Alaska

A public workshop discussing midtown Anchorage growth will be held in the conference room of the Loussac Public Library from 6-8:30pm on Thursday, November 19, 2009. A special presentation is scheduled for 7pm, with a discussion following. The Midtown District Plan has gone through several incarnations over the last couple of years. The Municipality of Anchorage (MOA) wants to hear any public comments, criticisms or ideas. They are happy to implement anything that makes the Midtown District Plan stronger. The deadline for all Anchorage residents to make public comment on the Public Review Draft are due by December 15, 2009. The final review will be submitted at that time. You can download a copy of the Public Review Draft here. All public comments can be made in person at the public workshop on Thursday, November 19th, via email to Tana Klunder at klundertg@ci.anchorage.ak.us or via snail mail to:

ATTN: Midtown District Plan
4700 Elmore Rd, 2nd Floor
Anchorage, AK 99507

All snail mail must be received well in advance of the December 15, 2009 to be considered to be included in the final review. Please make plans to come to the public workshop for Midtown Anchorage Growth on Thursday, November 19th to make sure to get your thoughts and opinions considered for this important project for the Anchorage economy.

Pauline Hofseth, your Anchorage real estate expert

Repair Your Credit Score

Anchorage Real Estate Blog

Things happen, life happens, mistakes happen and your credit score is usually affected. A credit score is very important when trying to get financing for a home loan. Think of your credit rating as your financial report card or GPA. The higher your score the more credit worthy you are. Many, many things can affect your credit score negatively, such as late payments, overusage of credit line, and bankruptcy.

If you are in the market for a home in the near future or even next year, keep in mind that most lending institutions require a minimum score of 620 right now. However, if your credit scoresis below 620, don't despair, there are ways to repair a damaged credit score.

Before I list the different ways to repair your credit score, I want to warn you of scammers that may promise you that they can raise your credit score overnight or in two short weeks. You can fix your credit score yourself through these methods:

1. Print a free credit report from Annualcreditreport.com so you can find out exactly what is going on with your credit. It's important to know if there is something fraudulent going on or if there is a mistake on your credit report. If you discover incorrect information on your credit report, contact the three credit burueas immediately to resolve the issues. This alone can raise your credit score quite a bit. Some things you might want to look for are: accounts that you didn't open, a balance showing on a debt that you've already paid off, etc...

2. Get your accounts current- If you have any past due accounts that are legitimately yours, it's important to bring these up to date. Your payment history accounts for a big chunk of your credit rating. If you are having trouble making payments, call the debtor to set up a payment plan.

3. Get your credit usage ratio in check- Your credit usage based upon your available credit accounts for about 30% of your credit score. Try to keep your ratios at 50% or less, 30% is ideal. Pay down maxed out credit lines and work on getting the debt below 50% of the available credit. With the economy and credit card companies changing rules so rapidly nowadays, this is more important than ever. Many credit card users are seeing their credit lines slashed in half so this bit of advice can be hard to accomplish right away, but it can be done!

4. Don't close out your credit lines- After paying down your credit cards, it's important that you don't close them out. The open credit lines can help with your ratios, especially if you have a long credit history with that card. The longer you have a credit line open, the more valuable it is to your credit rating.

5. If you do not qualify for a loan or credit card, open a secured credit line- A secured line of credit is usually a credit card that can be issued by your local bank with a credit line that equals the amount of money you have set in an account at that bank. This protects the bank, if you happen to not make your payments. Your deposit will secure the loan for you. Why is this important? You need some type of good credit to raise your score. Think of a see-saw, you have negative credit on the one side weighing that side down, you will need about that much good credit in order to bring the see-saw into equilibrium.

If you have bad credit right now, utilizing these 5 steps will take your credit score to the next level. I've seen people implement these steps and purchase a house, all within 6 months. Don't let a damaged credit score stop you from ever owning a home. Call Vanna for more information about the Anchorage Real Estate Market 907-720-4663

Thank you for taking the time to read my Blog.. Visit my at HomesByVanna.com for more real estate information or to search the Alaska MLS...

Have you ever felt lost!! have you been loaded down with problems then others pileed on and you just had to keep taking care of things one at a time? Well, that's what kept happening to me this last year.

I've been meaning to blog about my new improved home after the foundation got put in but, new grandsons, and weddings and broken ankles and computer viruses just kept getting me down. So here's the house I showed last year when the foundation was being put in, it's ready now and we had a wedding here this summer. Then, I went to Seward to check on some listings and look what I found in Coopers landing, a nice brown bear who didn't look very worried about all the attention.

and the Brown Bear who didn't care.

Fire in a Mountain View Apartment Complex has damaged six of the thirty units. Damage is estimated at around $30,000. According to ADN.com, the fire started in a bottom bathroom exhaust fan and made its way up three stories. At least 31 people were displaced, some of which will be housed by Red Cross of Alaska. Of the 31 displaced residents, many were children. Fortunately, no one was seriously injured.

Hats off to the Anchorage firefighters. They prevented the fire from going up to the roof, which could have caused major structural damage.

Although some were hoping we would see a kindler, gentler Old Man Winter this year, it seems the old boy has other plans. According to a weather genius friend, and confirmed by NOAA, we're going to see record cold temperatures sweep across the Tanana Valley.

Bring it old man.

I could probably live without seeing the mercury slide down to negative 40 and colder. Doing anything outside at those temperatures is just not fun, and can be life threatening if you're not prepared for it. Note: Always be prepared for it.

But, I well remember winters in the 80's where temps in the 40 below range were not a once or twice a year occurrence, but an event that set in around the middle of December and lifted sometime early to mid February... sometimes as late as March. In (late) May 1985, we celebrated my birthday with four and a half feet of snow on the ground. I think it finally melted the second week of June. January of '87 saw us grounded for a week while we waited out a 70 below cold snap at our cabin on the Yukon.

Right now the forecast is calling for lows of 20-30 below through the rest of the week, but if the clouds clear out it's possible we'll see 40 or 50 below. Welcome to life in the Last Frontier.

Now, where did I put that hot buttered rum recipe?