Best Ways To Increase Your Credit Score

By Doc Schmyz

In the old days the "man behind the desk" decided to give you a loan or not. Your handshake was the contract and your honor was the collateral. Now however the "man" has a name...the name is FICO SCORE.

Several credit models can be used for this article, however we are going to focus on the Fair, Isaac Company model. Better known as FICO.

A FICO score is one of the main factors used to determine your interest rate and the amount of a loan you will be offered. A good score makes you a more attractive loan then say someone who has a less then stellar credit history.

Preserving your FICO score, and improving it, is not difficult, but it may take time. Here are some tips to maintain and improve your score, based on three credit situations.

FIRST: Obtain a Credit History

There are many reasons you may have no credit history. Maybe you're just starting out, maybe you pay cash for everything and have never needed a loan. In any case, if you have no credit history, your FICO score is likely to be low.

The easiest way to raise your score is acquire a loan, and pay it off on time. In general, installment loans are weighted more heavily than credit cards. In other words, you will improve your credit score faster if you buy goods with an installment loan, rather than acquiring a credit card.

A second idea is to take a sum of money, let?s say $1000, and put it in to a 6 month CD at a bank or credit union. Then you in turn go and get an installment loan against the first CD as collateral. The final part of this step is to take your new loan and repeat the process 2 more times at a different bank each time.

In the end you have 3 loans. Pay the minimum payments for 6 months...then cash out the CD's and pay off the loans in full. Now you have a credit history.

SECOND: Maintain Your Good Credit History

So we now have a good history. How do we get the score higher?

Make sure you don't close your old accounts. (Unless of course they charge you a fee of some sort to keep it open.) Part of your credit score is based on the amount of credit available vs. amount used. If you close old accounts you may impact this part of your credit.

Something to think about. The day of the month you pay off your credit card may have a lot to do with your FICO score. Let?s say you have a $2000 credit card. Every month, you charge about $1800 to that card. And, every month you pay it off. But here's what happens - your credit card company reports your credit information monthly to FICO, but they report it on the 10th of the month...and you pay on the 15th. This would cause the credit agency to see you carry forward a balance every month. Try changing the payment times...just is sure NEVER to pay late.

THIRD: Fix your bad credit

For whatever reason, if you have a poor credit history, there are things you can do to improve your score. Some of them take time, and you will probably be best served by talking to a credit counselor to be sure that you not only repair your credit history, but also eliminate what caused that poor credit history in the first place.

Your credit history is the most important part of your FICO score. You need to start paying your bills on time. The value of your bills is as follows. Mortgage first, followed by installment loans, then credit cards.

The next factor in your FICO score is how you have used your credit. So pay off those credit cards

When you?re all done with the rest of things...review your credit report. Get one from all the credit agencies. Look for errors and mistakes. Contact them to see if they can remove them or correct the errors.

Your FICO score is an important part of your financial life, and using these strategies may help improve your FICO score. Before making any drastic changes to your finances, consult with a financial advisor. - 23200

About the Author:

Doc Schmyz has done real estate deals all over the US and Canada. His free website shares Real estate investing information for all over the US. Find real estate information by state

Software For Real Estate Property Managers

By Layla Vanderbilt

If you are new to the real estate industry, you are probably trying to get familiar with real estate property management software. This is a relatively new type of software that has revolutionaries the real estate industry, so its imperative that you learn how it is used. With this type of software you are able to go much father than just selling properties.

These programs are very easy to learn how to use. The information you need to record is put into the appropriate fields so you can easily find it. With one program you will be able to keep track of everything you need for your day to day work. The software will also figure out its own calculations so you don?t have to.

Have you ever misplaced an important document that you needed for one of you clients? If you manage many properties this has probably occurred more than once. With the new software you can keep track of most of your paperwork so you don?t have to worry about filing problems. You can even put on passwords so only approved people have access to it. Many real estate agents now carry a laptop so they have all of their data with them at all times.

As mentioned before, these programs are able to make calculations for you. You will instantly be able to see your total income and expenses, instead of waiting until the end of the month. Taxes become a breeze and payment histories are able to be viewed together. Since all of the calculations are performed by the computer, you don?t have to worry about missing figures or miss-calculations.

Its always important to know exactly what have available at all times for your clients. Although it is nearly impossible for you to remember every small detail about each property, you management software can. They have unlimited storage space so you can keep track of every important detail you come across.

Every real estate agent has to make printouts once in awhile. Instead of putting one together by hand, wasting hours of your time, you can instead make a few simple selections on your computer and printout what you need. This is a big time saver if you need to do your finances often.

Once you get used to the program you will be able to take advantage of many of the custom settings. Since each real estate agent has different information they want to record, your program can be specifically tailored to your needs. It is particularly helpful if you are trying to manage multiple properties at once.

Now that you have a good real estate property management software program you wont have to carry around huge briefcases full of paperwork. Everything about your business can be managed right from your computer. If any of your clients what to know information about other homes while you give hem tours it will all be up and ready for them to view. Using these software programs saves you a lot of time and money you can use to grow your business and advance it to new levels. - 23200

About the Author:

Layla Vanderbilt is the webmaster for a leading property management software review website which connects people with the leading property management tools.

Apartments Good Investments?

By Jeff Royle

Renting out houses as investments make pretty good financial sense over the long term (house prices tend to double in price every 8 to 10 years) but what about Apartments?

Initially, you have to ask yourself, what am I investing for? Is it long term capital growth or short term income from rentals? Usually, older individuals invest for short term income rather than long term for obvious reasons!

Apartments typically aren't decent capital growth investments, this is because property prices often reflect the cost of land and thus this land cost is not reflected in the cost of the unit itself. Developers are pulling out all sorts of ways to sell apartments as well as 'rent guarantees'. Whilst this may sound good, think about what happens after the rent promise runs out. Also will the company offering the guarantee still be in business to pay out? Most Real Estate agents know that these guarantees are simple marketing ploys and tend to reflect the limitations in the Apartment market.

Also, think about the mortgage financing for Apartments, it is tricky with most Banks not going over 60 or 65%. This might be OK for you, but think about your potential buyer a few years down the track?

Aside from not owning the land itself, another factor is the possibility for oversupply. Developers can effortlessly erect a block of new Apartments quickly; therefore diluting the potential market. The old rule of supply and demand quickly kicks in, and as an individual you have very little or no control over it.

The fact above together with steep Body Corp fee's and repair issues means that Apartment buyers will need to cautiously think before making a purchase. As for rental return, around 7% would warrant a house purchase but near 10% is required for Apartments - 23200

About the Author:

Looking for solid mortgage brokers nz? Get in touch with The Mortgage Lender and make your next mortgage hassle free.