Credit Information

Good Credit -- Essential for the Prospective Home Buyer





Credit is a funny thing. It can be a useful tool in the hands of an informed individual, or a weight of burden to the unsuspecting. One thing is for certain, you must have a decent credit score to attain a quality mortgage loan.

We speak to hundreds of individuals each month that are in the market to buy property. Unfortunately, many of them have less than desirable credit scores, and because of this, are not able to get prequalified for a loan.

There are numerous reasons for bad credit scores: bankruptcies, late payments, large credit balances, and a host of others. There are many legitimate reasons a person may have bad credit, but frankly, most of the people we talk to have simply made poor financial decisions.

In most cases, bad credit can be easily avoided:

1. On revolving credit card balances, make sure you pay your minimum balance each month. You will even receive a slight credit boost if you pay over your minimum amount, so do it if you can.

2. Avoid "maxing" out credit card accounts. Credit cards are good to have to build your credit, but make sure you keep your spending under control. Preferably, you should be able to pay off any CC balances completely in the same month you spent the money.

3. If you need to make any big purchases, avoid the temptation to place the entire purchase on your credit card. Instead, put money aside each month until you have enough for the purchase. Remember, just because you have a big spending limit on your cards, doesn't make it your money! You have to pay every penny back plus interest!

4. Try to think of a credit card as a tool for building credit as opposed to a tool for buying the things you want. You spend a small amount each month, and pay it off immediately. This will spike your credit score, and keep you out of CC debt.

5. Make sure to pull your credit rating at least twice a year. This will give you a good feel for what your score is, and most credit score reporting services will give you a detailed explanation for why your score is where it is. If you find any errors, make sure you report and resolve them immediately. It can be long and gruesome work to get a negative mark removed from your credit record, but it can be well worth it when it comes time to buy a house.

I hope some of these tips will be helpful for you as you try to be a good steward of your finances.

You may also want to check out these free resources:

www.FamilyCredit.org
www.DebtFreeChristian.org

Justin Smith is the President of the Christian Real Estate Network - http://www.HisMove.com


MORE RESOURCES:

Bloomberg

Chinese Nod for Citibank Credit Cards May Signal Market Opening
BusinessWeek
6 (Bloomberg) -- China's decision to allow Citigroup Inc. to issue credit cards in its own name may signal a step toward the government in Beijing opening its banking industry. New York-based Citigroup is the second foreign bank, and the first Western ...
Nod for Citibank's Credit Cards May Signal Chinese Banking Market OpeningBloomberg
Citi gets approval to issue credit card in ChinaBoston.com
Citi wins OK for Chinese credit cardCNN
Financial Times
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Credit Cards For Kids
San Francisco Chronicle
Should you give your child a credit card? Maybe. Credit cards are an increasingly common payment method in today's world, so the sooner your child learns to manage credit responsibly, the better. Can you teach your child to manage credit responsibly, ...
The 2012 Election & Your Credit CardsCredit.com News (blog)
Geithner: Financial Reform is Helping ConsumersBusiness Insider
US Consumers Paid Down Debt in 2011ACA International

all 4 news articles »


ABC News

Credit: Christopher Polk/Getty Images.
ABC News
Credit: Christopher Polk/Getty Images. Madonna went over the top with the Super Bowl halftime show as only the Queen of Pop could, doing a sequin and gold-studded medley of some of her greatest hits - "Vogue," "Like a Prayer" - and a couple of her ...
Video and Photos of Madonna's Super Bowl Halftime Show 2012: Pop Queen Stunned ...International Business Times

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Navigant Credit Union Selects Acumen From Fiserv
TheStreet.com (press release)
By Business Wire 02/06/12 - 09:00 AM EST Fiserv, Inc. (NASDAQ: FISV), a leading global provider of financial services technology solutions and the largest provider of business-driven technology solutions for credit unions, announced today that Navigant ...

and more »


Banks and Credit Unions: Making the Choice
LoanSafe
He's one of hundreds of thousands of people in recent months who are estimated to have acted on that ire to have made the switch from a bank to a credit union in the wake of November's Bank Transfer Day. But, until now, Fisher said he didn't realize he ...

and more »


Danish Credit Crunch Deepens as Firms Face Vicious Circle
San Francisco Chronicle
6 (Bloomberg) -- Denmark's credit crunch is getting worse as businesses accuse banks of withholding funds and the financial regulator warns that deteriorating asset quality may put more lenders out of business. "When we ask our companies, ...

and more »


ESPN (blog)

Brady: Credit to the Giants
ESPN (blog)
"I'd like to give the Giants a lot of credit," he said. "They certainly made the plays when they needed to. That is a very good football team. They put a lot of pressure on us. We just came up a little bit short. I think we had a couple of missed ...
Izenberg: Giants can credit this Super Bowl crown to their defenseThe Star-Ledger - NJ.com
Quarterbacks get too much credit for Super Bowl winsWashington Observer Reporter
Have We Given the Patriots Offensive Line Enough Credit?WEEI.com
KENS 5 TV -WXIA-TV -Los Angeles Times
all 17,041 news articles »


TEXT-S&P says European real estate should weather downside credit risks
Reuters
"We think that our macroeconomic forecast of a mild recession for the first half of the year will have a moderate effect on the operating performance of our rated Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) portfolio," said Standard & Poor's credit analyst ...

and more »


BofA Pulls Sale Of UK Credit-Card Business – Source
Wall Street Journal (blog)
By Jessica Hodgson The sale of MBNA Europe, Bank of America's UK and Ireland credit-card business, has been abandoned, a person familiar with the matter told Dow Jones Newswires Monday. AP A spokesman for Bank of America declined to comment Monday.
Bank of America Pulls Sale Of UK Credit-Card Business - SourceFox Business

all 7 news articles »


Credit card rates rise for rewards cards
Fox Business
Despite that, the rate on consumer rewards credit cards rose during the second half of January, pulling overall consumer credit card rates up as well. Even with the other categories remaining stable, when compared with the broader interest rate context ...
If you have any questions about rewards credit cards, please just fire away.USA TODAY (blog)

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