Free Credit Report Repair Tips and Faqs






Free Credit Report Repair Tips and Faqs

Sunday, November 30, 2008

Are Bank Foreclosures a good buy?



There is one thing for sure, perception affects any market. You hear “buyers market” and buyers think they are going to get this magnificent deal on a home. Regardless of who owns a home, the owner’s want what the market will allow for that particular home. That is the case with bank foreclosures. Just because a bank took back a home does not mean you will get any better of a deal than if you bought that home from the original owner.

In some cases depending on the bank you can get a one of their properties for usually between .75cents to .90 cents on the dollar. But one thing I assure you is the bank will do what is called a B.P.O. on the property. The asset manager usually requests this from the realtor that will be listing their properties for them. B.P.O. is broker price opinion, which will give the real value of the home in that particular real estate market it’s in.

What’s does this mean for a buyer? Let me ask you this, if it was your house to sell wouldn’t you find out the true value of your asset to get some idea what you could sell that asset for? Absolutely….. You would. Banks done give homes away, they sell them to get that home off their books for market value.

So if you are in the market currently for a home, don’t get this idea that you will get a home for nothing just because the home is a foreclosure, even if that home has been on the market for 2 years. A bank or Asset manager is not ignorant. They know what the house is worth, and if you offer them some ridiculous offer they might refuse to deal with you period. Asset managers are extremely busy in this market and don’t have time to deal with offers that are a waste of time.

Yes, in some cases you can get a home for a little less than current market value, but you have to shop around and have a very experienced real estate professional at your side.

One more note, it’s called a buyers market because the homes for sale out weigh the number of buyers out there.





CreditScoreQuick.com your resource for credit reports, credit cards, and free credit report repair advice.

Labels:

Saturday, July 5, 2008

Life after a Foreclosure

Your life during a foreclosure might seem never ending. A foreclosure does affect your credit score report, but the good news is there is life afterwards. If you have fell victim to the Sub-Prim meltdown which caused you to loose your home, I will explain to you how you can recover from this fairly quick. Obviously anytime you have a negative mark on your credit report it will stay on there for 7 years. The positive side is you can implement some good credit management steps to recover.

It will be a minimum of 3 years after foreclosure date before you can buy a house again. FHA and Conventional loans have a 3 year seasoning requirement before they will allow you to get financed. By implementing what I am about to teach you, you can still get your credit in the right direction.

Step 1: Late Payments
Make sure you don’t have anymore late payments on any of your other obligations. Late payments will destroy your credit.

Step 2: Credit
Make sure you have at least 3 lines of credit reporting on your credit report. This could be a couple of credit cards, secured credit cards, car loans, and installment loans.

Step 3: Rental
Make sure you have excellent rental history. Don’t be late on your payments to your landlord. When you get ready go buy a new home in 3 years, this is a must, and make sure the rental payment is fairly close to what you new mortgage payment would be. The reason is if you are ready to buy a home and your rental was $400 to $500 less than your new mortgage payment, the bank will consider that payment shock. So watch this closely.

Step 4: Savings
Save your money, you should have at least 6 months worth of mortgage payments in your savings. The banks like to see that you have the ability to save.

Step 5: Learn from your mistakes
After you have experienced a foreclosure, make sure you don’t have the something happen again. Fair Isaac the creator of the FICO score will forgive credit mistakes, but the new FICO 08 does not forgive repeat offenders too well. So don’t make the same mistakes twice.

Stuff comes up during our little journey here on earth, but we can make matters a lot better with good credit management. If you are not rich, there will come a time where you need to borrow money. It can be a little frustrating when you need a loan and you cannot get one because of bad credit. Once you implement what I have mentioned you will be well on your way to good credit health.

About the Author: Mike Clover is the owner of http://www.creditscorequick.com/. CreditScoreQuick.com is the one of the most unique on-line resources for free credit score report, fico score, free credit check, identity theft protection, secured credit cards, student credit cards , credit cards, mortgage loans, auto loans, insurance, debt consolidation ,and a BlOG with a wealth of personal credit information. The information within this website is written by professionals that know about credit, and what determines ones credit worthiness

Labels: , , , ,

Monday, May 26, 2008

Foreclosure Crisis – Learn what Lenders don’t want you to know

Did you know most of the foreclosures taking place now could have been avoided? With all the foreclosures taking place because of adjustable rate mortgages (ARM’s), this could have been avoided if the lender had put the borrowers in a 30yr fixed mortgage. During the real estate boom, individuals that had less than perfect credit were put into sub-prime loans. There were millions of families put into sub-prime loans that had the qualifications to go FHA, which is a 30 yr fixed mortgage. The reason why was because there were many mortgage companies that did not have the necessary funds to get their license to originate FHA loans. So the mortgage company had no choice but to stick their client into a sub-prime ARM loan. Was this unethical, I would have to say yes. Also the mortgage companies that were sticking people in 2 year Sub prime loans sold everyone on 2 yr ARMs when they could have put them in a 30yr fixed sub-prime loan. Here is what took place.

2 year ARM sales pitch.
Here is what mortgage companies sold to potential borrowers. Sir or Mam you don’t have the credit to go with a prime conventional loan but we can put you into a 2 yr ARM. With good credit history we can refinance you in 2 years into a 30 year fixed mortgage. This is what was being told all over the United States. Guess what? These people could have been put into a 30 year fixed sub prime mortgage as well. But the rate was lower on a 2 year ARM, and the lender made more money selling the ARM loan. Also the lender would get there business again two years down the road. So it was like machine during the real estate boom. This is the secret that lenders did not want you to know, and most of them never gave the option to the potential borrower.

The builder problem
During this boom the builders were doing more than selling 2 year ARMs, they were selling low payments. They would sell all these bogus incentives to use their mortgage company and along with the bad loan they were put into they sold them on low payments because of the un-improved taxes on the property. Yes there was this sneaky disclosure used to explain un-improved property taxes at closing, but they blew through it so quick the borrower never really understood it. Also the loan officer providing the loan never explained the repercussions of not collecting escrows for the mortgage. Most of the 2 year sub-prime borrowers with builders did not escrow their taxes and insurances. That is the other way they were sold on this whole process. During the excitement of this whole process, the borrower did not see the danger down the road. To talk a little about un-improved property taxes, here is how that nightmare works. When you buy a property, the taxes on the property if it’s a new build is usually based on the land only. That is why the taxes and along with you payment is so low. But guess what, you will have an escrow shortage in about a year. Which means your payment will go up around $300 to $400 dollars. This is part of the reason for the foreclosures as well. Builders pretty much do what ever they want due to a lack of good legislation.

2 year ARM is up
Your 2 year ARM is up, and you now have two problems. First you cannot refinance because you don’t have the credit. Second your property value has declined and you don’t have the equity to roll in closing costs which is required to do a refinance, unless you have the money to pay all your closing costs. Since you cannot refinance your payment jumps up around $400 dollars and now you cannot afford your home. This is what is going on all over the country.

This is a example of how greed is going to destroy our country. It’s unfortunate that our lending industry took advantage of people. This is going to affect us for a while. If you found yourself in this situation, the best thing you can do is work on your credit, and make sure you pay everything on time.

Check your free credit score report often so you know where you stand credit wise.


CreditScoreQuick.com is the one of the most unique on-line resources for free credit score report, fico score, free credit check, identity theft protection, secured credit cards, student credit cards , credit cards, mortgage loans, auto loans, insurance, debt consolidation ,and a BlOG with a wealth of personal credit information. The information within this website is written by professionals that know about credit, and what determines ones credit worthiness.

Labels: , , ,

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Foreclosure Q & A

Foreclosures are pretty active currently across the country. As more and more adjustable rate mortgages (ARM’s) are set to expire, and the values of the homes continue to fall, the home owner has no choice but to foreclose on thier home. The reason is the value is not in the home to roll in the closing costs associated with a refinance. With all of this going on there is hope to buy a home in the near future, as long as you take the necessary steps to get your credit report and credit scores revived.


Q:
Hi Mike,
I recently had a foreclosure due to my ARM expiring, we did not have the credit nor the value to refinance our house. So we had no choice but to let it go. I feel like we really got taken advantage of with the bad loan we were put in. My question to you is how long will it be before we can buy again, and what necessary steps do we need to take so we can buy.
Thanks for your help
Teresa Blonde
Colorado Springs, Colorado

A:
Foreclosures are definitely one of those situations that is not pleasant. All of these subprime loans that were giving were like a double edged sword, if you did not go with the subprime loan you did not get a house, if you went along with the subprime loan you got a house with ugly terms. Anyways, in order to buy a home, you will have to wait a minimum of 3 years.FHA loans will be the type of financing you will be able to get. They require 3 years from foreclosures date. In regards to your credit, depending on what type of credit you have if any, you will need at least 3 lines of credit reporting on your credit report. For example; a couple of credit cards, and maybe a car loan. If you don’t have any credit, you will need to get a couple of secured credit cards. You can get these cards at our site, www.creditscorequick.com/secured_cards.
Mike Clover
CreditScoreQuick.com


About the Author: Mike Clover is the owner of http://www.creditscorequick.com/. CreditScoreQuick.com is the one of the most unique on-line resources for free credit score report, fico score, free credit check, identity theft protection, secured credit cards, student credit cards , credit cards, mortgage loans, auto loans, insurance, debt consolidation ,and a BlOG with a wealth of personal credit information. The information within this website is written by professionals that know about credit, and what determines ones credit worthiness.

Labels: , ,

Friday, May 16, 2008

How a foreclosure affects your credit report & credit scores

Your credit report and credit score can be affected by a lot of things, a foreclosure is just like any other bad mark on your credit report, it will lower your credit scores. Foreclosures are not like unsecured debt, where they can take you to court, or put it in collection. Depending on the loan type you had, the mortgage loans are insured. So if you foreclose on the home, and the bank can recover the losses the bank can put a claim on the Private Mortgage Insurance that the home carries.

Private Mortgage Insurance
Lenders mortgage insurance (LMI), also known as Private mortgage insurance (PMI)in the US, is insurance payable to a lender or trustee for a pool of securities that may be required when taking out a mortgage loan. It is insurance to offset losses in the case where a mortgagor is not able to repay the loan and the lender is not able to recover its costs after foreclosure and sale of the mortgaged property.

The damage after a foreclosure
After you have had a foreclosure, you can count on your credit being ruined for about 3 years. One of the reason is the late payment will go on for about 120 days. Like I have discussed in other articles late payment is one of the problems here, it will lower your scores in the low 400’s. Once the bank quits reporting late payments and the home forecloses, at that point you can begin the credit report building process. It does no good to try to fix a credit report if you are still having late payments. If and when you are back on your feet as a result of a foreclosure, it will take a minimum of three years before you can purchase a home again. Freddie, Fannie, and HUD have a 3 year requirement before you can purchase a home again. That seasoning date starts from the foreclosure date. In other words you will not be able to buy a home for 3 years from foreclosure date.

What should you do after a foreclosure?
The best way to approach this is to put the whole ordeal behind you, and make sure it does not happen again. Go ahead a pull a copy of your free credit score report to see where you are at. Once you have done that you will have a better idea of where your credit scores stand. If for some reason you had to let other credit go, make sure your re-establish good credit. The best way to do that is with secured credit cards to start the re-building process of your credit scores.

UltraVX Visa®


About the Author: Mike Clover is the owner of http://www.creditscorequick.com/. CreditScoreQuick.com is the one of the most unique on-line resources for free credit score report, fico score, free credit check, identity theft protection, secured credit cards, student credit cards , credit cards, mortgage loans, auto loans, insurance and a BlOG with a wealth of personal credit information. The information within this website is written by professionals that know about credit, and what determines ones credit worthiness.

Labels: , , ,

Friday, April 18, 2008

Why it’s a “Good Time to Buy a Home.”

You cannot turn on the TV or listen to the radio without hearing about the housing market. The main reason the housing market is getting so much publicity is because the Sub-Prime loans affected Wall Street. Obviously if this happens it affects banks that are holding this particular paper in their portfolio. Despite all the bad publicity due to bad loans being underwritten over the years, it’s still a great time to buy a home. There are loans out there that will allow credit challenged families to buy a house with good terms and decent interest rates. This particular loan is FHA. We are currently in a FHA market nation wide. This loan has been around since the 1930’s and is the most aggressive loan in the banking industry. So if this loan will allow challenged credit to obtain financing with good terms, why would you not try to buy? Here are the advantages of the current housing market.

• Lots of homes to choose from.
• Value of homes falling, which means better deals.
• Interest rates are still low.
• FHA allows down payment assistance.
• Motivated sellers.
• Lots of short sales available.
• Lots of Builder reductions.
• Challenged Credit Loans available.






Quite contrary to popular belief you currently don’t need perfect credit to buy a home. If you know of a good FHA Broker, then get with that broker to see if you can get FHA financing. Banks typically are a lot more strict than Brokers whom sale their loans to small wholesale lenders. If you are in the market to buy, there are tons of good deals out there, a home that cost $750,000 3 years ago, might be $550,000 today. There is this that much difference in homes sales around the country currently. Yes currently loan underwriting guidelines have changed; you need more than a pulse to buy a home. Your credit report history is being looked more closely. Here is an article on FHA basics. FHA still has the same guidelines it had 5 years ago, but the lender requirements have changed. For example FHA has no credit score requirement, but the lenders buying the loans require a minimum of a 580 credit score in order to underwrite a FHA loan. Regardless, if you are still able to get a loan with a 580 credit score, I would have to say that is pretty aggressive in today’s market.




About the Author: Mike Clover is the owner of http://www.creditscorequick.com/. CreditScoreQuick.com is the one of the most unique on-line resources for free credit score report, fico score, identity theft protection, secured credit cards, student credit cards , mortgage loans, auto loans, insurance and a BlOG with a wealth of personal credit information. The information within this website is written by professionals that know about credit, and what determines ones credit worthiness

Labels: , , , , , ,

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Tips for Avoiding Foreclosure

Are you currently having trouble making your mortgage payment? Has your mortgage company sent you notice or called you?

* Contact your lender immediately
* Contact a HUD-approved Housing Counseling Agency
* Don’t ignore the letters and calls from your lender
* TTY (800) 877-8339
* Toll FREE (800) 569-4287

If you are not able to make your mortgage payment:

1. Contact your lender as soon as you realize there is a problem.
Lenders don’t want your house back. They have options to help families that are going through tough financial times.


2. Don’t ignore that there is a problem.
The further you get behind the hard it is to reinstate the loan, and you will more likely loose your house.


3. Undertand foreclosure prevention options.
Valuable information about foreclosure prevention (also called loss mitigation) options can be found on the internet at www.fha.gov/foreclosure/index.cfm


4. Open and respond to all your mail from lender.
The first notices you receive will offer good information about foreclosure prevention. The mail that will come later will give notice of pending legal action. Your failure to open your mail will not be a excuse in foreclosure court.


5. Know your mortgage rights.
Find your mortgage documents so you can find out what your options are with your currently lender if you can’t make your payment. Learn about the foreclosure laws and timeframes for your state by contacting the State Government Housing Office. Every states laws and timeframe are different.


6. Prioritize your spending
After healthcare, keeping your house is your first priority. Review your finances and see where you can start cutting back on spending. Look for luxury expenses like cable, memberships, and entertainment you can eliminate.


7. Contact a HUD-approved housing counselor

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) funds free or low cost housing counseling nationwide. Housing counselors can help you understand your options and the law; also they will organize your finances and represent you in the negotiations with your current lender if you need assistance. Find a HUD-approved housing counselor near you or call (800) 569-4287 or TTY (800) 877-8339

8. Avoid foreclosure preventions companies
You don’t need to pay fees for foreclosure prevention help-use that money to pay the mortgage instead. Many for-profit companies will contact you promising to negotiate with your lender. While these may be legitimate businesses, they will charge you a hefty fee (typically two or three month’s mortgage payment) for information and services your lender or a HUD approved housing counselor will provide you for FREE if you contact them.


9. Use your assets
Do you have assets, jewelry, a whole life insurance policy that you could sell to help re-instate your loan? Can anyone in your household get a extra job to bring in additional income? Even if these efforts don’t significantly increase your available cash or your income, they will demonstrate to your lender that you are willing to make personal sacrifices to keep your home.


10. Don’t lose your house to foreclosure recovery scams !
If any firm claims they can stop your foreclosure immediately if you sign a document appointing them to act on your behalf, you may well be signing over the title of your property and becoming a renter in your own home ! Never sign a legal document without reading and understanding all the terms and getting professional advice from an attorney, a trusted real estate professional, or a HUD approved housing counselor.


About the Author: Mike Clover is the owner of http://www.creditscorequick.com/. CreditScoreQuick.com is the one of the most unique on-line resources for free credit score report, fico score, Internet identity theft software, secure credit cards, student credit cards , and a BlOG with a wealth of personal credit information. The information within this website is written by professionals that know about credit, and what determines ones credit worthiness


Labels:

Sunday, April 6, 2008

Fast Free Credit Report Repair

Credit Report Repair is a huge business currently. There are credit repair companies opening up all over the U.S. With all of the credit issues our country faces as a result of foreclosures, high credit card debt, loss of jobs and an economy going into a recession, credit repairs companies are having a field day. According the FTC most credit repair companies prey on the desperate in hopes of a miracle. The FTC claims that self help is best.

Check your Credit Report
Don’t worry checking your free credit score report does not affect your credit score. The first step after you have had some issues in the past is to pull a copy of your credit report with all 3 credit scores. This type of report will show you what is on there. That way you can start the negotiating process. Contrary to popular belief, you cannot get collections; charge offs, judgments, foreclosures, or slow pays removed from your report. Alls of these types of derogatory matters stay on your report between 7 to 10 yrs.

How to negotiate
Once you have pulled a copy of your credit report with scores, now you can determine which collections to pay off. Always start with the small collections. If you have a collection that says you owe $450.00 to OSI, which is a medical collection company, offer them $150.00. Make sure if you offer them a amount you can afford you follow through with the agreement. After you have come to an agreement, ask for a letter to delete from the Bureaus. If you are able to get a letter to delete from the bureaus, then you can send this letter to all 3 credit bureaus to delete the collection. This is top priority. If you cannot get the collection company to give you a letter to delete, then make sure you get the letter they provide. Sometimes these collection companies will not update the bureaus like they are required by law. Typically what they will provide depending on the agreed upon negotiations, is a letter that says either paid in full or settled.

Check for inaccurate information
Along with paying off debt you owe, you also need to check for information that is not correct. Like collections or obligations that are not yours. This is very common on credit reports. If there is information on your credit report that is incorrect, disputes it on line. Here is a good place to do this. www.creditscorequick.com/sitemap. Some professionals recommend disputing via certified mail, but we have got the same results via on-line dispute, plus it’s faster. Now if you need to send in a letter to the credit bureaus, then you have to send the letter along with the dispute via certified mail. The disputing process depends on the situation of the collections. For example: if you filed a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy, and it’s been on your credit report for more than 10 yrs, you can dispute this on line. This is because Chapter 7 Bankruptcies are only suppose to be on your report for 10 years from original file date. You don’t need letter to dispute this because the credit bureau can call and verify original file date.

Revisit your Credit Report
Once you have knocked out a bunch of collections and charge offs re-pull your report. Don’t pull it until at least 90 days after you have paid a bunch of collections. The reason for doing this is you want to make sure these companies are updating the credit bureaus. If is very common for collections companies not update information like they are required to do. You also want to give the collection companies time to update as well. Usually they will take 30 to 60 days to send in the necessary information to update your credit report. Give it some time, and with a little hard work you will be able to revive your bad credit.

Re-establish credit
While you are taking care of old debts, you need to be establishing new ones. Yes, you heard me correct, in order for your credit scores to increase you need some good credit reporting as well. The quickest way to get this going is to get a secured credit card. Orchard Bank has one of the best credit cards, which will allow you to establish credit, even after a bankruptcy. The reason this is so important is because you began the process of good credit reporting to all 3 credit bureaus. It will not hurt to get a couple of secured credit cards. Once you have some good payment history on these cards you will get offers from other credit card companies. The one thing you want to remember is don’t make the same mistake twice. Use your credit cards with care, and make sure you are never late on them. If you are late then you defeat this entire process.

About the Author: Mike Clover is the owner of http://www.creditscorequick.com/. CreditScoreQuick.com is the one of the most unique on-line resources for free credit score report, fico score, Internet identity theft software, secure credit cards, student credit cards , and a BlOG with a wealth of personal credit information. The information within this website is written by professionals that know about credit, and what determines ones credit worthiness




Labels: , , , , , , , ,

Monday, March 24, 2008

Will the current mortgage crisis affect you?

What is the current Crisis
Over the last 10 years our country went through a real estate boom. There were three categories of loans being provided. The first was Prime, the second was Alt a, and the third was Sub-Prime loans. Typically any loan less than Prime had higher rates because of the risk of the borrower. The Sub prime loan was a creative loan that was provided and is currently the reason for around 46% of foreclosures in the U.S. This is astonishing if you think about it, and is the cause for a downturn in our economy. When you have this type of debt being wrote off, someone is affected. That is why our banking industry has had a liquidity problem. There were more loans being bought back than there was cash in the bank.

Insight on reason for foreclosures
Most of the mortgages given during this real estate boom that were Sub-Prime were adjustable rate mortgages (ARM). This type of loan looked very attractive with its initial “low teaser rates”, which typically expired after 2 years. Most of these loans were set to reset between 2 to 5 years which would cause the payment to increase dramatically. The selling point on these loans over the years was, if you keep your credit rating good you can refinance your ARM loan into a 30yr fixed mortgage once the ARM reset. Unfortunately with the declining property values and the tightening up on underwriting guideline it has made it impossible to refinance these types of loans. The result is the mortgage payment will increase dramatically and a foreclosure to follow afterwards. Since all of this has taken place we are seeing global implications on foreign investors that might have put there stock in Mortgage backed securities. IN other words investors global wide are pulling there interest out of these types of loans. Since the book is still being written on this crisis we anticipate the overall economy to feel the strain of this unfortunate crisis and for ARM loans to be less common in the future.

What can I do about my current ARM loan?
Here are the steps in regards to determining whether you can refinance your current loan.

* Determine if you have the current credit to refinance into a FHA Secure loan
* Determine if you have the equity to refinance your current mortgage
* Call your loan officer to determine if they can help you

If you feel you are not going to be able to afford your mortgage payment, call your lender before you are late on payments. Make arrangements with them rather than not notify them at all. If you find that your lender will not work with you there are counselors that you can talk to.
Here is a list:

Hope Now
An alliance between counselors (HUD approved), servicers and investors that strives to keep homeowners in their homes by helping them renegotiate their loans.http://www.hopenow.com/

Homeownership Preservation Foundation
A nonprofit that creates partnerships with local governments, nonprofit organizations, borrowers and lenders to help families overcome obstacles that could result in the loss of their homes.http://www.995hope.org/

Counseling Agencies Approved by HUD Developments
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) sponsors housing counseling agencies throughout the country that can provide advice on buying a home, renting, defaults, foreclosures, credit issues, and reverse mortgages.http://www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/sfh/hcc/hcs.cfm

NeighborWorks Center for Foreclosure Solutions
Works to preserve homeownership in the face of rising foreclosure rates.http://www.nw.org/

Financial Education/Assistance
My Money Management
A collaborative effort by the financial services industry to provide consumers with access to financial education to help inform their personal finance decision process.http://www.mymoneymanagement.net/

FHASecure plan
A refinancing option that gives credit-worthy homeowners, who were making timely mortgage payments before their loans reset but are now in default, a second chance with a FHA insured loan product.http://portal.hud.gov/

Here are some helpful tips for avoiding foreclosure from U.S. Housing and Urban Development.


About the Author: Mike Clover is the owner of http://www.creditscorequick.com/. CreditScoreQuick.com is the one of the most unique on-line resources for free credit score report, fico score, Internet identity theft software, secure credit cards, student credit cards , and a BlOG with a wealth of personal credit information. The information within this website is written by professionals that know about credit, and what determines ones credit worthiness

Labels: , , , , , ,

Sunday, March 16, 2008

Revive Credit Report after Foreclosure

Foreclosure is a common subject these days, but there is life after having one. If you have recently had a foreclosure on your credit report, you will be able to recover from this bad experience. Fair Isaac with its new FICO 08 with due time will forgive you for a foreclosure as long as you are not a repeat offender. This new calculated risk software understands that unfortunate situations come up in ones life, but don’t make the same mistake again. Definitely don’t make it a habit of having credit problems is the point.

How long will it take before you can buy again?
Your credit report might recover quickly as long as you have other good standing credit reporting on your credit report. But that does not mean you can buy a home right a way. Most people that have foreclosures usually take time to recover from such a bad experience. HUD knows this, and that is why you cannot get a FHA loan for a minimum of three years from foreclosure date. It’s almost impossible to get a Conventional loan, because conventional loans are automated approvals. Typically with a foreclosure, collections or low scores this automated software will deny you. FHA is a different type loan all together, since it’s a government insured loan you can get what they call a manual underwrite for this type of loan. What this means is if the automated process through Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae says no, you can get an underwriter to manually approve the loan. So you can expect to wait at least a minimum of 3 years after foreclosure date before you can begin to think about financing a home again.

Pay everything on-time
When a bank lends you money, it’s a big risk. Banks don’t want to lend money to someone that has total disregard for their credit. If you have had a recent foreclosure the last thing you want to do is have late payments, collections or any other negative information hit your credit report. Let’s face it, the whole reason banks, mortgage companies, car dealers, landlords, and employers pull your credit repot is to see if you pay your debts. I personally would not lend to someone that did not pay their bills back, would you? With the recent tightening up in the lending arena you might want really work on increasing your credit score. Also make sure you have at least 3 lines of credit reporting on your report. If you had to let everything go, you might consider getting a secured credit card. This type of card will help you re-establish your free credit score report.

Save Money
Saving money is very important when it comes to getting a loan. Lenders like to see you saving money because it shows stability. Let’s assume you loose your job, well if you have 6 months payments in the bank you are less likely to let your house go. If a emergency comes up you have some money in the bank to assist in some way. Saving money also shows you are responsible as well. Let’s say two people go to the bank to get a loan and they both have bad credit. The main difference between the two bad credit borrowers is one has $5000.00 in the bank. Who do you think the bank is more likely to approve? These are some key point I wanted to touch on to revive your credit after a foreclosure. There is life after so make sure you manage your credit report and credit scores so you can begin home ownership soon.

About the Author: Mike Clover is the owner of http://www.creditscorequick.com/. CreditScoreQuick.com is the one of the most unique on-line resources for free credit score report, fico score, Internet identity theft software, secure credit cards, and a BlOG with a wealth of personal credit information. The information within this website is written by professionals that know about credit, and what determines ones credit worthiness

Labels: , , , , , , , ,

Friday, March 14, 2008

New Home Builders – Big Reason for Foreclosures

This is a subject that most are not talking about, because I don’t believe anyone realizes “The Big Problem” with new home builders. Currently everyone is talking about the credit crunch and liquidity problems in the banking industry. I personally know that a big part of the problems we are having with foreclosures are the result of home builder’s nation wide. I guarantee you if you did a foreclosure search nationwide, you would find that the highly populated foreclosure areas are primarily new home builders. Hmmmmmm, you might be wondering…….. what is going on ? Here is what happens when you buy a home with a builder. You get told that if you don’t use their mortgage company, there Title Company, you will not get all these incentives. Typically these incentives range from $10,000 to $20,000 in upgrades, and having your title policy paid by seller.

Here is the SCAM, they don’t tell you.
You don’t actually get any kind of incentive; you just pay more for the house. If you have a seasoned realtor that is ethical and can look past the realtor bonus they get from these builders, they will negotiate a better deal on your behalf. If you can see through the smoking mirrors that these on-site greedy sales people pitch, you will soon realize they are ripping everyone off. Lets face it folks, they are not giving you anything, they are just increasing the cost of the home for the consumer by inflating the sale price. I am sure someone has experienced what I am about to say. You bought your house, for a certain sales price. A year later that builder is building that same house for $20,000 to $30,000 less than what you paid for your house. Interesting huh? Well it’s going on all over the U.S. The real problem is there is not enough regulation for builders because they are lining the pockets of government officials to veto any bill that would hinder there profits.

New Home Property Tax issues
Here is the big reason why builder’s communities have a high density of foreclosures. When you buy a new home with a builder, the taxes that the seller gives you a credit for is bases on unimproved property taxes. This is what causes escrow shortage all around the U.S. and causes families to loose there home. Example:

1. New Home Sales Price: $200,000
2. Value of Land: $25,000
3. Purchase month: August
4. Tax Credit from seller up to Purchase date: $500.00
5. Tax Credit should be from seller: $4000
6. Tax Shortage: $3500.00
Taxes are based on 3% of Sales price

This is an example of how escrow shortages take place and cause buyers to foreclose on their properties. The fix, would be to have the mortgage company collect on improved property taxes, and have the builder give a tax credit on closing settlement statement based on tax rates for area. This would fix the problem with escrow shortages within builder communities. This currently does not take place everywhere like it should; through all the smoking mirrors and sales bull the buyer gets screwed. They end up getting the short end of the stick, be sold on a mortgage payment that does not include the correct tax figure, when it’s actually going to go up because there taxes are wrong. Buyers beware when you buy with a new home builder. Don’t get caught up in the sales pitch, and end up loosing your home because they were just interested in making a sale. There sales tactics could cause a foreclosure which will ruin your credit report and credit scores. Don’t buy a new home without doing lots of research. Also don’t believe the incentive tactic, because is just a sale gimmick.

About the Author: Mike Clover is the owner of http://www.creditscorequick.com/. CreditScoreQuick.com is the one of the most unique on-line resources for free credit score report, fico score, Internet identity theft software, secure credit cards, and a BlOG with a wealth of personal credit information. The information within this website is written by professionals that know about credit, and what determines ones credit worthiness.

Labels: , , , , , , , , , , ,