I finally received my credit scores through Identity Theft Protection. It's a great way to get ur scores without having to pay for them. I don't understand why FICA scores aren't free once a year like credit reports are.
This is the first time I have tried to see what my credit scores are and I realize that I have a more than a little work to do. I really didn't take my credit serious and now that I am older and more mature, I have to correct those youthful mistakes. I had to file bankruptcy and I knew then, when I did, it was going to be a up hill
One of the first things I need to do is apply for a secured credit card and maintain that for a good year. The second thing I want to do is call about my school loans....I am a little confused as to what is going on with them. First they were on the bankruptcy, but I keep getting these updates from Sallie Mae. I really need to get on that pronto!!!
I figure that I can work on my credit this next year and try to bring my rating as close to 700 as I can.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Friday, February 20, 2009
Using your brain when House-Hunting by Lynnette Edwards
I am attaching this article by a associate of mine that is most informational about home buying:
Time vs. Rate…Do you know the truth?
Everywhere you look on the news foreclosure rate is the topic of the day. Interest only loans are all the rage in the new millennium, but those people who got them are now “house poor” finding themselves in negative amortization situations! Not to mention “there are still 1.8 million adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) which will reset to higher rates between now and the end of the next year,” said George Boelcke, author of It’s Your Money! Tools, Tips & Tricks to Borrow Smarter and Pay It Off Quicker, in an American Chronicle article last year. So all this has everyone pondering how we got here. Why does it seem like everybody in America is in debt? Well, the partial answer to that is because when we borrow money we ask the wrong questions. The first thing out of our mouths is, “What’s my rate and what’s my payment?” As long as the lender has a satisfying answer, WE’LL TAKE IT! What we should be asking is “What’s my total cost going to be and when will I be out of debt?” After all, what’s more important…interest rate or time in debt?
Sadly, because most Americans have had a good brainwashing they really believe the answer is interest rate! I’ve actually had clients brag to me about how low their rate is and how they won’t refinance because they can’t find a lower rate than the one they have to which I just shake my head and think, “another one bites the dust”. Allow me to illustrate how this little brainwashing game has worked to the mortgage industry’s benefit…not yours. Suppose you and I became lenders and started a mortgage business together. Now the only way we can get paid is if people have what? A mortgage, right? So do we have any financial interest in helping people get OUT of debt? Well, let me ask you this, “Does your mortgage company in general seem interested in seeingYOU get out of debt?”
Now for the all important question, “if you and I are mortgage lenders are we more focused on the interest rate we give the client or on how much money they are going to pay us over time?” If you said how much money they’re going to pay us, you are starting to see the light! Aren’t companies focused on their bottom line which is profits? Simple rules of business say if you and I are in business we want our profits going up not down which means we give clients something to focus on and obsess over (i.e. the interest rate game) while we focus on increasing our bottom line! We know they’ll be so focused on having a 4.5%, 5% or 6% “low” interest rate they won’t even be thinking about their total cost over time! They’ll be too busy savoring their “supposedly” great interest rate!
If you haven’t done your homework, please do, and you will realize the mortgage industry has recently come out with 40 and 50 year mortgages. And why do you think that is? If their goal is more profits they can most certainly get them by keeping clients in debt for longer periods of time, and if they tell you that spreading your mortgage out longer than 30 years will give you a lower payment, they bank on poor misguided people saying, I’LL TAKE IT!
When I sit down with clients I teach them to focus on the same thing the mortgage companies focus on which is often hard for them to accept. (In fact they don’t believe me at first! It takes awhile to reverse the “interest rate” brainwashing!) But once I show them big picture right in their own mortgage documents on a little piece of paper called the “Truth in Lending Statement” it usually becomes very hard to argue the “time vs. interest rate” point.
Proverbs 22:7 says, “The rich rule over the poor and the borrower is servant to the lender.” As the rule and not the exception Americans have become servants to their credit cards, car loans, and unfortunately, their mortgages. So the question you really need to ask yourself is, “Are you really interested in being a servant too?”
Lynnette Edwards is a licensed Financial Coach and has been in the industry since 2005. She can be reached at pfslynette@gmail.com
Time vs. Rate…Do you know the truth?
Everywhere you look on the news foreclosure rate is the topic of the day. Interest only loans are all the rage in the new millennium, but those people who got them are now “house poor” finding themselves in negative amortization situations! Not to mention “there are still 1.8 million adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) which will reset to higher rates between now and the end of the next year,” said George Boelcke, author of It’s Your Money! Tools, Tips & Tricks to Borrow Smarter and Pay It Off Quicker, in an American Chronicle article last year. So all this has everyone pondering how we got here. Why does it seem like everybody in America is in debt? Well, the partial answer to that is because when we borrow money we ask the wrong questions. The first thing out of our mouths is, “What’s my rate and what’s my payment?” As long as the lender has a satisfying answer, WE’LL TAKE IT! What we should be asking is “What’s my total cost going to be and when will I be out of debt?” After all, what’s more important…interest rate or time in debt?
Sadly, because most Americans have had a good brainwashing they really believe the answer is interest rate! I’ve actually had clients brag to me about how low their rate is and how they won’t refinance because they can’t find a lower rate than the one they have to which I just shake my head and think, “another one bites the dust”. Allow me to illustrate how this little brainwashing game has worked to the mortgage industry’s benefit…not yours. Suppose you and I became lenders and started a mortgage business together. Now the only way we can get paid is if people have what? A mortgage, right? So do we have any financial interest in helping people get OUT of debt? Well, let me ask you this, “Does your mortgage company in general seem interested in seeingYOU get out of debt?”
Now for the all important question, “if you and I are mortgage lenders are we more focused on the interest rate we give the client or on how much money they are going to pay us over time?” If you said how much money they’re going to pay us, you are starting to see the light! Aren’t companies focused on their bottom line which is profits? Simple rules of business say if you and I are in business we want our profits going up not down which means we give clients something to focus on and obsess over (i.e. the interest rate game) while we focus on increasing our bottom line! We know they’ll be so focused on having a 4.5%, 5% or 6% “low” interest rate they won’t even be thinking about their total cost over time! They’ll be too busy savoring their “supposedly” great interest rate!
If you haven’t done your homework, please do, and you will realize the mortgage industry has recently come out with 40 and 50 year mortgages. And why do you think that is? If their goal is more profits they can most certainly get them by keeping clients in debt for longer periods of time, and if they tell you that spreading your mortgage out longer than 30 years will give you a lower payment, they bank on poor misguided people saying, I’LL TAKE IT!
When I sit down with clients I teach them to focus on the same thing the mortgage companies focus on which is often hard for them to accept. (In fact they don’t believe me at first! It takes awhile to reverse the “interest rate” brainwashing!) But once I show them big picture right in their own mortgage documents on a little piece of paper called the “Truth in Lending Statement” it usually becomes very hard to argue the “time vs. interest rate” point.
Proverbs 22:7 says, “The rich rule over the poor and the borrower is servant to the lender.” As the rule and not the exception Americans have become servants to their credit cards, car loans, and unfortunately, their mortgages. So the question you really need to ask yourself is, “Are you really interested in being a servant too?”
Lynnette Edwards is a licensed Financial Coach and has been in the industry since 2005. She can be reached at pfslynette@gmail.com
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
My Home List
Last was sitting on my bed and I put some thought into what I would like in my home. I decided to write out things that I want in and for my home.
I broke them down into two catergories.
Must Haves
I broke them down into two catergories.
Must Haves
- 1 or 2 car garage
- Lots of space
- Small yard
- Big closet space
- Convenient location to shopping area
- Foyer
- Townhome
- Hard Wood Floors
- security system
Wants
- Double Pan Windows
- X-Large bedrooms
- 2 1/2 bathrooms
- Fireplace
- Kitchen Nook
- Newly developed area
- vaulted ceilings
- good commute to work
- Sun Room
- Granite countertops
This is a good foundation for me to consider and keep up with. Somethings might get change around, but I think this is the "basis" of where I want to start.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Got the itch.......I want to buy!
It's time!!! I am 40 years old and I am ready to buy my first home. Like most first time home buyers, I have let:
- Fear
- Not having enough information
- Thinking my credit isn't good enough
- Won't be able to keep up with the mortgage
stop me for pursuing owning my own home. I have take some necessary steps to see where I am and what I can afford. From this point, I will know what I will need to do. I am going to create my want and must have lists. I have been watching more home buying shows and sometime what we want isn't necessarily want we need. This blog is going to be my journal for tracking my progress in home buying, posting pictures of homes/townhomes I like.
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