Seems the rules keep changing no matter what you do. Following is some old and new information to help you keep your credit score in the high range. The rules have changed and I'm sure they'll change again.
OLD: Be sure to check your credit reports (see below). NEW:Look for changes to your account limits. Most negative items should be removed within 7 to 10 years. If it's still on your account be sure to notify the credit bureaus to remove it or at minimum add your comment regarding the issue.
NEW: Pay off your credit cards! Approximately 30% of your credit score is based on the ratio owed on your ACTIVE credit cards. Note: if the credit card company has reduced your credit limit, the ratios will change and your credit score will drop! Companies are fearful you'll end up in foreclosure, and they won't get paid! I recently received a letter from Chase, telling me they would be closing my account since I had not used it for a year. I was O.K. with that, but then I found out that will be a "negative" on my credit score! Imagine that, I get penalized for NOT using the card. I hadn't used it because I chose to use two other cards (Mastercard & Visa).
NEW: Don't apply for new cards! The more cards you have the more "at risk" you're considered.
OLD: Pay bills on time. NEW: Pay MORE than the minimum amount. Payment history counts for 35% of your credit score. Pay off the credit card that has the most interest on it.
Did you know that if you're late on one charge card (or medical payments to doctors/hospitals) that the other credit card companies can raise your interest rate?
You can order your FREE credit reports at TransUnion.com, Equifax.com & Experian.com. Be sure to check all three for validity. Don't follow a link; enter the url and sign on at the site.
Does anyone remember when our parents would actually pay-off their home loan? Do you recall when they would have a mortgage burning party and celebrate that event?
We've all been suckered into thinking the money we were getting from the ATM's and items we purchased were ours. Nope, it's theirs until we pay for them (think CASH). Careful you don't pay 6 times (or more!) what they are worth. The longer you take to pay it off, the more you are paying each month in interest. Avoid the ATM's (and their fees). Avoid the credit cards (unless you can pay it off at the end of the month). Use the Debit card (like cash, it's taken directly out of your account). You'll use it less if you know it's coming right off the top. Take back control of your finances!
(some information obtained from e-mail of Christine Menker of USA Mortgage )
Here we are heading into Fall with the media hyping politics and pushing their favorite "special" of the day candidate. We've seen the Fall of the stock market and the Fall of housing prices, but the rise in the gas prices and food prices. I plan on raising my hopes for an after election upswing! Did you see that 89% of foreclosures are in 6 of the states? That means only 11% are in the remaining states! 30% of the foreclosures were in California and Florida. Other states hardest hit are, Nevada, Arizona, Ohio & Michigan. (CNN Money 3/6/08)
Seems to me that election years are always slow in real estate (locally) as people buy into the media storm of unease. Like lemmings, we lose sight of the goodness in our life and country, and rush to sell off good, performing stocks and then, wonder why the market has fallen.
For me, I see this a crisis in common sense. I believe all the people (head honchos!) involved in the failure of the companies like AIG, BOA, etc. need to take a pass on their golden parachutes, retirement and other perks, when they leave the company in a shambles. It seems they have bilked the company and their employees AND their investors. They should be prosecuted. Good, solid companies not associated with the "bad" companies get tainted just by being a stock too. Prices Fall. This too will pass. Prices will Rise again. Ebb & Flow.
We need to get back to basics. Save some money, starve your credit cards, eat your veggies/fruits and quit worrying about what you can't fix. Have confidence in your self and your country. Choose to speak in a positive way. Love one another. Be kind to others and to your self. This is the best time of your life. This day. This very moment. Time's a'wastin'. Seize the day!
Here we are in the middle of May, still loaded down with our grown children's excess stuff left over from their moves. Stuff they think they need but haven't used in years. Like us, they have all this "stuff" that encumbers our life. Maybe it's just me, but Springtime brings out the the house cleaner in me! How about you? In order to clean up some, I began by putting some items on Craigs List. Within an hour, I began getting e-mails. Gee, I thought, this is so easy! What else can I get out of here and still be helpful. After all, I AM my fathers daughter! He was always thrifty and believed in the old saying, keep it and use it up. We recycled everything! Nothing went to waste. At Christmas one year, I yearned for a new bike. I was so disappointed that when I did get one, while it was new to me, it was really a "used" bike. It worked fine, but I still remember that child's disappointment even yet. Now here I am, being thrifty, and recycling too. Now, though, I feel pretty good about it. We have 4 extra TV's; I gave one to my daughter and am selling another small one. Did you know you can recycle your old TV another way too? Come February '09, about 15 million analog TV sets will be considered obsolete! Did you know one TV set can leak 8 pounds of lead into the enviornment? You can help by disposing of yours by recycling! Check the Consumer Electronics Associations website or go to www.earth911.org. Type in your zip code and you'll get a list of area recycling centers with contact information. You can also call the U.S. Environmental Recycling Center Hotline at 1-800-253-2687. Not all recycling centers accept electronics though, so be sure to call first or check their on-line list. You'll be helping yourself and helping others too. Did you know that the U.S. Postal Service has (at this time only limited service)a Mail Back pilot program where you can recycle small eletronic devices and inkjet printer cartridges through the mail? It's a free program, but is only being done in CA, parts of IL,VG,MD, & Washington, DC. I read that in September they plan on going national. See what YOU can do to recyle! Hmmm, I think I'll make up some stickers with those phone numbers and e-mail addresses and put them on the back of the TV's, so when it's time to for them to go...they go where they belong!
Funny how things happen sometimes. I had continuing education classes on Thursday and Friday morning. I hate putting classes off until the last minute. In my experience if I do that, something else comes up and what needs to be done is put off again or just not done! Friday I had an unexpected call while I was in class. It was a referral from Florida. I wasn't able to respond right away, but I did call her back within an hour. In the meantime she'd called my son (she thought it was my husband) and gave him the information. (It was for a $500K to $1 Million property but he needs to sell his property in Florida.)We're in the same business so we took care of that OK. The prospect was in town for only the weekend and my son would do those showings. Then I had another call from a friend of a friend, wanting to see some property immediately, that we'd scheduled for Saturday! So, I had to hustle to change that showing to Friday & cancel Saturdays appointment. I quickly ran some quick comparables. I usually meet up with my friends for dinner/movie on Fridays, but business mostly comes first. I had enough time to still take care of the showing and meet up with them, so off I went to meet her. Not really appropriately dressed though..in jeans & athletic shoes. LOL! They did appreciate my efforts to accommodate them so quickly though.
We toured the home and she and her college age daughter loved it! We put in a call to have her hubby come view it too as he worked close to the property. Nope, he couldn't come then, so I scheduled an appointment to show him the property at 5:30p.m. The Mrs. had other plans so she wouldn't be there to view it again. Now I had 1 1/2 hours to get to where I could eat a bite and then swing back to turn lights on again and show the property. I met up with him and he liked it too, but not quite as much as his wife and daughter. You know who wins this, don't you? The next issue is seeing their home which is not presently on the market. I ended up meeting with my friends afterwards but I was "pooped" from the hectic day.
Saturday, I had another call from the hopeful buyer to come and view their home. I ran comps again and e-mailed them to her, only to have them kick back to me. I viewed two homes in their subdivision (in rain) and called her to view one of them on her street. It's price has been reduced $20K. and has been on the market awhile. No virtual tour. It was a wonderful home and showed great, but the neighbors house looks pretty rough. It really should sell! After viewing it, we went to her home. Very nice also, but needing some minor fix-ups, which they know they need to do and will. They were disappointed in what the comparables showed. They have more square footage, have added an addition to the kitchen & have a finished basement. I believe they'll wait to see if the home they want will come down and then see if the market will rebound so that they can buy the home they want. They have a great home, but nothing is flying off at this time and we're seeing some places sit a longer time. We still have those great interest rates too. It's a great time to purchase or sell your home here in the St. Louis area! Other areas are booming too, for a look-see check this out.
Like the old song goes..just 24 little hours....Monday evening I received a frantic call from my daughter (lives in a condo & her first experience with the restrictions). The ice maker water line had become disconnected while she was at work. She came in to find the water had drained down into the neighbors storage area, wetting drywall at the main stairwell, wetting the freshly cleaned carpet in the main stairwell, into her storage area, wetting drywall ceiling (peeling the paint back) and running down the drywall seams and then out to the garage area. Arrgh! She called the insurance company and they provided her with the name of a company to call (from a pre-approved list of 3). They came out and assessed the damage ($150.00 non-refundable), but nothing could be done until the condo association would give approval. She called them and spoke to the "night" person, who told her nothing could be done until the next day. The next day (Tuesday) she called again and spoke to Dianne the management company manager. She said she'd take a look at the damage and get back to her. She informed her that it was my daughters problem and she should deal with it. Wednesday (today) the restoration company came out again. They had talked with the management folks earlier and he said they were rude to him and they would not authorize the work. Now, keep in mind, this involves the building, not just the unit! When "Tony" from the clean-up company was there with her, he estimated several thousand dollars for the cost of clean up. He needed written authorization from the association to go forward. That's when she called me & her dad to come over. I'd been there Monday evening to take photos around 9:00p.m. Her friend had already mopped up about 13 buckets of water that same evening. Well, he explained what all he'd have to do and the difficulty in estimating a cost as it was unclear whether or not insulation would be behind the drywall or in the ceiling. They have a strict protocol to deal with the problem. If it was soaked, it could easily become a hazard (think MOLD!). Arrgh! Again, my daughter called to talk with the manager at the association. She left a voice message to call her back. No one ever answers the phone; you have to leave a message. Finally she received a call back and this time spoke to the assistant, Julia. She was not understanding the severity of the situation. My daughter passed the phone to the clean-up man and he explained twice, the problems involved. Due to her rudeness, he said "That's it! We are not going to do this job". He needed the authorization and they were too difficult to work with. He then handed the phone to my daughter who found the assistant had hung up. Back to square one. He tried to have her sign a "No Liability" form from his company and I told her "NO WAY!). I had her call the management company again and leave a voice message again, to call her as it was an emergency situation. We left, and she went back to work. Just now she called me, and the mgmt. co. said she should take care of her unit and they would call "their people" to do the clean up and then charge her for that. She has $1000.00 deductible insurance. To me, that sounds better, as if they don't do the clean up properly, THEY will be the folks liable. We still have no clue as to when they will do the job. The manager still has not been there to assess the damages at this time. The saga continues...
Yesterday, the RE/MAX folks from our area, nearby counties and also from Illinois all came together to hear what Dave Linegar had to say about the market and his take on what he thinks is going to happen. I can tell you this much, it's worth the time to attend a seminar when he's the speaker. It's lively, fun and a learning experience! I guess you want to know what he said. Basically, you need to work smarter. Advertise more, not less. Keep in touch with those friends, past clients and relatives. Get out and meet people. ASK for referrals! Cut corners, but smooth out the rough edges by getting MORE EDUCATION! Thats an idea I really believe in. Times change, we change and so does what we need to know to do our job right. So, anyway, I was able to meet him again and give him my new business card. I also got to meet Margaret Kelly, CFO too, and get a photo with them. Did you know he has a photographic memory?
We had a good time and learned alot from both of them. Before we knew it, it was time to get back to work! I hope you're lucky enough to meet him and hear him speak someday. Check out this video called "REACH FOR THE SKY" There is light at the end of the tunnel, have faith and keep on, keeping on!
Hi Everyone,
Been busy here with business and personal issues going on. Flu, moving daughters (in/out), working business leads and trying to keep up with friends, families et al! Whew! Time has flown by!
Here's the scoop on the St. Louis area (& surrounding counties) as I see it.
Business is certainly not "as usual", here in the St. Louis, MO area. We DO have buyers. We DO have sellers. It's just taking them longer to get together! 100% loans have gone away. You need terrific credit. What I mean by that is this. Pay your bills (all of them) on time. Have some savings. (does anyone remember how to save?) The higher your credit score, the easier to get the funds to close. Having a great REALTOR working FOR YOU IS in the best interest of the Buyer AND for the Seller.
It's SPRING and baseball season here. The Cardinals are off to a great start and have super fans that turn out to cheer them on. Wishing that the MEDIA would cheer us on!
Please keep in mind that real estate is LOCAL.
We are not...California. We are not...Florida. We ARE the Midwest!
Whew! Real Estate is beginning to budge here! I hope you're all getting folks interested too.
My partner, Carla Pollard & I have buyers and sellers in the pipe line now. We've recently joined forces and look forward to a long and prosperous association. We've named our "team", The PRO Realty Team. Watch for us to grow our business! We're both detail oriented and work hard to keep our clients interest always at the forefront.
Just waiting for a bit of a warm up here in the St. Louis area. That should happen pretty quickly as February is a short month and the cold snap should be short lived here.
Interest rates are great and everyone I talk with that's wanting to sell are getting their homes ready. Paint would be a great stock buy as would anything in the home remodeling area!
Well,folks, gotta go. Pork chops are in the oven with some sweet 'taters. Umm, umm! Sure smells good in here. Have a lovely evening! Remember, we're never too busy for YOUR referral! Judy
We've managed to get by the holidays with out too much fuss. Everyone is doing well here, no sickness around. My husband of course, is still getting radiation treatments for his prostate cancer, but he's really been doing wonderfully well with it. Our THANKS to the folks at St. Luke's Hospital and the Radiation Dept. too, for their patience, kindness and general support. We've fast become fond of Dr's Butler and DeGuerre and would highly recommend their services to anyone going through this. They are so knowledgeable and just all around decent men. Hat's off to them and their team in their offices. Great people, all!
Business here had slowed down for the holidays, but we're beginning to see some movement now. We still have great interest rates so buyers should welcome that! Typically Spring would be the best time to make a move, but it sure wouldn't hurt to start looking now. Winter here in the St. Louis area is usually pretty nice. We do get a couple of snow storms but usually the weather gives us a break.
For those of you that are sellers, now's the time to get your home in tip-top shape. Paint a nice neutral color on the walls (beige or very light colors) and use the WD-40 where there are squeaky hinges. Replace anything that is looking "old" or rundown. By the way...be sure to MOVE the furniture/appliances out of the way before you paint. I've seen where some folks just paint around and over them. Pretty tacky, you know?
Landscaping is important too. You need to make the entry to your home inviting.
Clean, clean, clean! If you can't do it for some reason, hire someone to do it for you.
I look forward to listing your home or helping you to find that special home (or condo!) that you want. What a great way to start your new year.
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.
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