At Home With House Hunt

In This Issue

· Choose the Correct Products When Remodeling

· Places to Retire that Give You More Bang for Your Buck

· New Year's Resolution: Keep New Year's Resolutions!

· Fixing Bad Credit

· When to Do It Yourself and When to Hire It Done

· Seasonal Suggestion

·Past Issues: December, November, October, September,

Monthly Quote

“Ring out the old, ring in the new,
Ring, happy bells, across the snow:
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.”

-Alfred, Lord Tennyson, “Ring Out, Wild Bells,” 1809-1892, English Poet

Tip Of The Month

We are now well into winter, and many people have begun to feel the agony of high heating bills. If you are looking for a way to save money without instituting a “sweater rule” in your house, think about installing a programmable thermostat. You can save up to 15% by programming the temperature to be lower at night or when no one is home. Although each degree you lower the heat saves more money, do not swing the temperature more than 6 to 8 degrees, or your furnace will have to work overtime to bring the temperature up again.

HouseHunt.com | MoveUp.com | Market Conditions | Mortgage Info

Fixing Bad Credit

A combination of easy credit and increasingly tempting purchasing has led to a nation riddled with bad credit. And without good, or at least decent, credit, it becomes more and more difficult to qualify for financing in order to purchase a home. A recent Realty Times article discusses the scams that a number of unscrupulous companies have played on people, such as promising to improve credit scores for a fee. However, according to the non-profit organization, the Institute of Consumer Financial Education, you have to have time and patience to properly improve your credit rating. The ICFE is an example of an organization that dedicates its time to doing exactly that, helping consumers fix their credit through improved spending habits, increased savings accumulation and the better use of credit.

If you are wondering what factors go to make up your credit score, you are not alone. The circumstances and events that led to a bad credit rating can be mysterious; however, these four factors are the primary things involved:

Defaulting on your debts. This can be any kind of debt, ranging from credit cards to medical bills.
Paying slowly. If you have a history of paying your bills slowly, waiting for the second or third notice, then this can be a black mark against your name.
Credit cards. If a significant amount of your indebtedness is on credit cards, then this can be a red flag for lenders.
Maxed out credit. If you have maxed out all, or significantly all, of your credit lines, this is also a warning sign that affects your credit score.

The last thing that people with bad credit want to hear is that there is no easy solution to their problem. However, the situation is a difficult one, and it takes a lot of dedication to get to where you really want to be. By far, the best way to go about correcting your credit rating is to reverse the behavior that caused it in the first place. Once you start traveling down the right road, then all you have to do is wait for your credit rating to catch up to your new good intentions.

Two other things that you can do to help you on your way are: (1) Start sending in your monthly payments so that they arrive a day or two before the due date, and (2) Avoid becoming overextended or getting deeper in to debt.

There is no simple solution to bad credit, and anyone who promises otherwise is likely operating a scam. However, there are a number of things that you can start doing now to help you on your way. With these tips, home ownership can occur sooner than you expected!

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