How To Dramatically Increase Your Credit Score

Of course, one of the obvious ways to increase your credit score is simply to pay your bills on time, which of course you need to do. However, there's a more proactive approach to raising your credit score that's easy to do and makes the process quicker!

Let's say you have a Visa card with a $1,000.00 credit limit. Starting today you can use your $1,000.00 line of credit to increase your credit score and it doesn't matter if the credit card is secured or non-secured. The only thing that matters is that your credit card payments are reported to the credit bureau.

Each month you probably pay an electric bill, phone bill, water bill, car insurance and other types of bills which are generally not reported to the credit bureau unless you have an outstanding balance and refuse to pay it. The trick is to pay all these bills each month using your credit card, which does report to the credit bureau. Remember, you can even pay your groceries and fuel purchases for your car using a credit card. As long as the bill can be paid using a credit card you're ok. The next step is to apply the same money you were going to spend for the bills directly to your credit card bringing the balance to zero each month. Each month you charge your credit card then pay it off to reflect a positive payment history and you'll increase your credit score.

If you have a credit card with a large enough credit line, you can easily pay your car payment or even a mortgage payment. Even if you don't have a large enough credit line or can't get a non-secured credit card, you can still get a secured credit card from your local bank. Once this is done, deposit the same money you were going to use to pay your bills into your secured credit card account and simply use your secured credit card to pay your bills.

When using this method you can also use two credit cards showing more accounts with positive activity, which can work in your favor. However, don't get carried away! Having too many active credit card accounts or open lines of credit will also work against you.

Note: Debit cards with the Visa logo that come directly out of your checking account don't count. The credit card you're using must be set-up as a true credit card with the payments reported to the credit bureau.



Now your bills are being paid on time and you're maximizing your credit score with every bill you pay using your credit card reflecting a positive payment history for both your bills and your credit card.

Remember, this costs you very little to accomplish. All you may end up paying is a few dollars in interest, if that. The benefits you'll receive as your credit score increases will far outweigh a few dollars per month.

THE KEY HERE IS TO ALWAYS USE THE MONEY YOU WERE GOING TO ALREADY USE TO PAY YOUR BILLS TO PAY THE CREDIT CARD YOU'RE NOW USING TO PAY YOUR BILLS, BRINGING THE BALANCE TO ZERO EACH MONTH. NEVER MAKE THE MISTAKE OF THINKING YOU HAVE ALL THIS MONEY AT THE END OF THE MONTH AND ONLY PAYING THE MINIMUM PAYMENT TO THE CREDIT CARD. PAY THE CREDIT CARD DOWN TO A VERY SMALL BALANCE EACH MONTH! I CAN'T STRESS TO YOU ENOUGH HOW IMPORTANT THIS STEP IS. BY NOT DOING SO, YOU'LL END UP MORE AND MORE IN DEBT.

Note: The reason it is important to leave a small balance every month on your credit card is that banks like to see that you are paying interest, which helps raise your credit score. A $20 or $30 balance will work fine.

Of course, the only bills this will work on are those you can use a credit card to pay. I believe you'll find you can pay most of your bills with a credit card.

Once again let me remind you AS STATED THROUGHOUT OUR WEBSITE YOUR CREDIT HISTORY HAS NO IMPACT ON ACQUIRING REAL ESTATE WHEN YOU WORK WITH US.

This information is provided as a gift to you with no strings attached.

I hope to hear from you soon.

Foreclosure Filings Double

Foreclosure filings across the United States nearly doubled last month compared with September 2006, as financially strapped homeowners already behind on mortgage payments defaulted on their loans or came closer to losing their homes to foreclosure, a real estate information company said Thursday.


A total of 223,538 foreclosure filings were reported in September, up from 112,210 in the same month a year ago, according to Irvine-based RealtyTrac Inc.


The number of filings in September was down 8 percent from August’s 243,947, the firm said.

Despite the sequential decline, the September figure represents the second-highest total for filings in a single month since the company began tracking monthly filings two years ago.

"August was an extraordinarily high month for foreclosure activity, so some falloff was almost predictable," said Rick Sharga, RealtyTrac’s vice president for marketing.

The filings include default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions. Some properties might have received more than one notice if the owners have multiple mortgages.

Typically, borrowers must be 60 to 90 days past due on their mortgage payments before their lender will consider them in default, the first stage of the foreclosure process. If a homeowner can’t find a way to get current on payments, the home is then often put up for auction, and if it doesn’t sell, it eventually goes back to the bank.

In all, 39 states saw a decline in foreclosure filings, the firm said.

Sharga noted that there was a spike in the number of bank repossessions in August that did not occur in September.

It’s likely that the sequential decline in foreclosure activity between August and September was just a blip, not a bellwether of lessening foreclosure filings.

"We don’t see September as the beginning of the end in this cycle of foreclosures," Sharga said.

The foreclosure rate for the nation in September was one foreclosure filing for every 557 households, the firm said.

The U.S. housing market has seen sales decline and home prices fall or remain flat, making it harder for homeowners who can’t afford to make mortgage payments to sell their homes or seek refinancing.

Many of those troubled homeowners were among those who took on adjustable-rate mortgages that are now adjusting to a higher interest rate, translating into payments they cannot afford to make.

The rising delinquencies and foreclosures this year have led the mortgage industry to tighten lending standards, further narrowing options for homeowners struggling to pay their mortgage.

Nevada, Florida and California had the highest foreclosure rates in the country last month, the firm said.

Rounding out the states with the Top 10 foreclosure rates last month were Michigan, Arizona, Georgia, Ohio, Colorado, Texas and Indiana.

Learn how to Flip and Rehab

Learn how to Flip and Rehab from Armando Montelongo from the hit A&E show , Flip This House.

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This site is catered to one market,entrepreneurial people and business opportunity seekers.
"The site is there for all types of people who want tomeet with other who have some of the same business interests. It caters to any type of opportunity, investment clubs, franchises, Network opportunities, Day traders, you name it and the site caters to it.

With so many filters on the internet, even legitimate subscriberemail is getting blocked, which unfortunately rendering newsletters somewhat ineffective leaving opportunity seekersno valid or cost effective way to find or communicate with each other.

ArmandoMontelongo.com is very different in that it allows people to communicate in real time audio and video conferencingin a secure environment.

People can join free knowing that others on the site will enjoyhearing about their opportunities.
You can visit the site at http://thenoteservice.armandomontelongo.com

RealtyTrac publishes the largest and most comprehensive national database of foreclosure and bank-owned properties

RealtyTrac publishes the largest and most comprehensive national database of foreclosure and bank-owned properties, with over 1 million properties from nearly 2,500 counties across the country, and is the foreclosure data provider to MSN Real Estate, Yahoo! Real Estate and The Wall Street Journal’s Real Estate Journal.




“Foreclosure activity subsided somewhat in June after hitting a 30-month high in May,” said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac. “And the drop in activity was fairly broad, with 33 states reporting month-over-month decreases. Still, the foreclosure rates in most states remained substantially above last year’s levels.”

Your Options Against Foreclosure

Foreclosure may occur. This is the legal means that your lender can use to repossess (take over) your home. When this happens, you must move out of your house. If your property is worth less than the total amount you owe on your mortgage loan, a deficiency judgment could be pursued. If that happens, you not only lose your home, you also would owe HUD an additional amount.

Both foreclosures and deficiency judgments could seriously affect your ability to qualify for credit in the future. So you should avoid foreclosure if possible.

Q: What Should I Do?
DO NOT IGNORE THE LETTERS FROM YOUR LENDER. If you are having problems making your payments, call or write to your lender's Loss Mitigation Department without delay. Explain your situation. Be prepared to provide them with financial information, such as your monthly income and expenses. Without this information, they may not be able to help.
Stay in your home for now. You may not qualify for assistance if you abandon your property.
Contact a HUD-approved housing counseling agency. Call (800) 569-4287 or TDD (800) 877-8339 for the housing counseling agency nearest you. These agencies are valuable resources. They frequently have information on services and programs offered by Government agencies as well as private and community organizations that could help you. The housing counseling agency may also offer credit counseling. These services are usually free of charge.
Q: What Are My Alternatives?
You may be considered for the following:

Special Forbearance. Your lender may be able to arrange a repayment plan based on your financial situation and may even provide for a temporary reduction or suspension of your payments. You may qualify for this if you have recently experienced a reduction in income or an increase in living expenses. You must furnish information to your lender to show that you would be able to meet the requirements of the new payment plan.

Mortgage Modification. You may be able to refinance the debt and/or extend the term of your mortgage loan. This may help you catch up by reducing the monthly payments to a more affordable level. You may qualify if you have recovered from a financial problem and can afford the new payment amount.

Partial Claim. Your lender may be able to work with you to obtain a one-time payment from the FHA-Insurance fund to bring your mortgage current.

You may qualify if:
your loan is at least 4 months delinquent but no more than 12 months delinquent;
you are able to begin making full mortgage payments.

When your lender files a Partial Claim, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development will pay your lender the amount necessary to bring your mortgage current. You must execute a Promissory Note, and a Lien will be placed on your property until the Promissory Note is paid in full.

The Promissory Note is interest-free and is due when you pay off the first mortgage or when you sell the property.

Pre-foreclosure sale. This will allow you to avoid foreclosure by selling your property for an amount less than the amount necessary to pay off your mortgage loan.

You may qualify if:
the loan is at least 2 months delinquent;
you are able to sell your house within 3 to 5 months; and
a new appraisal (that your lender will obtain) shows that the value of your home meets HUD program guidelines.

Deed-in-lieu of foreclosure. As a last resort, you may be able to voluntarily "give back" your property to the lender. This won't save your house, but it is not as damaging to your credit rating as a foreclosure.

You may qualify if:
you are in default and don't qualify for any of the other options;
your attempts at selling the house before foreclosure were unsuccessful; and
you don't have another FHA mortgage in default.

For More Info, check out The Note Service

Fico Score and Credit Score - Difference?

This is a great question and one that's been a very hot topic on our FICO Forums. The reason you're seeing a discrepancy is because you purchased scores from two different scoring systems. The score you bought from TransUnion is their consumer version of your credit score, but it's not your FICO® score. Many different websites sell credit scores to consumers, but only myFICO.com and Equifax.com sell actual FICO scores to consumers. In fact, you may be surprised to know just how many different credit scores are sold to consumers – most of which are never used by lenders.

This is not to say that getting your credit scores from online vendors is a bad idea. Checking your credit scores from a trusted seller can often serve as a guide for pointing you in the right direction. If you pull your credit score from a reputable source and find that you have a very high score, then more often than not, you'll have a good FICO score as well. Just be sure to check your actual FICO score before applying for a loan – this is the best way for you to know what the lenders will base their terms on.

What does the difference in the two scores you pulled mean to you? Well, don't demand a lender's best rates based on your TransUnion credit score of 733! Your FICO score of 689 is the score you should be basing your expectations on. Generally, a FICO score above 720 will qualify you for good rates on most loans. To see how better scores translate to savings on home and auto loans, click here.

Before getting a loan for a major purchase, such as a home, you should check all three of your FICO scores. Most lenders will look at all three FICO scores – one from each major credit bureau – when evaluating your loan application. At that point, don't try to save a few dollars by buying the cheapest credit score you can find. Knowing your FICO scores can help you estimate what your monthly mortgage payments will look like and help you determine if you can truly afford a home.

We know credit scores can be confusing enough without having to figure out if you're buying a real FICO score. Many credit scores even try to mimic the FICO score range so they look very similar to FICO scores. Remember that FICO scores always say "FICO" when describing the score. We hope this helps you make sense of your credit scoring options.

Sincerely,
myFICO Team

Three Reasons to Invest in Foreclosures in 2007

Three Reasons to Invest in Foreclosures in 2007
(with or without your own money or credit)

1. We Have More Motivated Sellers than Ever.

Foreclosures are up over 65% in 2007 versus the same period for 2006. This surge has come as those Creative Mortgage "teaser periods" expired and homeowners now have to make fully amortized payments. If their income didn't rise to meet those new payments, they are in a world of trouble. And you can help them.

2. The Real Estate Market is Healthy.

Former Fed chairman Alan Greenspan was right when he said the worst is behind us... "Weak housing markets aren't over yet, but they're getting stronger with the help of a drop in unsold inventories and interest rates at 45-year lows."

3. Investors: This is as Good as it Gets!

"Although it's impossible to know exactly when we hit the bottom on this price correction, I firmly believe that when the market heats up again this spring, we'll look back at this winter season as our best buying opportunity in six years, and wish we bought more property..." Alexis McGee.

U.S. Foreclosures Up 19 Percent in January

A total of 130,511 new foreclosure filings were reported in January, an increase of 19 percent from the previous month and an increase of 25 percent from January 2006. The report also shows a national foreclosure rate of one new foreclosure filing for every 886 U.S. households.


“January’s foreclosure number represented the highest monthly number we’ve seen since we began issuing this report two years ago,” said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac. “The month-over-month increase is similar to what we saw last January, when foreclosures shot up 27 percent from the previous month; however, the year-over-year increase of 25 percent is well below the 45 percent annual increase we saw in January last year.”

Interest Rates

What will happen to the interest rates? Some mortgage brokers are believing that the rates will fall a little in the next couple of months. But other analysts believe that rates will not fall due to inflation. Houses have seem to hit the bottom with two consecutive rises, although small, but still rises. The White House needs to stimulate the economy to get away from war issues. My belief is that interest rates fall about a 1/2 % in the upcoming months.

Credit Repair

Credit scores are sinking. College kids are getting credit cards at alarming rates, and most don't understand that it is not free money. Instead of a $200 charge being paid off, years go by, and countless other charges are added. Now that original charge has increased to thousands, and the minimum payments are still being paid. This is no way to treat your credit. Your credit is the most valuable possession you have, some say it is more important than your diploma. Your diploma cannot lower your mortgage or car payment. So build your credit, and if your credit has fallen, build it back. It is your best education. For a free guide,
http://www.thenoteservice.com/credit-repair.html
http://www.thenoteservice.com/credit-offers.html