5 Factors That Decide Your Credit Score
Credit scores range between 200 and 800, with scores above 620 considered desirable for obtaining a mortgage. The following factors affect your score:
1. Your payment history. Did you pay your credit card obligations on time? If they were late, then how late? Bankruptcy filing, liens, and collection activity also impact your history.
photo credit: Andres Rueda
photo credit: Andres Rueda
2. How much you owe. If youowe a great deal of money on numerous accounts, it can indicate that you are overextended. However, it’s a good thing if you have a good proportion of balances to total credit limits.
3. The length of your credit history. In general, the longer you have had accounts opened, the better. The average consumer's oldest obligation is 14 years old, indicating that he or she has been managing credit for some time, according to Fair Isaac Corp., and only one in 20 consumers have credit histories shorter than 2 years.
4. How much new credit you have. New credit, either installment payments or new credit cards, are considered more risky, even if you pay them promptly.
5. The types of credit you use. Generally, it’s desirable to have more than one type of credit — installment loans, credit cards, and a mortgage, for example.
For more on evaluating and understanding your credit score, visit www.myfico.com.
Properties in Braddock District
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What to Know About Credit Scores
In preparation for buying a home, it's a good idea to understand credit scores. Credit scores range between 200 and 850, with scores above 620 considered desirable for obtaining a mortgage. The following factors affect your score:
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- Your payment history. Did you pay your credit card bills on time? Bankruptcy filing, liens, and collection activity also affect your history.
- How much you owe and where. If you owe a great deal of money on numerous accounts, it can indicate that you are overextended. However, spreading debt among several accounts can help you avoid approaching the maximum on any individual credit line.
- The length of your credit history. In general, the longer an account has been open, the better.
- How much new credit you have. New credit—whether in the form of installment plans or new credit cards—is considered more risky, even if you pay down the debt promptly.
- The types of credit you use. Generally, it’s desirable to have more than one type of credit—such as installment loans, credit cards, and a mortgage.
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What every purchaser should know about title insurance
Here are some of the basics about title insurance:
1. Every mortgage lender requires title insurance. Title insurance protects the lender and the secondary markets to which they sell the loans from defects in the title to your home and property. It ensures the validity and enforceability of the mortgage document. Title defects could include mistakes made in the local property office, forged documents and claims from unknown parties. The amount of the policy is equal to the amount of your mortgage at its inception. You pay a one-time fee as part of your closing costs. If you are purchasing a home, you should also purchase an owner’s policy which provides coverage up to the purchase price of the home you are buying. In some states it is customary for the seller to purchase the owner’s policy on your behalf.
2. You have the right to choose your title insurance provider! You can shop around for a lower insurance premium rate on line at sites, or you can also ask your lender or real estate professional for help in getting quotes.
3. Check the companies out before you select one. Make sure the title insurance company you choose has a favorable Financial Stability Rating® with Demotech, Inc., the leading title insurance rating company.
4. It’s easy to save money on title insurance. Request quotes from a few companies and then reach out and speak to them. Ask about hidden fees and charges which could make one quote seem more attractive than another. Ask about discounts. There are often discounts available if you are refinancing and sometimes even when you are purchasing if the current policy issued to the seller on the property isn’t too old.
5. Even new construction needs coverage. Even though the home is new, the land isn’t. There may be claims to the land or liens placed during the construction which could negatively impact your home.
For more information or to set up an appointment call Julie at (703)765-0300.
What is a real estate agent?
One of the most complex and significant financial events in peoples' lives is the purchase or sale of real estate, be it a house, condo, townhouse or some other investment property. Because of this complexity and significance, people typically seek the help of real estate brokers and sales agents when buying or selling real estate.
Nesbitt Realty brokers and sales agents have a thorough knowledge of the real estate market in Northern Virginia communities. Our brokers and agents know which neighborhoods will best fit our clients' needs and budgets. Nesbitt Realty real estate agents are familiar with local zoning and tax laws and know where to obtain financing. Agents and brokers also act as intermediaries in price negotiations between buyers and sellers.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics:
- Real estate brokers and sales agents often work evenings and weekends and usually are on call to suit the needs of clients.
- A license to practice real estate is required in every State and the District of Columbia.
- Although gaining a job may be relatively easy, beginning workers face competition from well-established, more experienced agents and brokers.
- Employment is sensitive to swings in the economy, especially interest rates; during periods of declining economic activity and rising interest rates, the volume of sales and the resulting demand for sales workers fall.
Owner Financing Can Expedite Sales
Owner financing can help sell a property in this challenging market.
Banks generally are willing to accept rent credits for an option to buy as an acceptable down payment, but both buyers and sellers must follow these guidelines for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to sanction the transaction.
The rental amount must be determined by a property appraisal with the credit for the down payment clearly calculated as the difference between market rent and actual rent paid for 12 months. For instance, if market rent is $1,000 and rent paid is $1,200, $200 could be credited monthly toward the down payment.
The rent/purchase agreement must be for a minimum of 12 months. The contract must clearly specify a rental amount as well as the portion to be credited toward the purchase.
The buyer will need copies of canceled checks or money order receipts for 12 months, proving rental payments to persuade the bank to credit the funds toward the down payment.
For more information or to set up an appointment call Nesbitt Realty at (703)765-0300.
What do real estate agents do?
When selling property, brokers and agents arrange for title searches to verify ownership and for meetings between buyers and sellers during which they agree to the details of the transactions and in a final meeting, the new owners take possession of the property. They also may help to arrange favorable financing from a lender for the prospective buyer; often, this makes the difference between success and failure in closing a sale. In some cases, brokers and agents assume primary responsibility for closing sales; in others, lawyers or lenders do.
Duties to Sellers
Agents and brokers spend a significant amount of time looking for properties to sell. They obtain listings---agreements by owners to place properties for sale with the firm. When listing a property for sale, agents and brokers compare the listed property with similar properties that recently sold, in order to determine a competitive market price for the property. Following the sale of the property, both the agent who sold it and the agent who obtained the listing receive a portion of the commission. Thus, agents who sell a property that they themselves have listed can increase their commission. The listing firm and its agents must- promote the sellers' best interests
- be loyal to the seller
- follow the sellers' lawful instructions
- provide the seller with all material facts that could influence your decisions
- use reasonable skill, care and diligence, and
- account for all monies they handle for the seller.
Duties to Buyers
If the real estate firm and its agents represent you, they must- promote the buyers' best interests
- be loyal to the buyer
- follow the buyers' lawful instructions
- provide the buyer with all material facts that could influence your decisions
- use reasonable skill, care and diligence, and
- account for all monies handled for the buyer.
Would Lower Market Rates Pump Up Sales?
Will mortgage rates ever drop to 0 percent?
Zero percent financing has long been a loss leader in the automotive industry, but Keith Gumbinger, vice president of HSH Associates, a provider of mortgage information, says that scenario is unlikely. You’d have to find an investor who would buy a security with a zero return – a hard sell even today.
Jim Sahnger, mortgage associate Palm Beach Financial Network, concurs that the funding would be hard to find “unless there were significant fees on the front end to compensate for costs to originate, deliver, default, etc.”
If 0 percent financing could be funded, Sahnger believes potential borrowers would be lined up, kicking up demand for houses.
Gumbinger isn’t so sure because buying a home is a bet on the economy and that kind of confidence is hard to find, he says. “People are concerned that tomorrow is not going to be better than today.”
Source: MarketWatch.com, Amy Hoak (09/27/2010)
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Julie Nesbitt
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Enjoying Winkler Botanical Preserve
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Don’t take chances with real estate.
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Good Shepherd Housing and Family Services
Established in 1974 with a mission to reduce homelessness, increase community support and promote self sufficiency, the Good Shepherd Housing and Family Services is operated by a multi-denominational board of directors and staff managing over 70 housing units. Good Shepherd Housing and Family Services is located in the Mount Zephyr Business Center at 8305 Richmond…