Mortgage Refinancing: Home Appraisal Basics

If you are in the process of refinancing your mortgage loan, your new mortgage lender may require an appraisal prior to approving your loan. Here is what you need to know about appraisals, including tips to help maximize the equity in your home.

Your home's appraisal is a written estimate of the market value of your property. Mortgage lenders use the appraisal to determine how much of a mortgage you qualify for. When you are refinancing your mortgage, the appraisal will also determine how much equity you own in your home. If you will be borrowing against this equity, the lender will most likely require that you pay for a new appraisal prior to approving your loan.

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The appraiser is a licensed professional that will do a market analysis of sale prices for similar properties in your neighborhood and evaluate the condition and amenities of your home. The appraisal will require a thorough inspection of your home inside and out.

Mortgage Refinancing: Home Appraisal Basics

When you are refinancing your mortgage your goal is for the appraised value to be as high as possible. There are a number of improvements you can make to your home that will improve the appraised value of your home; however, don't go overboard. New carpet and a coat of paint will go a long way to improve the appraised value. What you don't want to do is purchase top of the line appliances; these purchases rarely give you enough of a boost in your home's value to justify the expense. The best thing to do is make sure your home is up to snuff with your neighbors as far as the amenities and add-ons you invest in to improve your home's value.

When searching for a home appraiser, look for an experienced professional licensed in your area. Your realtor may be able to recommend a good one; if you are not able to find a recommendation try contacting the Appraisal Subcommittee. The ASC maintains a database you can access on their website to help you locate a licensed appraiser in your area. You can learn more about your mortgage and the appraisal of your home by registering for a free mortgage guidebook.

Mortgage Refinancing: Home Appraisal Basics

The 700 Credit Score - Is 700 a Good Credit Score?

A 700 credit score is more common that you might think. This score puts you in the medium risk category for creditors. What does that mean? It means that you will get good interest rates on most loans and credit cards.

Is 700 a good credit score? It is definitely a good credit score. It shows that you have taken efforts to build a good credit history and have good habits when it comes to managing your debt. As we had mentioned this score is fairly common and you can reach this score without difficulty if you are lower than this. If you are 700 or slightly higher, you can still take steps to boost your score. Increasing your scores by around 30-50 points can save you 1000's if not 100s of 1000s of dollars over the long term. So, you must be wondering about two things - why is my credit history so important? and how do I raise my score and start making changes today? Lets address these one at a time.

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Why is building a good credit history important? Your creditors have to assess the risk you pose when they loan you money. The better your credit history (no late payments, no collection activity and a record of making payments on time), the better your credit score will be. Need to buy a house? Want a student loan? Looking to open an equity line of credit to finance home renovation? When you go to a bank or other financial institution to discuss your options, whats the first thing they will look at before making a decision. Thats right - your credit score (which is essentially based on your credit history).

The 700 Credit Score - Is 700 a Good Credit Score?

Now, lets discuss the other side of things. How do you raise your credit score? There are a few specific actions you can take:

1) Get your 3-in-1 credit score

Get your scores from all three bureaus - Equifax, Transunion and Experian. Most creditors will take the median score from all three agencies. When you get your scores, you will realize that your credit report from the three agencies doesn't look the same. Were you very late on a rent check? Did you pay that library fine on time? For some late payments the chances are you would be reported to only one of the bureaus.

2) Make a list of ALL your credit accounts

Create an excel spreadsheet of all your credit cards, real estate accounts, home loans or any other debt that you have. Track the monthly payments you are making in this spreadsheet along with the interest rates and the balances owed. Then use online payments to automate paying off atleast the minimum payments towards these balances. You can't afford to fall behind from this point on. The other benefit to this form of tracking is the motivation you get from seeing your loan amounts shrink.

The 700 Credit Score - Is 700 a Good Credit Score?

Gas Credit Cards - Instant Approval?

It seems as if in this world, people only want to apply for a credit card that's going to approve them on the spot. While those cards are out there, you're going to want to make sure that you're reaching certain guidelines before you set out and fill out an application.

In order to get approved for an application, you must meet the following guidelines most of the time. Keep in mind that this is going to vary from card company to company.

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Must have a good score: If you have a score of anything less than 750, you're going to have a hard time getting instant approval. It doesn't mean that you won't get approved, it's just going to mean that you're going to have to wait. Debt to income ratio: If you have 10 credit cards and a lot of debt, they will want to dig deep into this. If you have no debt, this is another big plus. History: If you haven't established credit for not that long, what you're going to find out is that most companies will want to dig deeper into your credit history to check.

Gas Credit Cards - Instant Approval?

Where can I get an instant approval card?

The first place that you should check is online. Many credit card companies will state that you can get an approval within seconds. They love to capitalize on this one, because they know that people are going to apply. If you don't see instant approval, there's a good chance that you won't get approved.

The next place that I would check into is the bank. Whether you work with a credit union, a major bank such as Chase, BofA, etc, you can walk into any branch and ask them about any cards that they have to offer. Explain your situation and see what they will say.

Do many gas cards give out instant approvals?

Yes! Reward card companies generally give out the most in terms of instant approvals. Since those that have great credit usually apply for rewards, you're going to find that if you find that if you have great credit and you meet the expectations up above, you're going to have a good chance at landing a card right away.

What kind of gas card company should I look into?

I would look into Discover, Citi, Chase, as well as Capital One. They all have a great line of cards and they should all meet your expectations.

Gas Credit Cards - Instant Approval?

Disputing Your Credit Report - How Can I Remove Negative Items From My Credit Report?

Disputing your credit report can be a time consuming process. Using the dispute process to remove negative items off of your credit report can be frustrating. Nevertheless, it is one of the best ways to get negative information off of your credit report. Starting with the basic dispute process is quite often the fastest and most effective way of disputing your credit report.

Now that you have your reports in front of you, make sure to check the personal information section and check that all entries are correct. Check your name, date of birth, present, and past address, current and past employer, and social security number. After you have verified your basic information, you should scan all three reports and circle or highlight any errors you find. Scroll down each report and check for any errors or discrepancies regarding accounts, or inquiries.

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Here are some important red flags to look for:

Disputing Your Credit Report - How Can I Remove Negative Items From My Credit Report?

When disputing your credit report look for discrepancies regarding accounts and inquiries:

Unauthorized users Customers listed as deceased Former spouse name Negative accounts from your divorce Negative co-signed accounts Unauthorized inquires Illegally re-aged collection accounts (which report an incorrect last date of activity) Foreclosure attempts Consumer credit counseling loan indications When disputing your credit report look for Discrepancies regarding balances and accounts Balances incorrect Credit limits listed incorrectly Duplicate collections Accounts listed incorrectly Credit lines not listed Paid accounts still showing that you owe Closed accounts shown open Closed accounts should say closed by consumer and not closed by the creditor

When disputing your credit report look for Discrepancies regarding negative trade lines:

Late payments, 30, 90, and 120 days Collections Charge offs Tax liens Judgments Debt consolidation marks Bankruptcies not saying withdrawn or dismissed Repossession indication when it should say voluntary surrendered

Now, before you start trying to repair your credit report, let me tell you what the law says about disputing your report.

The Fair Credit Reporting Act regulates how the credit bureaus handle your report under § 611. For procedures in cases of disputed accuracy [15 U.S.C. § 1681i], the law states that if you dispute the accuracy of any item or data in your reports, the credit bureau shall conduct a reasonable investigation within 30 days to determine if the challenged item is correct.

After the 30 days have expired, if the credit bureau has not verified or completed the investigation, the disputed item must be deleted. There you go, that is the law, and you will use it to start your dispute process.

When disputing your credit report, you can write your own dispute letter or use a standard dispute letter that you find on the internet. If you decide to write the letters, you must include your full name, date of birth, address, social security number, the items you're disputing, the reason you are disputing them and your signature at the bottom. Once you have your letter s are ready, send them to the following agencies:

Experian NCAC PO BOX 9701 ALLEN TX, 75013

Equifax PO BOX 105518 ATLANTA GA, 30348

Trans Union PO BOX 2000 CHESTER PA 19022

Disputing Your Credit Report - How Can I Remove Negative Items From My Credit Report?