I was first introduced to the United First Financial or U1st Financial business opportunity and software product at a chapter meeting of BNI. I was the chapter president at the time and when I arrived at this particular meeting there was a guest who was networking with the others in the room, extolling the virtues of the software program. Being a licensed mortgage broker, I was curious what he was talking about.

The agent told me that the software is web-based and costs $3,500.00. As he explained it, people would be able to reduce the remaining time on their mortgage by up to one half ( if someone had 28 years left on a 30 year mortgage, they could possibly pay it off in as little as 14 years) depending on their circumstances.

We watched a DVD during our appointment. It covered that, by someone using their discretionary funds more wisely, they could pay the remainder of their 30 year mortgage in about thirteen years. Sure sounded interesting to me. He also explained that as a mortgage broker I could earn a lot of money selling the software.

A few days later I received a call from another member of the BNI chapter for some advice. Should she and her husband take out a Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC), pay off all of their credit cards, purchase the software, and potentially pay off the eleven years remaining on their 15 year mortgage in less than seven years? Well the obvious answer is yes.

However, here are some additional questions. How does the software foresee the future? What if there are changes in the economy, your job status and as a result your income? What if your lender, as so many lenders have, "locks down" your HELOC and you can't take any money out? What if you have a medical emergency and all of your "extra" money is in equity in your home as a result of the rapid pay down advised by the software? What then? Refinance? At what cost?

As a licensed mortgage broker, I'm also concerned about the qualifications of those selling the program and giving mortgage-related advice. If your home is your most important asset, do you want someone who was selling health care products last week giving you this type of advice?

United First Financial is a Multi Level Marketing business opportunity. The company gets $1,000.00 of the $3,500.00 sale. The remaining $2,500.00 is divided into commissions, overrides and bonus pools for those at the "branch manager" level and higher. You split the commission for your first few sales with your sponsor. Please keep in mind that the effort is yours, you're scheduling appointments and sponsoring new people, and your sponsor is benefiting until you are qualified for full commissions and "training bonuses" The compensation package seems top heavy. Also your appointments are face to face if you enjoy this type of business.

I would say that if you want to pay your mortgage down early, you might want to consider just adding a little extra to each payment. For example on a $200,000.00, 30 year fixed rate mortgage at 6%, by adding just $100.00 to each monthly payment you will take over six years off the life of the loan.