8 Ways to Improve Your Credit

Credit scores, along with your overall income and debt, are a big factor in determining if you’ll qualify for a loan and what loan terms you’ll be able to qualify for.

1. Check for and correct errors in your credit report. Mistakes happen and you could be paying for someone else’s poor financial management.

2. Pay down credit card bills. If possible, pay off the entire balance every month. However, transferring credit card debt from one card to another could lower your score.

3. Don’t charge your credit cards to the maximum limit

4. Wait 12 months after credit difficulties to apply for a mortgage. You’re penalized less for problems after a year

5. Don’t purchase big-ticket items for your new home on credit cards until after the loan is approved. The amounts will add to your debt.

6. Don’t open new credit card accounts before applying for a mortgage. Having too much available credit can lower your score.

7. Shop for mortgage rates all at once. Too many credit applications can lower your score, but multiple inquiries from the same type of lender are counted as one inquiry if submitted over a short period of time.

8. Avoid finance companies. Even if you pay the loan on time, the interest is high and it will probably be considered a sign of poor credit management.

To obtain a complete copy of the publication, “knowing and understanding your credit” visit http://www.homebuyingguide.org

5 Factors That Decide Your Credit Score

Credit scores range between 200 and 800. Scores above 620 are considered desirable for obtaining a mortgage. These factors will affect your score.

1. Your payment history. Whether you paid credit card obligations on time.

2. How much you owe. Owing a great deal of money on numerous accounts can indicate that you are overextended.

3. The length of your credit history. In general, the longer the better.

4. How much new credit you have. New credit, either installment payments or new credit cards, are considered more risky, even if you pay promptly.

5. The types of credit you use. Generally, it’s desirable to have more than one type of credit – installment loans, credit cards and a mortgage, for example.

For more on evaluating and understanding your credit score, go to http://www.myfico.com

Click Here to Visit Venture Companies Today for ALL Your Real Estate needs – Servicing North Carolina

Let me first begin by giving you a little background about myself. I graduated from Clemson University in 1994 with a degree in Finance and have an MBA from University of North Carolina at Charlotte. I served 9 years in the South Carolina National Guard as an Engineer Officer where I gained invaluable experience. I got my Real Estate license in 1999 and formed Thompson Realty along with my wife, Kim, who’s also a graduate of Clemson with an MBA in Accounting from UNCC. I began investing in properties in the Charlotte area and bought and sold so many properties, that my Mortgage Broker at that time wanted me to start doing my own Mortgages. After learning how to make the Real Estate and Mortgage businesses work together, I formed Venture Realty in 2003, where we combine the Real Estate, Mortgages and Attorneys all under the same roof.

In 2003, I became the #13 ranked Rookie Mortgage Broker in the nation.

By 2007 I was ranked #15 nationally on Loan Volume alone. I currently serve as 1 of 22 national members of RMG (Realty Mastermind Group), a group of Top Real Estate Experts in the U.S., who sell between 100 -500 homes a year. Our sole purpose is to share best practices and information on current markets strategies. I’ve also been the only agent in Charlotte, to be featured in the book “Billion Dollar Agents – Lessons Learned 2006”. To be featured in this book, you had to achieve or will achieve 1 Billion Dollars in sales in your career.

Today, under the global heading of Venture Companies, we’ve developed into a ONE STOP SOURCE for all your Real Estate needs. Our current 7,000 sq. ft. office houses Venture Realty, a full service Real Estate Firm, a branch of 1st Metropolitan Mortgage, a National Mortgage Company and Venture Investments, a company specializing in finding foreclosures and Real Estate Owned Properties. We also have a Property Management company that services the rental market and an in-house Attorney that closes all of our real estate transactions while providing legal consultation to our clients. By having all of these services under one roof, I feel it gives our clients the convenience and satisfaction of having all their needs met in one place – something nobody else can provide.

Thank you for your time and logging on to this site. I look forward to creating a place to share my experience and knowledge with those of you who want to gain knowledge and continuously learn about the changing Real Estate market. Keep watching for new additions.