Chance Gates' Blog

Your credit score will directly affect how much and at what rate you will be able to borrow from a lender.  Whether you’re looking to purchase a home or simply finance a car, you should always have an idea of what your score is and what factors may affect it.

A great way to start understanding your credit is to obtain an actual copy of your credit report.  According to the “Fair and Accurate Transactions Act” (FACT ACT), you are entitled to receive a free copy of your report from all three major credit companies.  Your actual scores will be missing from the report as you are only entitled to receive the report itself for free.  If you are interested in seeing your scores, you will have to pay.  Each company uses a slightly different format, but once you start to go through them you will get an idea of how things are being reported.

Some factors that will bring down your scores are as follows:

1. Maxing out your available credit.

2. Having few lines of credit with low use.

3. Applying for credit at many places within a short period of time.

4. Errors and multiple entries on your report.

5. Allowing unpaid bills to go into collection agencies.

Factors that will improve your scores:

1. Constantly using your credit

2. Paying your credit/bills back on time.

3. Multiple lines of credit in good standards.

A great way to enhance your credit is to obtain around 4 different lines of credit.  Use them to buy your big ticket items, and try to pay them down as fast as you can.  But be careful not to pay them down to zero.  Most lenders and other creditors want to see that you are using your credit often, but not over exhausting your limit.  If they don’t see enough activity, they don’t have much information to judge your amount of credit responsibility on.

When you review your credit report, be on the lookout for items that shouldn’t be there.  Most items are suppose to drop off after seven years (there are some exceptions), however sometimes you will see things that are still being reported that shouldn’t be.  Any accounts that you closed should state “closed by consumer.”  Many times you will find that these accounts are being reported as “closed by creditor.”  This type of reporting has a negative impact on your credit.  Sometimes you will also find the same account being reported multiple times.  If it’s an account in good standing, this isn’t really a problem.  However if a negative account is being reported twice, it may be impacting your credit more than it should.

As a Reno/Sparks real estate professional, I encourage all questions or comments on the Reno/Sparks real estate market or any of the articles posted on this blog.  I can be reached by email at:   chance at ballard-company.com or http://www.myspace.com/chancegates

The Federal Housing Administration will raise the minimum down payment for its least credit-worthy borrowers, the agency announced Tuesday.

The change is among a number of major changes the FHA is making to ensure its long-term financial soundness.

Borrowers with credit-rating scores below 580 will be required to put down at least 10 percent. Those with a credit score above 580 will be able to continue to put down only 3.5 percent. The changes are intended to shore up the agency’s finances.

The FHA also will increase its upfront mortgage insurance premium from 1.75 percent to 2.25 percent. The agency is expected to seek congressional approval to raise annual mortgage insurance premiums, paid by borrowers over the life of the loan, above the current 0.55 percent maximum. The amount it will seek has yet to be announced.

For more information on the FHA changes, inlcuding a summary of all changes, visit

REALTOR.org.

Chance Gates does welcome any questions or comments on the Reno/Sparks real estate market or on any articles that may be posted.  Send your  emails  to  chance at ballard-company.com

Related articles by Zemanta

• Harder to get an Uncle Sam mortgage (money.cnn.com)

FHA interest rates down to 5%
First time tax credit of $8000

Low FICO score programs
First time home buyer programs
Rural housing 100% loan programs
As a Reno – Sparks real estate consultant I encourage any questions or  comments on the Reno – Sparks real estate market or about any of the articles I post.  You can email me at chance@ballard-company.com

Related articles by Zemanta

• Mortgage Rate Update 1/22/10 (wallingfordwired.com)
• Your FICO Score and You (personalloans.org)
• FHA Announces New Changes (seattlecondosandlofts.com)

Chance Gates does welcome any questions or comments on the Reno/Sparks real estate market or on any articles that may be posted.  Send your  emails  to  chance at ballard-company.com