Archive for January, 2009

The easiest and most…

January 31st, 2009 by admin | No Comments | Filed in Uncategorized

…widely know credit improvement tip is to pay all of your bills on time. Paying all of your bills on time will help to not only maintain, but to increase your credit scores quickly and efficiently. Knowing which debts and credit liabilities report to your credit report each month can help you to make sure you are paying all of your bills on time and maximizing your credit score.


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Their are credit card companies…

January 31st, 2009 by admin | No Comments | Filed in Uncategorized

…like Capitol One, for example, that will only report the high used credit, not the high limit …Why is this bad and how can it hurt you…Its bad because it doesnt give full picture of your credit worthiness or allow other possible vendors with better offers to know that you have certain credit limits already, you may have them, but never used them…The next problem is that one factor in determining a credit score is your balance:available(B:A) ratio…Most scoring algorithms favor a 30% or lower number on credit cards, for example…So, you could have a $3000 limit on your Cap One card but never charged more than $800 on it and maintain a $500 balance or so…Instead of showing as a very low B:A ratio, it shows a very high one actually lowering the score or at least not increasing it as much as it should…So, if you have cards like that, you may want to try and call them to see if they will update record, tell them why or go on a spending binge one month, run the limit up with your normals bills and pay off next month so as not to disrupt budget…This will now show a higher limit and lower balance!…


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Hire a Home Stager:…

January 31st, 2009 by admin | No Comments | Filed in Uncategorized

…Hiring a home stager can help to sell your house. Your will get professional interior design advice to make your home more attractive to buyers.

Neatness Counts: Scrub each room…

January 31st, 2009 by admin | No Comments | Filed in Uncategorized

…thoroughly and give special attention to the entryway, kitchen and bathrooms. Shampoo the carpet if necessary. If the carpet is worn or old, consider replacing or removing it if hardwood floors are underneath.

January 30th, 2009 by admin | No Comments | Filed in Uncategorized

…Pick Up After Your Pets: Pick up after any pets, nothing is a bigger turn off to a potential buyer then pet waste in the yard or the smell of a dirty cat litter box in the house.

Make Your Home Available for…

January 30th, 2009 by admin | No Comments | Filed in Uncategorized

…Showings: Not having your home available to show is a quick way of losing a potential buyer. Try be open to showings that give 3-4 hours notice, especially on weekends when many shoppers are off work. If possible, have your home on a lockbox system (where a door key is securely located on the premises) so other agents can most easily show your home.

Small Changes Can Make…

January 30th, 2009 by admin | No Comments | Filed in Uncategorized

…A Big Impression: New towels can freshen a tired kitchen or bath. Fresh flowers always add warmth to any room. And even a fresh coat of paint doesn’t cost too much.

The real estate market…

January 30th, 2009 by admin | No Comments | Filed in Uncategorized

…is a tough market to sell your home in right now. Read on for some tips on how to improve your chances at selling your home quicker. Improve the curb appeal of your home: The exterior of your home is the first item that people are going to see. Therefore, there should be a lot of emphasis placed on your homes exterior. Power-wash your siding, re-mulch your landscaping beds, trim up bushes and hedges, add colorful flowers, add some cheap bushes in bare spots, spot seed your lawn if you have any bare spots, water your lawn to green it up, weed and feed your lawn as well, re-paint the siding if needed, pick up any lose debris in the yard, rake up leaves, trim tree branches if necessary, keep yard mowed very regularly, edge along your driveway and your sidewalks (makes a big difference), pull out all weeds in landscaping beds, waterproof wood patios, re-seal concrete patios, hide or store away any unsightly or run down outdoor furniture and/or decor, repaint or replace your mailbox if necessary, clean outside windows, make any necessary repairs to siding, roof, flashing, shutters, etc… and anything else that you can think of to improve your curb appeal.

One major impact on your…

January 29th, 2009 by admin | No Comments | Filed in credit

…credit score is how much in debt you have versus how much of a limit you have on your debt. It is ideal to keep your revolving debt balances at 20 to 40 percent of your credit limits to help maximize your credit scores.


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The information that impacts a credit…

January 29th, 2009 by admin | No Comments | Filed in Uncategorized

…score varies depending on the score being used. Credit scores are only affected by elements in your credit report, such as: * Number and severity of late payments
* Type, number and age of accounts
* Total debt
* Recent inquiries If a business card/corporate card or gas card does not appear on your credit report, it will not affect your score. Credit scores do not consider: Your race, color, religion, national origin, sex or marital status. U.S. law prohibits credit scoring from considering these facts, as well as any receipt of public assistance, or the exercise of any consumer right under the Consumer Credit Protection Act: * Your age
* Your salary, occupation, title, employer, date employed or employment history. However, lenders may consider this information in making their approval decisions.
* Where you live
* Any interest rate being charged on a particular credit card or other account
* Any items reported as child/family support obligations or rental agreements.
* Certain types of inquiries (requests for your credit report). The score does not count consumer disclosure inquiry


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Learning the art of…

January 29th, 2009 by admin | No Comments | Filed in Uncategorized

…managing your use of credit can pay big dividends when it’s time to get a home mortgage. The difference between a good credit score (680 and up) and a fair one (630 to 600) could be huge in terms of the interest rate that you will pay and also the other terms of the loan.


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It is important to…

January 28th, 2009 by admin | No Comments | Filed in credit

…establish several different credit accounts. Just having credit cards that have paid on time isn’t enough. Lenders like to see diversity and longevity. Often homeowners will open jewelry accounts and take out small bank loans to increase there credit standing. Of course this has to be done prior to attempting a refinance.


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If you have a credit…

January 28th, 2009 by admin | No Comments | Filed in credit

…card that is maxed out you can request a credit line increase to bring your balance to limit ratio back within the preferred 50% range. This simple process can have a great affect on your credit score within a month’s time. However with an increased credit line you do have to exercise fiscal responsibility to avoid getting deeper into debt.


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If your credit score is…

January 28th, 2009 by admin | No Comments | Filed in Uncategorized

…preventing you from qualifying for the mortgage program you desire, talk to one of our representatives about the variety of credit improvement strategies which can help you improve those scores and get into the refinance or purchase loan you need.


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Do not apply for frivolous…

January 27th, 2009 by admin | No Comments | Filed in Uncategorized

…department store accounts just because of an advertised discount. These accounts often come with marginal credit limits and high interest rates. Having even a small balance on a low credit limit card can hurt your credit score. Any time a department store requests your social security number they are bonding themselves to you and will report to your credit bureaus for many years to come.


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Credit is just one aspect…

January 27th, 2009 by admin | No Comments | Filed in Uncategorized

…of a person’s overall financial picture. The best first step to managing credit responsibly is to manage all your money responsibly. This means creating and sticking to a budget, paying your bills on time, and not taking on more debt than you can handle.

It


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If you have an old collection…

January 27th, 2009 by admin | No Comments | Filed in Uncategorized

…account on your credit report paying it off may actually hurt your credit score. Most lenders will ignore collection accounts over two years old. By paying off that account, the date of last activity becomes recent and it may actually reduce your credit score.


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The four most important…

January 26th, 2009 by admin | No Comments | Filed in Uncategorized

…factors regarding credit are:
1. Pay all of your bills on time. Know what bills report to the credit bureaus and which ones dont. This will help to maintain a better credit rating. Do not let accounts go to collection.
2. Limit your balances on all revolving credit (such as home equity lines and credit cards) to approx. 20-39% of your credit limit. (If you have 2 credit cards with balances of $250 each and a limit on both of $1,000, this is ideal). Do not max. out your credit cards and it is better to have small balances on 3 cards than to have 1 large balance on 1 card.
3. 2-4 credit cards is the ideal number of open credit cards to have. Make sure that you do not close credit card accounts when you pay them off. Your length of credit history and how long you have had open accounts is a big factor in credit scoring. If you have a ton of credit cards, close the newer ones and leave the ones that have been open for a long open.
4. Credit inquiries – I know there is a myth that you should only let 1 company pull your credit when you are looking to buy something because every pull lowers your credit score. This is right and wrong. Watch how many people are pulling your credit because you dont want to have numerous credit inquiries each and every month. However, when you are shopping for a mortgage, or anything for that matter, make sure you do all of your shopping around within a 14 day time frame because all mortgage related credit inquiries within this time frame will only affect your credit as though only one company checked your credit.


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The type of credit you…

January 26th, 2009 by admin | No Comments | Filed in Uncategorized

…have has a 10% impact on your credit. A mix of revolving debt and installment loans is optimal, rather than just credit cards. Credit Agencies tend to frown on consumer finance company tradelines and getting credit at a store that is not a department store.


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Borrowers with FICO credit scores…

January 26th, 2009 by admin | No Comments | Filed in Uncategorized

…of 800 or more typically utilize very little of their available balances (the average is 7%).


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Your Payment History is…

January 26th, 2009 by admin | No Comments | Filed in Uncategorized

…the easiest factor to explain: pay your bills on time and in full. Late payments, judgments, collection accounts, and bankruptcy filings will all have a negative impact on your score.


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The five factors are…

January 26th, 2009 by admin | No Comments | Filed in Uncategorized

…used by FICO to derive a credit score. The lenders use the credit score to help determine your interest rate and loan amount.


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Another Factor that is…

January 25th, 2009 by admin | No Comments | Filed in Uncategorized

…used in the credit scoring model are the lengths of your credit accounts. The longer-aged accounts tell your financial story to creditors. Be sure not to close unused accounts, because they may reduce the amount of credit you have available, thus increasing your credit utilization.


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Derogatory accounts such as…

January 25th, 2009 by admin | No Comments | Filed in Uncategorized

…collections accounts or judgments will also greatly affect your credit score. One collection account can drop your score as much as 50 points or more once it reports.


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Your Outstanding Credit Balances is an…

January 25th, 2009 by admin | No Comments | Filed in Uncategorized

…often misunderstood factor in credit scoring. Many people think that if they have a higher limit available on their credit cards that this will automatically be better for them than a lower limit. Many other consumers think that by having numerous credit cards this will be better for their credit scores too. The key here with managing your credit balances is to make sure that you never borrow over 50% of your maximum credit limit. Ideally, you would like to keep your balances below 30% of your credit limits. For example, if you have a credit card with a $1,000 maximum credit limit, then ideally you would not want to carry a balance over $300 and you definitely do not want to carry a balance of $500, which is 50% of your credit limit. Anytime you go over this 50% threshold, this can negatively affect your credit score. Anytime you are maxed out on your credit limit, this is very bad for your credit score and if you ever go over your credit limit, this is seriously bad for your credit score. Therefore, just because you have the available credit does not mean that you should spend it. You should focus on keeping your balances at reasonable levels to maximize your credit score.


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The following will analyze the…

January 24th, 2009 by admin | No Comments | Filed in Uncategorized

…five factors of what comprise your credit score. The five factors are as follows: 1. Payment History-35% of total credit score, 2. Outstanding Credit Balances-30% of total credit score, 3. Length of Credit History-15%, 4. Inquiries-10%, and 5. Type of Credit 10%


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The credit reporting agencies…

January 24th, 2009 by admin | No Comments | Filed in Uncategorized

…keep their scoring formulas secret, however, there are some rules of thumb for you. For one, the number of credit card accounts you have open, the credit limit, and how long they have been open affect your score. It seems to be best to have at least 2 but not more than 3 credit cards. MasterCard and VISA are better than store credit cards. It is best if the credit limit on one card is at least $5000. The longer the accounts have been open, the better, up to 7 years .


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When trying to decipher…

January 24th, 2009 by admin | No Comments | Filed in Uncategorized

…the credit mysteries its important you work with someone who is knowledgeable. Otherwise it can be like the blind leading the blind. Make sure your mortgage professional is well versed in less then perfect credit loans as well as A paper.


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There are also several websites…

January 24th, 2009 by admin | No Comments | Filed in Uncategorized

…available to consumers which monitor their credit report as changes occur. Some websites only issue you your credit score or report, however, their are websites which offer packages that offer help to repair your credit. There are websites that offer what if scenarios. In other words, a consumer can go to the site and type in a hypothetical payment to a particular credit account of theirs. Then, the program will estimate how significant of an impact that payment may have if the customer were to make that move. Also, other programs will contact a customer by e-mail when any changes happen to their report, so they can see how and where their credit is being hurt, or helped depending on the action. These are invaluable tools for ANY consumer, including mortgage and lending professionals. For right around $10 a month individuals can obtain powerful tools to monitor, maintain, and strengthen their credit reports and credit scores.


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The following article contains many…

January 23rd, 2009 by admin | No Comments | Filed in Uncategorized

…questions about credit scores and the answers not only educate you on the basics of credit scores but also show you how to improve your score.What Is A Credit Score?A credit score is a number computed by a credit bureau and used to indicate how likely a consumer is to pay back a loan. Your score is computed by a computer program (also referred to as a mathematical or computer model ) that takes certain data from your credit bureau file and uses that data to calculate your score.Each of the three credit bureaus computes your score using a similar computer model. The model was created by the Fair, Isaac and Company, Inc., (hence the term FICO score) and is sold to the three major credit bureaus for their use with their data. If the information about you at all three credit bureaus is the same, then your score from each of the three bureaus should be essentially the same.However, the information about you can be different at the three bureaus.What Type of Data is Used to Calculate My Credit Score?Your credit score is based on credit-related information-both positive and negative-in your credit-bureau file, including:


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