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Loannetter has flown the coop! I suppose I am remiss in not letting my blog followers know sooner but life has been exciting since I touched down in New Zealand in January 2016. I founded a new firm, Niche Mortgages , and am already up to my old tricks of client advocacy and networking. Feel free to contact me if you are seeking financing or just a cuppa should you find yourself wandering the beaches and volcanoes (yes, we have many of both) in Auckland. Do drop in! 

Does Credit Counseling 'Work'?

Credit Counseling Success Depends on YOU: Given that 70% of credit reports have errors, you may be surprised how hard it can be to correct just one item! If you have found this blog, chances are you have an issue that is not going away fast. It is generally true that it takes more time to rebuild your credit than the time it took to create the problem. Ah, hindsight! USA consumers have a right to correct and dispute items on their credit reports. You also have a right to receive Housing Counseling. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) offers a wealth of up to date advice on their site on how to build good credit and find an independent HUD counselor in your area who can advise you for little or no cost. It's a great starting point on your journey to better understanding of your finances.  Check out the CFPB: http://ww.consumerfinance.gov Alternatively if you Google "how to improve my credit score" you will be inundated with information. But th

Loan or Rental Application 101 - Cliffs Notes

Surviving the Loan or Rental Application Process: Facing a blank rental or loan application can be intimidating. There you are, wanting a new home, and this invasion of your privacy is staring back at you. Many adults go weak at the knees when they see the Uniform Loan Application Form 1003. Your average Rental Application makes the 1003 form look like a cakewalk.  Seriously, you don't have to divulge all. Just cover the basics and make a good presentation of yourself.  As I tell Homebuyer Education students: "You may feel we are rummaging through your underwear drawer!" The fact is landlords and lenders are sizing you up for their specific risk criteria and there is no other way for them to legally gather what they need, while considering your own legal right to fairness.  So why the overt scrutiny?  #1. Your landlord or lender wants reliable, responsible, stable tenants who can demonstrate an ability to pay them on time.  #2. Your loan officer or property manag

What's UP with FICO Scores Lately?

The 2010 FICO (r)  Scoring model which was finally introduced in 2011 didn't seem to have a lot of effect on credit reports we see. Or did it? With so much competition for mortgage loans against the backdrop of our housing crisis you'd think tinkering with the Credit Scoring system would be problematic. The purpose of these changes is to further define strong credit patterns and weed out non-issues which may cloud the picture. Lenders and other users of credit reports use scores and credit data to establish risk patterns so the new system supposedly refines some of their concerns. To date, the complex nature of scoring has left the door open to abuse by some people attempting to game the system by piggybacking their otherwise null or bad credit onto a good credit history of a relative by being named a joint user of an account. The new system cannow recognize if only your joint accounts are in good standing - so having fake joint accounts could potentially backfire. One o

Do You Have Too Much Debt?

Your Debt to Income Ratio is key to your loan approval. Here's how to beat the system. Your personal Debt to Income Ratio (DTI) is an important factor all lenders use to determine your credit worthiness. This ratio is essentially what you earn against what you are paying out each month for scheduled debt. If you have a high debt ratio, then your monthly living expenses will usually start to suffer and most people will start missing payments or let their credit balances creep higher. This is murder to your credit rating as all your creditors will see this trend when they view your statistics. Once your balances rise, your credit score dives, and up go your interest rates! So it pays to understand how this works. Literally. SAVE this Debt Evaluation Calculator link: http://tinyurl.com/msn-debtcalculator Essentially if you are over 30% of your availble credit balance and over 40% of your monthly income going out the door via regularly scheduled debt, you are going to star

Credit Recovery after Short Sale or Foreclosure:

Position Yourself to Purchase a Home Within 2 Years After a Foreclosure Using This Strategy: Generally, buyers who have past credit issues due to a financial crisis may be able to buy a home within three years from the incident. This varies by loan type and lender. Most lenders have their own underwriting guidelines on what they will accept and when. 620-640 FICO is the starting point for government insured loans. So for anyone going down this path, consider the recovery time to get your credit back into lending territory and note the recovery steps at the bottom of this post. Put them on your refrigerator! Given the sheer number of people in financial distress right now, consider that loan guidelines may change in the coming years. For more distressed borrower information, visit our other blog: www.equitytalks.blogspot.com How soon can you buy a home again? If you default on your home loan now, the clock starts ticking when the home is transferred to a new lender. NOT unfortuna

What's Your FICO Score Really Worth?

In today's market, personal credit scores are being skewed by a decline in average FICO ® scores. Why should you care? Well, if you are intending to get into debt responsibly in the coming year your FICO score is still the number one criteria your lender will use to determine your likelihood of paying them back. It's also one of the chief pricing factors to getting the best interest rate. That said, things are changing at a rapid pace. The newly minted FICO models are supposedly taking less consideration for small things like parking tickets but the really big defaults for big items like mortgages and car loans will weigh even more heavily as a result.  All defaults have less effect on your score as time goes on . With improved history that is! So it stands to reason that if more homeowners take the 'walkaway' option the impact will be figured into the score models for that particular historical period of consumer behavior. Essentially scoring models are averages o