Cornerstone Blog

Five simple things you can do to help improve your chances of getting a favorable rate and terms on a mortgage. 1) Know what’s on your credit report.Most people wait until they are buying a car or a home to have someone review their credit. This is the worst possible time for several reasons. If you’ve committed to this transaction you have no time to take any possible steps to either improve or correct mistakes on your report. Always dispute incorrect items on your credit report in writing. A difference in 10 points on your fico scores could be the difference between an approval or a denial. 

2) No credit is almost as bad as bad credit. Many people pride themselves on being disciplined enough to only buy what they can afford and pay cash for everything. Most people can’t afford to pay cash for a house or automobile. Lenders need to see that you have a history of being able to borrow and make timely monthly payments. This history is the basis for your credit score.  

3) Start planning early.

Check with your mortgage broker to find out what scores you will need in order to get the type of loan you desire. These will vary based on the type of home you are purchasing, such as a single family, condo, multi family and also whether you are buying the home to live in or as an investment. The amount of your downpayment will also be a factor. Mortgage Insurance companies have tightened their standards as well.

4) Don’t rush to pay all your accounts down to zero.

One of the mistakes some people make is to think that paying off all of their credit card debt to zero will increase their fico scores. This may in fact decrease your score. With active credit cards, the ability to charge more debt is a negative factor. Keeping the balance on your accounts to 30% or less is a good traget.

5) Take the credit simulator.Most mortgage companies can run what if scenarios to give you suggestions on actions you can take to improve your credit scores. These may include partially paying down on some accounts, paying off judgements, or opening new accounts to make sure you have at least three trade lines. 

More helpful information can be found via the following Links:

www.experian.com

www.transunion.com

www.equifax.com  

www.annualcreditreport.com 

As a real estate insider it feels like the entire country and maybe the world is holding it’s breath to see what the
US real estate and mortgage markets are going to do. In reality there are plenty of Americans that are going about their business and focusing on other things besides the real estate market. There are also many others who are buying and selling properties, just not as many as a few years ago. The market is currently on target for approximately five million plus sales. For those of us that read and listen to the news everyday, signs of stabilization and the spring market is great news. The National Association of Real Estate®, the voice for real estate, released the latest housing numbers which shows an increase in home sales across the board. Sales of existing homes increased in February and remain within a fairly stable range, according to the National Association of Realtors®.  
Existing-home sales – including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops – rose 2.9 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate¹ of 5.03 million units in February from a pace of 4.89 million in January, but remain 23.8 percent below the 6.60 million-unit level in February 2007.  The sales pace has been in a fairly narrow range since last September.
Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said the gain is encouraging.  “We’re not expecting a notable gain in existing-home sales until the second half of this year, but the improvement is another sign that the market is stabilizing,” he said.  “Buyers taking advantage of higher loan limits for both FHA and conventional mortgages will unleash some pent-up demand.  As inventories are drawn down, prices in many markets should go positive later this year.”At the same time the newly released Case-Shiller report paints a different picture. According to the report which only covers the 20 largest metro areas in the country, the home price index dropped 10.7 percent from January 2007 to January 2008, following a drop of 9 percent in December. All but one of the twenty cities that comprise the index experienced year over year declines.Consumer confusion from conflicting reports like these has caused many potential buyers to take a wait and see attitude. Unfortunately, there are many buyers who waited and saw others take advantage of market conditions like these where it’s clearly a buyer’s market.Information about NAR is available at www.realtor.org. This and other news releases are posted in the News Media section.  Statistical data in this release, other tables and surveys also may be found by clicking on Research.

Welcome to Mark Foreman’s Blog! This blog will provide you with valuable information, tips, and general insight into the real estate market in Fairfield.