If you have followed the financial or political news at all this year you are aware that the housing market has been thrown into turmoil. Lenders are going out of business right and left as well as credit is getting very tight and more difficult to obtain.
The good news is that the FHA fixed rate mortgage remains as the best loan product in the United States today. Many of you may be familiar with FHA as you currently have an FHA mortgage. For those of you who don't who may wish to refinance for any number of reasons such as shortening your term, reducing your interest rate or taking cash out of your home to pay for college, pay off debt or make home improvements - FHA is available to you too.
The advantages of the FHA mortgage are great!
The first feature that many of our clients have used is the streamline refinance to lower their interest rate or shorten the term of their FHA mortgage using no documentation and reduced closing costs. FHA rates are very low at the moment. If you are currently in an FHA mortgage give us a call to check your interest rate to see if you would benefit from a streamline refinance, either by reducing your rate or the term of your loan. If you can save thousands of dollars, why wouldn't you want to do so? If you are in Conventional financing or have a first and second mortgage the FHA mortgage may be an excellent way to combine both loans into one.
The second feature of FHA mortgages is that FHA offers a 95% cash-out feature. What this means to you is that if you have equity in your home and need to access it for any number of reasons, you can refinance it for up to 95% of the value and receive cash back. You don't need to take out a second mortgage which may have an interest rate that is variable nor do you have to worry about the ins and outs of Conventional financing and many of the costs that go along with a cash-out Conventional refinance
Looking forward to 2008 there are changes planned for the FHA program. However, these changes appear to be very positive for the consumer unlike the changes that are occurring with Conventional lending. We at Tippecanoe Mortgage can't stress enough the importance of calling today to determine if refinancing your mortgage is right for you. Interest rates on FHA loans are as low as we have seen them in several years. Let us evaluate your situation to see if refinancing your FHA mortgage makes sense.
IT IS URGENT THAT YOU ACT NOW! INTEREST RATES ARE AS LOW AS WE HAVE SEEN THEM IN 5 YEARS!
Mortgage services for Greater Lafayette and West Lafayette Indiana, Purdue University, Tippecanoe County and the surrounding Indiana Communities. We are a Local Company with a National Reach! Visit my website for great home loan information: http://www.indianamortgageman.com/
Junk mail is not only annoying, it's expensive, too! Did you know that over the course of your lifetime you will spend up to 8 full months perusing junk mail, half of which you'll throw away without ever even opening? It's true. Americans reportedly pay $370 million to haul 5.6 million tons of unrecycled junk mail to US landfills each year - that's 1.5 trees for each American household, according to the Center for a New American Dream! With this in mind, there are a few simple things you can do to significantly reduce the sheer volume of junk mail you receive each year. While experts suggest that it's impossible to stop all commercial mail, you may be able to slow it down by up to 90% by following the tips below.
Opt-out of Pre-approved/Pre-screened Credit Offers Visit www.optoutprescreen.com (or call 1-888-567-8688) and follow the instructions for opting out of "firm" offers from credit, insurance, and mortgage companies. These offers are the result of the major consumer credit reporting companies selling your name and contact information whenever you apply for credit. This site offers both 5-year and lifetime removal from these mailing lists; however, in order to be removed for life, you have to mail in your request as opposed to doing it online. The credit companies are betting that you're too lazy to take the extra step to opt-out for life, but you can prove them wrong.
Register for the Direct Marketing Association's (DMA) Mail Preference Service For $1, the DMA will add you to their do-not-mail file. Visit www.the-dma.org to register for this service. If you receive mail for an ex-spouse or people who no longer live with you, you can add them to the list as well. If you receive junk mail for deceased relatives, visit www.ims-dm.com/cgi/ddnc.php to remove their names.
Instruct Companies Not to Share Your Information Whenever you purchase anything that comes through the mail, including magazine and newspaper subscriptions, be sure to read each company's privacy policy carefully. Often, especially for non-profit organizations, you'll be given an option to check a box if you don't want your data shared with anyone else. If there is no such option, write it in yourself, clearly expressing that you do not want your information shared with anyone. Follow this up with a phone call to let them know before it's too late.
If you have any trouble removing yourself from a specific mailing list, visit the Direct Marketing Association and use their complaint form to report the company. If you receive unsolicited adult-oriented advertising ("SOA"), contact the US Postal Service and ask about removing your name from these mailing lists. While completing these easy steps won't keep certain unwanted mail from filling up your mailbox - your bills, for instance - the ratio of cards and letters you do want to receive versus those you don't will change significantly in just 30-60 days.
If you have any more junk mail tips to add to this list, please don't hesitate to call and fill me in!
Mortgage services for Greater Lafayette and West Lafayette Indiana, Purdue University, Tippecanoe County and the surrounding Indiana Communities. We are a Local Company with a National Reach! Visit my website for great home loan information: http://www.indianamortgageman.com/
Sleep disorders are becoming more and more common in America. Research suggests that some 100 million Americans currently suffer from some form of insomnia. Add to these numbers the fact that sleep disorders have been linked to serious health issues, including diabetes, and maybe it's time to take a closer look at our own sleeping patterns and see how we might improve. Beyond eliminating the usual suspects - caffeine, alcohol, smoking, napping during the day, etc. - there are a number of things we can do to promote good sleeping habits. The following are easy, drug-free ways to finally get a good night's sleep.
Your Bedroom is for Quiet Time For many people, the bedroom is more than just a place to sleep; it's a home office or a sort of entertainment center. They read, watch TV, pay bills, surf the net, and a million other things. However, by designating the bedroom specifically for sleeping, experts say that you can teach your body to recognize the bedroom as a zone reserved for restfulness and get more satisfying sleep.Develop Bedtime Rituals and Routines If you have trouble sleeping, try to keep a regular schedule. This means going to sleep and waking up at the same time every day, even on the weekends. Create a sleeping "ritual" that you repeat each night: read a book, listen to music, drink tea, etc.
Don't Eat Heavy Meals Experts recommend not eating anything heavy at least 2 to 3 hours prior to settling into bed. If you have to eat something, eat foods whose natural chemistry promotes sleep, like turkey, peanuts, or cereal and milk.
Remove Stress A great way to rid yourself of stress is to write it away. Jot down everything that's stressing you out on a piece of paper. Tell all of your problems that you don't have time to deal with them now, but that you promise to get back to them in the morning. This might seem silly, but research has shown this to be very effective for many people. Another great way to decrease stress is to turn your clock away from you. Some people can become more and more stressed with each hour as they focus on the clock and fail to fall asleep. If you're feeling anxious or stressed out, a big, bright clock glaring at you, reminding you of how little sleep you're getting, is the last thing you need.
Get Back to Sleep One of the toughest sleeping patterns to break is sleeping for a few hours, waking up, and not being able to fall back asleep. Experts suggest visualization as a tool to return to sleep, although that could trigger thoughts of work or other areas of your life that are hard to shut down. If you don't fall back asleep relatively quickly, get out of bed. Go into another room and relax. Don't watch TV or read anything that might be stimulating. Just relax, focus on an object, and think about peaceful things. If all else fails, have some warm milk.
If you can think of any more tips for getting a good night's sleep, please give me a call and share them with me.
Mortgage services for Greater Lafayette and West Lafayette Indiana, Purdue University, Tippecanoe County and the surrounding Indiana Communities. We are a Local Company with a National Reach! Visit my website for great home loan information: http://www.indianamortgageman.com/
Credit scores are calculated by all of the elements on your credit report. Some of the things that can effect your credit score in a negative way are:
Late payments
Delinquent payments
Charge offs
Collections
Bankruptcy
High balance to credit limits
Multiple credit pulls
Multiple names listed on your credit report
Excessive amounts of credit
Having loans with finance companies such as American General and Beneficial.
Large number of open accounts.
Most of these are common knowledge. So lets just hit on a few of the ones that are not so common knowledge.
High Balance to Credit Limits: If you have a $1000 credit limit, and your balance is more than $500 it could effect you in a negative way. The reason behind this is if your balance is greater than 50% of your credit limit, you are viewed as a higher risk. Now having a high balance is not the kiss of death for your credit score... as long as you are making your payments on time.
Multiple Credit Pulls: There are myths and reality to this one. The myth is that you shopping around is going to lower your credit score. It is true but not to the extent that it will make a huge difference. Yes your credit score will go down with multiple credit pulls but unless you have borderline credit, it should not make a difference. To give you an idea about how it could affect you.... Say you were looking to purchase a home with no money down. And you had a credit score of 582. If you absolutely could not come up with a down payment, I would suggest you NOT have your credit pulled even 1 more time. If the Loan Officer had you pre-approved and you continued to shop, then multiple credit pulls could drop your score just enough that it could make the difference between renting and owning. If you have higher scores, then a few points are not going to make a difference if it does drop.
Multiple names listed on your credit report: Believe it or not. Having multiple names on your credit bureau could affect you in a negative way in the sense that they look at it as you are trying to create an alias. Some examples of multiple names are
Richard Kevin Thomas
Richard K Thomas
Richard Thomas
Rich Kevin Thomas
Rich K Thomas
Kevin Thomas
Dick Thomas
Dick K Thomas
There are many ways that you can write your name, but you need to stick with one or two of them. Try to avoid signing and filling out applications with multiple names.
Having loans with finance companies such as American General and Beneficial: These companies can affect your score in a negative way. They generally charge higher interest rates, therefore making it more difficult for people to make payments on time. However; if you pay these accounts on time, they will most definitely affect your credit scores in a positive way. Just be prepared for the interest rate shock.
Mortgage services for Greater Lafayette and West Lafayette Indiana, Purdue University, Tippecanoe County and the surrounding Indiana Communities. We are a Local Company with a National Reach! Visit my website for great home loan information: http://www.indianamortgageman.com/
BEFORE YOU WASTE THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS A YEAR ON RENT...
FIND OUT IF YOU QUALIFY FOR A HOME OF YOUR OWN!
Here Are 6 Things to Make You STOP Paying Rent Or What You Need To Know To Get Started Toward Buying Your 1st Home!
People fear what they don't understand. A good example is the purchase of a home. The average consumer knows very little regarding the home buying process. Between finding the right house, making sure it won't fall apart the day after it is purchased, and finding the best financing, it is no wonder that so many people are afraid to purchase homes.
Buying a home is one of the most important financial decisions an individual will make. For a first-time homebuyer, the decision to purchase a home can be daunting. It will represent a major step forward as the individual/family will be assuming potentially its largest responsibility. As with any major decision, it is important that everyone, especially first-time homebuyers, take full advantage of the information and training that is available to more clearly understand the home buying process.
To prepare, you should do research and be fully informed before beginning the search for a dream home. Here are 6 steps to get started:
Before you start your house search, think carefully about what it will be like to be a homeowner. For most people, homeownership is an integral part of the American dream. That is not even to mention that the advantages (tax benefits, pride of homeownership, financial investment) far outweigh any drawbacks.
Your credit history is one of the first things a lender will look at in making a decision on your loan. Contact one of the three major credit-reporting agencies to obtain a credit report. Review it carefully to be sure all the information is correct. If you find discrepancies, you should work with the credit agencies to resolve them.
Saving for a down payment can be one of the biggest barriers to homeownership. Mortgage lenders recognize this dilemma and many now offer low down payment loans. Three and five percent down payments are commonly available, and there are some loans that require no down payment.
Before you begin working with a Realtor®, first go to your local lender and ask them to pre-approve (not pre-qualify) you for a mortgage. Most lenders will provide this service free of charge. Pre-approval will let you know exactly how much you can spend on a home purchase BEFORE you start your search. A pre-approval in hand also makes you a more attractive buyer when you are ready to make an offer on a home. Home sellers are more likely to accept an offer from a buyer who can demonstrate the ability to secure financing.
Many cities and counties offer down payment assistance programs for borrowers meeting certain eligibility requirements. Investigate these by calling your local housing department. You may also want to check with your mortgage lender and possibly local nonprofit housing organizations as well, to see if there are assistance programs in your area. Down payment assistance programs may take the form of "silent seconds," which are loans you take in addition to your mortgage to help make the down payment. Many times, silent second loans will have below market interest rates, and in some cases might not require payments until you sell your home. As an alternative, some local housing departments offer low interest rate loans for the entire mortgage, sometimes a full point below market interest rates.
Many mortgage lenders, nonprofits, and even Realtors offer homebuyer education classes to prepare you for homeownership. Classes normally run about four hours and cover the basics of home buying. Some of the topics covered are how to apply for a loan, work with a Realtor, and make an offer on a home, the escrow process, and the responsibilities of homeownership.
FOR MORE INFORMATION OR FREE LOAN PRE-APPROVAL, CALL DON FRAZIER AT 765-446-2930! OR VISIT MY WEBSITE AT www.IndianaMortgageMan.com!
More people who are renters now qualify to become a homeowner. Don't let fear or ignorance stand in your way. Our job is to educate and advise you. Call today to take one step closer toward realizing your dream of one day becoming a homeowner.
Here is a list of Apartment Communities in Lafayette & West Lafayette Indiana:
Williamsburg On The Wabash 400 N. River Rd. West Lafayette, IN 47906
Beau Jardin 2550 Yeager Rd.#22 West Lafayette, IN 47906
Purdue Properties I 2601 Soldiers Home Rd. West Lafayette, IN 47906
Peppermill Village 3303 Peppermill Dr. West Lafayette, IN 47906
Foxfire at Valley Lakes 2121 Kyra Dr. Lafayette, IN 47909
Waterford Court Apartments 320 Waterford Ct. Lafayette, IN 47905
Pheasant Run Apartments 3090 Pheasant Run Drive Lafayette, IN 47905
Bay Pointe Apartments 3331 Mystic Ln. Lafayette, IN 47905
Cross Winds Apartments 3763 Winston Dr. Lafayette, IN 47905
The Bluffs Apartments 305 Montifiore St. Lafayette, IN 47905
Shenandoah Properties 3601 Driftwood Dr Lafayette, IN 47905
College Station 2243 US Highway 52 West Lafayette, IN 47906
Willowbrook West Apartments 2053 Willowbrook Dr Lafayette, IN 47906
Salem Courthouse Apartments 3001 Courthouse Dr. Lafayette, IN 47906
Campus Suites On The Lake 3800 Campus Suites Blvd. West Lafayette, IN 47906
River Walk Apartments 1714 N. Ninth St. Lafayette, IN 47904
Pemberly Court 3004-1 Pemberly Ct. Lafayette, IN 47906
Georgetown South Apartments 1855 Shoshone Dr. Lafayette, IN 47909
Mortgage services for Greater Lafayette and West Lafayette Indiana, Purdue University, Tippecanoe County and the surrounding Indiana Communities. We are a Local Company with a National Reach! Visit my website for great home loan information: http://www.indianamortgageman.com/
In the 1960s, Fair Isaac Corporation started working on a system lenders could use to evaluate the likelihood of receiving repayment on loans. Prior to that, it was really a matter of trusting an individual to be a "man of his word," so to speak. Fair Isaac sought to take human error out of the equation with a reliable system that could determine whether or not consumers were truly worthy of credit, and thus FICO was born. This evolved to become the standard for lenders by the 1980s.
Credit scoring has an enormous impact on a borrower's ability to purchase a home. It can mean the difference between getting a good interest rate and the home of their dreams, or whether they even qualify at all. For this reason, it is important to understand the credit scoring process, and know what your credit score is when you look to obtain mortgage financing.
What the credit scoring model seeks to quantify is how likely the consumer is to pay off their debt without being more than 90 days late on a payment at any time in the future. Credit scores can range between a low score of 300 and a high of 900. Most commonly, we deal with scores ranging from 400 to 800. The higher the client's score is, the less likely they are to default on their loan. Only a rare one out of approximately 1300 people in the United States have a credit score of above 800. These are the slam-dunk clients that walk away with the best interest rates. On the other hand, one out of eight prospective home buyers are faced with the possibility that they may not qualify for the loan they want because they have a lower score between 500 and 600. Here is a sample chart that illustrates how an underwriter interprets the score in terms of risk, and how the interest rate is affected.
Mortgage services for Greater Lafayette and West Lafayette Indiana, Purdue University, Tippecanoe County and the surrounding Indiana Communities. We are a Local Company with a National Reach! Visit my website for great home loan information: http://www.indianamortgageman.com/
There are five factors that comprise the credit score. These are listed below in order of importance. Consider these five factors when trying to improve your credit score.
PAYMENT HISTORY - 35% IMPACT: Paying debt on time and in full has the greatest positive impact on your credit score. Late payments, judgments, collections and charge-offs all have a negative impact. missing a high payment will have a more severe impact than missing a low payment, and delinquencies that have occurred in the last two years carry more weight than older items.
OUTSTANDING CREDIT BALANCES - 30% IMPACT: This factor marks the ratio between the outstanding balance and available credit. Ideally, you should make and effort to keep balances as close to zero as possible, and at least 50% below the available credit limits (a balance of 30% below the available credit limit is even better!) It is never a good idea to close an account; the debt to income ratio will go up and the number of seasoned lines will decrease. Paying outstanding down as close to zero as possible and evenly redistribute the remaining balance among the open lines. The increased interest occurred by moving a balance from a 0% card to a 23% card will be minimal relative to what the increased mortgage debt might be with a low credit score. Hitting the maximums of available credit can be very negative. It may be worth calling and asking the credit card company to increase your available credit to lower the debt ratio, provided they can do so without a hard credit inquiry.
CREDIT HISTORY - 15%: This portion of the credit score indicates the length of time since a particular credit line was established. A seasoned borrower will always be stronger in this area. Opening new credit cards will decrease the average length, and therefore hurt this portion of the score.
TYPE OF CREDIT - 10%: A mix of auto loans, credit cards and mortgages is more positive than a concentration of debt from credit cards only. Careful, too, when getting credit at a store that is not a department store: the agencies frown on cards for more specialized stores where you're likely to only make one purchase, as they seem to show desperation.
INQUIRIES - 10% IMPACT: This percentage of the credit score quantifies the number of inquiries make on a consumer's credit within a six-month period. Each hard inquiry can cost from two to fifty points on a credit score, but the maximum number of inquiries that will reduce the score is ten. In other words, 11 or more inquiries within a six-month period will have no further impact on the borrower's credit score. Note that if you run a credit report on yourself, it will have no affect on your score.
Mortgage services for Greater Lafayette and West Lafayette Indiana, Purdue University, Tippecanoe County and the surrounding Indiana Communities. We are a Local Company with a National Reach! Visit my website for great home loan information: http://www.indianamortgageman.com/
Looking to buy a house? Make sure you know what will truly hurt and help your case with lenders.
There's a lot of misinformation being propagated about what does and doesn't hurt your credit score. Now, we've worked with several excellent lenders who really knew their stuff and kept up to date, not only on loan trends but on the information that's available about credit scoring. That's important, because the FICO credit score, in its various permutations, is used in three-quarters of all mortgage lending.
But what we've heard from several lenders was the kind of bad advice that can cost you money and keep you from getting the best loans. So if your mortgage broker gives you any of the following advice, take a tip from us: Find a new broker.
Closing accounts can help your credit score No, no, no. Closing accounts can never help your credit score, and may hurt it.
We get more e-mails from people who say their mortgage lenders told them exactly the opposite. It's true that having too many open accounts can hurt your score. But once you've opened the accounts, you've done the damage. You can't repair it by shutting the account, and you may actually make things worse.
The credit score looks at the difference between your available credit and what you're using. Shut down accounts, and your total available credit shrinks, making your balances loom larger, which typically hurts your score.
The score also tracks the length of your credit history. Shutting older accounts can also make your credit history look younger than it actually is, which can hurt your score.
Of course, credit scores aren't the only thing lenders look at when making decisions. They typically consider other factors, such as your income, assets, employment history and credit limits. If your goal is to improve your credit score, you generally shouldn't close accounts in advance of such a request. Instead, pay down your credit card debt. That's something that actually can improve your score.
Checking your FICO score can hurt your credit Unfortunately, we heard this one from a mortgage broker who is otherwise pretty smart. He was confused about which type of inquiries hurt your score and which don't.
Applying for new credit is generally what hurts your score. Ordering a copy of your own credit report or credit score doesn't count. Those mass inquiries made by credit card lenders, who are trying to decide whether to send you an offer for a pre-approved card, also aren't going to hurt you, either -- unless you actually take them up on their offers.
If you want to minimize the damage from credit inquiries, make sure that when you shop for a mortgage you do so in a fairly short period of time. The FICO score treats multiple inquiries in a 45-day period as just one inquiry and ignores all inquiries made within 30 days prior to the day the score is computed.
For most people, one inquiry will generally knock no more than 5 points off a score (and scores typically run from 300 to 850, so that's not a big percentage).
Credit counseling will hurt your score as much as a bankruptcy The current FICO formula ignores any reference to credit counseling that may be in your file. That's been true for the last three years, after researchers at Fair, Isaac, the company that created the FICO scoring system, noticed that people getting credit counseling didn't default on their debts any more often than anyone else.
Your ability to get a loan could still be hurt by credit counseling, however. Your current lenders may report you as late, because you're not paying what you originally owed or because your credit counselor isn't sending your payments in on time. Late payments do hurt your credit score.
Lenders consider other factors besides credit scores in making their decisions, as well. The factors they look at can vary widely. Most want to know your income, for example. Some want to know how much savings you have or whether you're a homeowner. Some will find credit counseling disturbing, while others see it as a good sign.
The mortgage lenders who don't like credit counseling generally treat its enrollees the same as if they had filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy. Chapter 13 is the kind of bankruptcy that requires a repayment plan and is looked at somewhat more favorably than Chapter 7, which allows you to erase many of your debts. You might still be able to qualify for a loan from one of these lenders, although your interest rates will almost certainly be higher than if you had perfect credit.
If you plan to get a mortgage soon, and you're not already behind on your debts, it's probably smart to steer clear of credit counseling. If you're already in trouble, however, a good credit counseling agency might be able to help you get back on track.
Your FICO isn't the only score you need to check This came from lenders who thought the FICO score is offered by only one of the three credit bureaus: Equifax.
In reality, all three of the bureaus offer FICO credit scores using the formula developed by Fair, Isaac, but they each give the scores a different name. At Equifax, the FICO is known as the Beacon credit score. At TransUnion, it's called Empirica. At Experian, it goes by the unwieldy title of "Experian/Fair, Isaac Risk Model."
Complicating matters further is that you'll probably have three different scores from the three different bureaus, largely because the bureaus don't all share the same data. One bureau may list more accounts for you than another, for example, and the differences (in types of accounts, payment histories, credit limits and balances) will be reflected in the score that bureau computes for you.
Because of those differences, it does make sense to pull and examine your credit reports from all three bureaus before you apply for a big loan like a mortgage. Many mortgage lenders take the middle score from the three bureaus when making their decisions, so fixing errors in all three reports before you shop for a loan is smart.
But the ways you improve your credit score are the same in any case: Correct errors. Pay your bills on time. Pay down your debt. And apply for credit sparingly.
Mortgage services for Greater Lafayette and West Lafayette Indiana, Purdue University, Tippecanoe County and the surrounding Indiana Communities. We are a Local Company with a National Reach! Visit my website for great home loan information: http://www.indianamortgageman.com/
The credit score system used today has evolved since the 1960's. It was originally designed to provide lenders with financial profiles on consumers who wished to borrow money. The biggest concern was whether or not an individual had the ability to repay a loan, and establish what percentage of risk might be involved.
Congress passed the Fair Credit Reporting Act in 1971 to establish guidelines for fair practices in regard to the use of credit scoring. This law was designed to promote accuracy in reporting and protect the privacy of consumers. In light of the increased use of credit scoring and growing fear of identity theft, recent legislation had been passed to further protect Americans and improve consumer awareness.
The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003 (sometimes referred to as The FACT ACT of FACTA) was signed by President George W. Bush on December 4, 2003. This amends the Fair Credit Reporting Act, and provides each American the ability to obtain one free credit report every 12 months from each of the three main credit reporting agencies (CRAs); Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. Those bureaus have created a central website, http://www.annualcreditreport.com/ to accommodate Americans who wish to obtain copies of their credit report.
Mortgage services for Greater Lafayette and West Lafayette Indiana, Purdue University, Tippecanoe County and the surrounding Indiana Communities. We are a Local Company with a National Reach! Visit my website for great home loan information: http://www.indianamortgageman.com/
In a mortgage lender's eyes, a good credit score translates into lower interest rates for home-shopping borrowers. The higher your score is, the less risk you are, and the more likely it is you will pay off your debt. For this reason, borrowers with lower scores usually end up paying higher interest rate loans.
If this is you, don't panic. Here are a few guidelines on what you can do to adjust your score and receive a favorable review from the underwriter:
Should I pay off all past due balances and charge-offs? This is usually a good idea, but you only need to worry about the past due balances and charge-offs that have occurred in the last two years. Items more than two years old have little effect on your current credit score. In fact, if you pay off delinquent items over two years old, it can actually bring your credit score down - something you don't want to do. Bringing that score up means you'll get a better interest rate on your loan.
Should I close existing credit card accounts that I don't really use? "No!" Part of your credit score is based on your credit history. Even if you don't use old credit cards much, you will still benefit from the credit history they represent.
Rather than trying to pay off all your credit cards, move part of the debt from one card to another to evenly distribute debt. Try to keep the ratio of debt to credit limits at about 30% of the available credit or less. If your credit provider will increase your line of credit, the ratio of debt to available credit is automatically reduced.
When married couples have separate credit card accounts, the debt can be transferred from one spouse to another to clear up credit issues for the other spouse. That spouse with clean credit can be designated as the sole borrower on the loan, but ownership of the home can still go in both names.
Mortgage services for Greater Lafayette and West Lafayette Indiana, Purdue University, Tippecanoe County and the surrounding Indiana Communities. We are a Local Company with a National Reach! Visit my website for great home loan information: http://www.indianamortgageman.com/
Current information on the Indiana Mortgage Market as well as our community - Lafayette, West Lafayette, Purdue University, Tippecanoe County and the surrounding Indiana communities.
Disclaimer: ActiveRain Corp. does not necessarily endorse the real estate agents, loan officers and brokers listed on this site. These real estate profiles, blogs and blog entries are provided here as a courtesy to our visitors to help them make an informed decision when buying or selling a house. ActiveRain Corp. takes no responsibility for the content in these profiles, that are written by the members of this community.
Closing accounts can help your credit score
;)
;)
