasy epic of spells and curses, but that isn’t to say those don’t have a place here.

The newest and most noticeable addition in this installment is Jim Broadbent as Professor Slughorn. Broadbent is a welcome newcomer just as is every new participant in this franchise with casting that has never skipped a beat. A perfect example would be Evanna Lynch as the colorful Luna Lovegood, a character and performance even better than it was in Order of the Phoenix, making me wish she were the more prominent female in the franchise rather than Hermione. Speaking of characters I would like to see more of, Alan Rickman as Severus Snape (in my opinion the greatest character in the Potter universe) has more to do this time around and, as always, Rickman delivers his lines with his typical gruesome pauses, making them all the more memorable.

Even though I wasn’t bowled over, Half-Blood Prince never felt like it was two-and-a-half hours long and I would have gladly sat through another five hours if parts one and two of Deathly Hallows were ready right now… As far as that goes, November 2010 can’t get here soon enough.

Kambakth Ishq Review

Absolutely nonsense, weird yet very entertaining experience, Kambakht Ishq belongs to the same family of movies like Mujhse Shaadi Karogi, Welcome or Golmal Returns which have enticed the stacks of public. The prime motive is to entertain you… Huh… what is the need of damn logic for that?

Kambakht Ishq pictures a portrait of the gender-battle, which is a rare depicted on Hindi screen.  Let me come to the point quickly, its all about the energy and star power of the two, Akshay Kumar and Kareena Kapoor who shows a point of view on a modern take on relationships.

Viraj (Akshay Kumar) is Hollywood stuntman who thinks that women are just for love-making and marriage is a cage for which a man should not opt for. Simrata (Kareena Kapoor), a Man hunt certified professional thinks men just want one thing from women, sex! Guess what, both are pitted against each other when Viraj’s friend Lucky (Aftab Shivdasani) and Smrita’s friend Kamini (Amrita Aarora) get married. Both reacts loudly of their marriage and try to break the match.

Now, the battle begins between Viraj and Simrita… leaving director Sabir Khan and his team of writers clearly clueless about where the story is going. Neither do hollywoodies like Sylvester Stallone, Denise Richards and Brandon Routh… Doesn’t matter much, it still gives a lots of nonsense laugher no matter the scene is of Airport, exotic Italian towns or operation theatre in hospitals.

Overall, the first half is tremendous, while the post-popcorn part of the film dips.

Music is average; dialogues will make you feel shy with the uncle sitting on the next seat. For most of the part, Kareena call Akshay “Dog” and Akshay call Kareena “Bitch”

Akshay’s performance is entertaining while Kareena playing a surgeon cum model (huh!?) overreacts sometimes, nonetheless, as far as looks and hotness is concern, she beats Amrita and even Denise. Amrita and Aftab are more or less okay. On the land of opportunities, America, Javed Jaffery who wants to mint money out of lawsuits seems to be wasted as his role is short and not related with the story (Now, please don’t say there is no story in the movie ) in any way. He could have done more if he was given a chance to play comedy like in Salaam Namaste. Boman’s role is tiny and he does well as a doctor who has problem in listening.

Story: 1.5/5
Dialogues: 2/5
Music: 2.5/5
Acting: 3/5
Direction: 2/5
Laugher: 4/5
Overall: 2.5/5 (Watch if you like no-brainer sexy comedy)

In one sentence: “The movie is an enjoyment-opportunity if you love to watch sexy bodies of hot chicks (Kareena, Amrita, Denise Richards) , cool smooches and Laugher sequences (Akshay, Boman, Javed) and don’t want to apply zero to no brain”

Best Mortgage Rate, Interest only mortgage

What are the disadvantages of an interest only mortgage?

While considering an interest only mortgage, you need to understand that this type of mortgage is meant for only those with the highest credit scores. It is a very risky type of mortgage, and because of this, lenders are very choosy about who they lend to.

Interest only mortgages are usually in place for short terms, and when the term ends your lender may convert your loan to a standard adjustable rate mortgage, and they will add the loan principle back into your payment. This results in significantly higher than average mortgage payments.

When your lender switches your loan from an interest only mortgage to a standard capital and interest loan, monthly payments will increase. If you have plans to start with low monthly payments and to eventually increase the payments in future, you need to understand that the amount of interest you will end up paying will increase.

How can I get best interest only mortgage deal or best mortgage rate?

Some of the best interest only mortgage deals you can rely on are Endowment, ISA, and Pension.

In Endowment Mortgages, you pay interest on the amount owed to your mortgage lender, while at the same time investing a sum of money with an insurance company in an endowment policy. The interest on your endowment policy grows throughout the term of your mortgage into a sum to pay off your outstanding capital debt at the end of the mortgage period. After paying off your capital, you may be left with an extra lump sum of money to be used as you see fit. However, at the end of the term, there is a possibility that your investment will fall short of the amount needed to pay off your capital debt.

An ISA (Individual Savings Account) is a good option when you want tax benefits as interest on this type of savings account is tax-free. Depending on market conditions, if the plan performs well you could be left with a considerable surplus amount after the mortgage has been repaid. Also, you will have the option to repay your loan early, once enough money has amassed in the account to pay off the capital debt.

A pension plan for an interest only mortgage has potential for greater returns, and it  also has built in tax benefits for you. Since it is designed to provide you with income for after you retire, only a part of your total investment is eligible to be tax free.

Which is the best lender for interest only mortgage?

Interest only mortgages are provided by many well known lenders. The best lender for you still depends on your individual financial circumstances.

Some of the best lenders may be found here:

Cornerstone Financial: If you need best insurance quote Cornerstone Financial has the best website that can provide you quotes on Best Mortgage Rates, Best insurance quote, Quote on Income Protection, Critical Illness and much more in Ireland. They provide free quotes on various other services.

Bristol & West: Bristol & West specialize in mortgages, investments and savings. Their site has a mortgage calculator to calculate your payment details. Some of their products are available to purchase online. To find out about their savings products you will need to contact them.

Your Mortgage: This website tells you everything you need to know about mortgages in simple, clear English. Their content is from the publishers of Your Mortgage magazine, which has been helping UK homebuyers for 16 years. If you can’t find the answers to your questions, they have a “mortgage wizard” to help you find exactly what you want to know.

About Your Money: This site is a guide to UK personal finance and investing. It provides information, advice, comparison tools, applications, and directories on a wide range of financial subjects to enable you to make informed decisions. Areas covered include credit cards, personal loans, mortgages, insurance, savings, spread betting, online trading, and utilities.

Rainbow Financial Services: Rainbow Financial Services provides no obligation online quotes for car loans, personal loans, mortgages, and a wide range of general insurance coverage. Online features include a car loan calculator to work out approximate car loan payments, a mortgage calculator to work out how much money you can borrow based on your gross income, and secured loan rate tables to show typical example APR rates.

Moneyextra: This site is a comprehensive source of up to the minute financial information. Moneyextra can help you with all of your mortgage needs. They are completely independent and their advice is free. They can search through around 9,000 mortgages from around 150 lenders to find the right one for you.

Why Outsource to India?

In Today’s world, Outsourcing has almost become the order of the day. So why are global organizations choosing outsourcing? More and more global companies are choosing to outsource today for a number of reasons, such as, cost-effective services, increased efficiency, increased productivity, shared risks, reduced operating costs, increased quality, better services and more time to focus on core competencies. These are just a few of the reasons why organizations are outsourcing today. But why outsource to India and why do companies outsource to India. India is the most ideal place to outsource to, because India offers several advantages.

India has been a pioneer in providing outsourcing solutions and has been providing a range of outsourcing services to countries across the globe. Today, India can be called as the world’s outsourcing hub. Outsourcing to India can help your organization benefit from cost-effective services, high-quality services, reduced operating costs, greater flexibility and faster-time-to-market amongst others. These are just a few reasons why companies outsource to India. Another reason why outsourcing to India makes good business sense is because India has high-end technology and best-of-breed infrastructure. India has now become the world’s most preferred outsourcing location. India is also the global hub for software enabled services and software development.

Outsourcing to India can give your organization a competitive edge. The following are a list of reasons why companies outsource to India.

1. Cost-effective services

The numero uno reason why global organizations outsource to India is because India offers cost-effective services. Outsourcing to India can help you save more than half of your operating costs! India has a large, educated, trained and technically skilled manpower and this number only keeps growing every year. Unlike the west, where technical talent is rare, India has a large pool of highly-skilled professionals. Having a large technically skilled manpower has enabled India to provide cost-effective services without compromising on quality. Outsourcing to India, can help you save on your operating costs, while increasing your productivity, quality and efficiency.

2. High-quality services

India uses the latest in software, technology and infrastructure to provide global customers with high-quality outsourcing solutions. India has proved that it is technically superior when compared to other countries that provide outsourcing solutions. So, when you outsource your work to India, you can be assured that the best technology and software would be used for your services. India has the largest English-speaking audience after the U.S. India also has a highly educated manpower that is talented, educated, experienced, technically-skilled and computer literate. Outsource to India and be assured of high-quality services.

3. Time Zone Advantages

The time zone advantages between India and countries in the U.S and U.K has proved to be another important factor why companies outsource to India. Organizations who wish to provide their customer with 24x7x365 days customer support or helpdesk services can outsource to India.

4. India’s stable government

India has celebrated more than 60 years of democracy and has one of the world’s most stable governments. Building up the IT sector has been a top priority for the Indian government. India has a ministry of information technology that quickly approves the implementation of IT projects and streamlines regulatory processes. The Indian government has even released a bill termed as the “IT act 2000” India has been rated to have the most excellent investment potential in the coming years. The Indian government has given complete support to the IT and ITES industry in India. With ample support from the government, Indians have been able to build high-tech IT parks which has the best in technology and infrastructure. The Indian government has even permitted 100% foreign equity. India’s fast growing economy has been yet another reason why companies are outsourcing to India.

5. The Indian Advantage

Cost-effective services are one of the primary advantages that India offers, but it is not the only advantage of outsourcing to India. Outsourcing to India can give you access to professional and skilled outsourcing solutions within a fast turnaround time. By outsourcing to India, your organization can concentrate on core business activities and save on time, effort, manpower and infrastructure. More than 20 Indian software companies have achieved the prestigious SEI-CMM level. India also has the highest number of ISO-9000 software organizations. Outsource to India and give your organization a competitive advantage.

6. Global organizations’ most preferred choice

India has been the most preferred choice among global organization when it comes to outsourcing. In the U.S alone, more than 80% have ranked India as their first choice, when outsourcing software and IT services. They have got their offshore software development centers in India dedicatedly working for them. The U.S has also recognized India as an outsourcing superpower. The number of organizations outsourcing services to India has only been increasing over the years. This is reason enough to outsource to India.

source:  http://www.outsource2india.com/why_india/why_india.asp