About Calhoun County, MI

Too many times I encounter buyers that have that disturbing experience of getting denied a loan due to a low credit score or poor credit report, and they take on the frame of mind that it is the end of the road.  The truth is that is only means 'Delay of Game' not 'End of Game' as long as you remain determined to achieve your goal of becoming a homeowner.

To avoid surprises, it is always a good early step for anyone considering making a major purchase to become a student of their own credit report.  The way to obtain this information for free once per year is to go to www.annualcreditreport.com.  This is a free website that feeds the information from all three credit bureaus: Experian, Equifax and Transunion.

When you get your credit report there, it will not give you your credit score with that bureau.  For these you have to pay extra.  However, you will not really need it if you are just attempting to clean up errors, negative items, etc.  It is important to realize that this is just a report, and it does not mean it is 100% factual or permanent.  You have the right as a consumer to dispute anything on your credit report, especially negative items.

The negative items will usually be in a separate section on each report, and they give you the option right online to enter a dispute.  You can also write a letter to each of the three credit bureaus, and dispute items that way as well. 

When a negative item appears on your credit report, I usually suggest that people challenge it.  The reason for this is that it has been my experience that many times items will get removed by the reporting creditor due to slow response times, lack of records or that company no longer exists.  There have been so many mergers in recent years with a lot of these corporations that there is always a chance the records for your old account no longer exists or has been lost.

Old collections can also be negotiated and paid off, often for much, much less than is being reported that is owed.  In many cases the original creditor wrote off the debt or sold it to a collection company for pennies on the dollar, so one can often settle old debts for a lot less.

In Michigan the statute of limitations on old debt is 6 years, so if you are trying to remove an item, first check and see how old it is.  If it is older than 6 years, and it is still on your credit report, then write a dispute letter requesting the item be removed due to the statute of limitations.  So old debt does not have to drop on you from out of the sky, and ruin your day.

The standard for old collections on the credit bureau is typically 7 years on collections, so this is one way to get it removed a year earlier.  If you want to see a complete list of statutes of limitations by all U.S. States, click on this link of one of my earlier blog posts on this: Statutes of Limitations by States.

There are also several books on the subject of repairing your credit on your own.  They take you step by step through the process, and you can find these on my website in my recommended book section here at: www.michaeldelaware.com in my 'Resources' section in the right hand column.  Or to make it simple, you can just click on this link here called 'Books on Credit Repair'.  There are many books on the subject, but these are ones I have either read or researched and have some familiarity with.

You can also see my other blog posts on this subject:

 The Statutes of Limitations on Old Debt by State

 Establishing and Following Good Credit Behavior

 What is a FICO Score?

 Information on Credit and Credit Repair

Have You Ever Wondered: What is a FICO Score?

Pulling Your Own Credit Report 3 Times a Year for Free

Solutions for Getting Debt Under Control

You can also take a look at my Youtube channel and watch some of the videos I have created on the subject of credit repair.  Here is the the third segment on my series on buying your first home:

The 2011 U.S. Nationals Balloon Competition in Battle Creek, Michigan is underway this week. This is the U.S. Hot Air Balloon championships, and this year Battle Creek has the honor of hosting it.

There are 63 balloonists competing in this years competition from all over the United States. In addition to that there are 3 international pilots competing from Brazil, Canada and the Czech Republic.

The competition will occur all week long from August 22nd to 27th, 2011. The pilots will launch every morning and evening from Kellogg Community College Campus, and spectors are allowed to enter, park and watch for no charge.

This is a very exciting community event, and Battle Creek is so fortunate to be a popular ballooning town. Balloon pilots with decades of experience each will be competing daily.

Always a wonderfully beautiful and familiar sight in Battle Creek, the skies will again be filled with balloons over the city throughout the week. The event will name a National Champion of Ballooning for the year, and this event serves as a qualifier for next year's World Championship which will be held here in Battle Creek for the first time in 17 years.

Battle Creek last hosted the World Championship competition in 1995. In 2012 there is expected to be over 103 pilots in the World Championship competition representing 32 countries.

The organization at the core of bringing these fantastic events to Battle Creek is the Holiday Balloon Fest, and their website for daily launch schedules and events can be found at: www.holidayballoonfest.com. Holiday Balloon Fest is under the leadership of Derrick Jones, Executive Director and Greg Moore, Board Chairman. They have previously hosted the U.S. Nationals in 2009 and 2010 as well.

The daily launches are scheduled for 7:00am and 7:00pm, with plenty of activities at the Kellogg Community College from the 22nd through 25th with an outdoor festival.

So if you are looking for an exciting and wonderful experience to further enjoy your summer, then you will want to venture on over to see a balloon launch or two this week at KCC.

In a new video series about 'Buying your First Home' I have been trying to break down the steps for prospective buyers on the process of buying a home.  In my second installment in this series, I covered a summary of popular loan programs.  Certainly one could go into great detail about ratios, and income limits per household, etc. 

However, I was trying to break it down into a simple, simple format to communicate just enough data for a buyer to understand a general outline of the programs, and then have them contact me or reach out for a professional lender on their own. 

The idea is not necessarily to try to tell the entire story in my video, but to give them enough information for them to reach for more.

If they have truly decided to become homeowners, then talking to a professional lender should be an early step i the process.  In the video I managed to tap into FHA, VA and USDA Rural Devlopment loans briefly.  In a broader perspective, I just want people to continue to reach for the American Dream of homeownership.  It still is a worthy obtainable goal.

When moving into the Battle Creek area, one can look at the various townships surrounding the main city. One popular township is Pennfield. Prospective buyers are often drawn to the idea of buying a house in Pennfield Township, Michigan because of the newer high school, and elementary school. These are great assets to the community, and the school system has a good reputation.

However, there are some other advantages to buying a house in Pennfield. When one travels north of Morgan Road, and into the northern part of Pennfield township, one will find that the lots tend to be larger. In fact it is not uncommon when buying a house in Pennfield to find that the houses have as much as two or three acres on average sometimes.

Pennfield is spread out, and one can still find a lot of property with even large lots, and higher acreage. I have sold homes in this area with 10+ acres, and there are many examples of people buying a house in Pennfield finding it easy to locate homes with acreage. Being that Pennfield is a mix of rural and urban in its various parts, the township policies tend to be more reasonable and less restrictive for homeowners in this area.

I have sold many homes where the homeowners have had no trouble working with the township on construction issues, or general township issues. So for many, buying a house in Pennfield also offers a friendly environment in which to live.

Pennfield township in addition to recently adding a new high school facility a few years ago has other commercial business projects in development. There are plans for a new Wal-Mart superstore near the intersection of White Rabbit Road and M-66 Highway, which will greatly enhance the growth of this community, as well as improve property values. Plans for this project are still a few years out.

So buying a house in Pennfield is a great direction to embark in when looking to obtain a home in the Battle Creek area. If you are interested in seeing what homes are available in Pennfield township, give me a call at: 269-441-8182 or contact me through my website at: www.michaeldelaware.com. I can send you email or other flyers on available homes in the area that meet your criteria.

Taking those first steps towards homeownership can be a little unnerving for some.  Not knowing exactly how to start, it is easy to get turned around or led off the path by not having someone knowledgeable to direct you.  When you want to buy a home for the first time, it is important to to have some good direction from the start.

To begin, you want to make contact with a local Realtor that knows the market area that you are wanting to buy in.  That agent will be able to direct you to not only houses, but also put you in contact with lenders in the area that can go over the various available loan programs that may be best for you. 

I recently began creating a series of short videos on my Youtube channel about the subject of buyng your first home.  I have planned out fifteen segments in the series, and as of this writing have already uploaded the first eight on my channel.  I find it important to help buyers achieve the American Dream of homeownership no matter where they live, as I believe that is one of the greatest goals anyone can have in our culture.

Homeownership creates more stability, and quality of life, as one tends to take pride in something they own.  It becomes a reflection on them and owning a home gives one a stable base in which to build a life with.  So reaching out for information about how to get started is an important first step.  I have included below my first video in this new series on my channel.