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Cameron Norfleet

New Homeowner's guide to understanding your credit

WHAT MAKES UP A CREDIT SCORE?

•· Payment History 35%

•· Balances Carried 20%

•· Credit History 15%

•· Mix Of Accounts 10%

•· Inquiries 10%

PAYMENT HISTORY - 35%

Having a long history making of payments on time and no missed payments on all credit accounts is one of the most important items lenders look for.

•· Bills Paid As Agreed

•· Most Recent 6 Months

•· Most Weight On Highest Dollar Amount ie: Mortgages & Other Large Loans

BALANCES CARRIED -30%

This measures the amount you owe relative to the total amount of credit available. Someone closer to maxing out all their credit limits is deemed to be a higher risk of late payments in the future and this can lower their credit score.

•· Keep Balances As Low As Possible

•· Outstanding Balances Versus Credit Limit Affects Credit Score

For Example:

Credit Card Balance Credit Limit

Visa $10,000 $10,000 (Bad)

Visa $0 $10,000 (Great)

•· High Credit Limit to Balance Ratio = Lower Credit Score

•· Spreading Balances Between Cards = Higher Credit Score

•· Try To Keep Ratio Under 50%

•· Mortgage / Installment Loans Less Of Factor

CREDIT HISTORY - 15%

In general, a credit report containing a list of accounts opened for a long time will help your credit score. The score considers your oldest account and the average age of all accounts.

•· Longer Credit History = Higher Credit Score

•· Long Credit History Paid As Agreed / Positive Impact To Credit Score

•· Never Close Credit Accounts, Especially If You've Had A Long History

MIX OF ACCOUNTS - 10%

Your mix of credit cards, retail accounts, finance company loans and mortgage loans is considered.

•· Ideal To Have Installment & Revolving Accounts

•· Mortgage Loan

•· Auto Loan

•· 3 - 5 Credit Cards are OK

•· HELOC Should Be Greater Than $40K Or Will Report As Revolving Account Versus Mortgage

INQUIRIES - 10%

Opening several new credit accounts in a short period of time can lower your credit score. Also multiple credit report inquiries can represent a greater risk, but this does NOT include any requests made by you, an employer or by a lender who does so when sending you an unsolicited, "pre-approved" credit offer. Also, to compensate for rate shopping, the score counts multiple inquiries in any 14-day period as just one inquiry.

•· Shopping Around? Pulling Multiple Reports For Mortgage and Auto Purchases = 1 Inquiry Within 14 days (for each).

  • Each Inquiry Averages 5 Points
  • Only First 10 Inquiries Count Each Year
  • After 10, Will Not Affect Credit

Meriden CT Has great Opportunities for first time home buyers

I was sharing with one of my friends the other day why now is a great time to buy in Meriden.

Let me share some statistics with you:

The median sale price of a residential home in Meriden is $181,300 as of Sept 3, 2008!

The average seller is still getting within 4% of asking price with 90 days of placing it on the market!

Let's talk about what that means:

Principal and Interest with a 1st time home buyer program is only $1,226 per month!

Average mortgage (including principal, interest, taxes and insurance) on a home within that price range is $1,600

In order to qualify for this mortgage the average buyer needs to make approx. $70,000 per year!

The interesting thing is that the median family income in Meriden is $57,122 making Meriden a very affordable place to live!

Currently there are 94 house on the market between $150,000 and $200,000!

Call me TODAY so I can show you some of these gorgeous homes like the one listed at $164,900. It's a colonial built in 2005 with 1477 sq. feet 1 car garage located off of the Chamberlin Highway.

Call my Direct Line: (203) 599-2910 or email me at your21realtor@aol.com