A good credit score is one of the most important tools a buyer has when making a major purchase – whether it’s furniture that you have to finance, a new car, or a home.  A bad credit score means you’ll have a very difficult time getting someone to agree to loan you money because you have demonstrated your inability to repay loans in a timely manner according to your credit score.

However, consumers do have the opportunity to challenge bad dings on their credit reports, but Ron Cooks a credit consultant from Ft. Hood, Texas cautions us to never challenge credit online.

I highly recommend you NEVER use their online dispute systems. It’s like the fox watching the hen house and I’ll explain why.

Reason #1: As most of you know, one factor you have on your side when disputing credit is time. The legal thirty-day limit is not a lot time for a credit bureau, creditor, or collection agency to properly investigate a dispute. The Credit Bureaus online dispute system is set up in such a way that when you use it, it makes their job not only that much easier but cost efficient. The information you put into their limited dispute fields falls right into their electronic verification system.

He makes some really good points for consumers. Thank you for sharing your insight!

We’ve all seen the funny picture of the yard sign pointing to the neighbor’s house saying he doesn’t have guns, so rob him not me (really, I don’t think the sign is that funny).  But in all seriousness, a bad neighbor can definitely hurt when you are trying to sell your home. Particularly when the neighbor has a loud, barking dog or a kennel full of mean-looking dogs, or poorly kept property thanks to a bad pet owner,

If these miscreants refuse to correct these conditions in a decent and acceptable manner, you can report them to the animal control department, the health department, and the district attorney’s office. In all likelihood, these complaints should motivate some form of positive response, and that will aid you in the marketing of your home. More importantly, it should help to eliminate a disgraceful condition for which there is no reasonable excuse.

Read the Inman News article for a creative solution another neighbor took!

A real estate agent from Lancaster, Pennsylvania posted recently on his Active Rain blog that a mortgage company locked him out of the house he had listed.  It is a short sale home and periodically the company sends their own contractors out to inspect the condition of the property.  However Realtor Michael Perry was locked out as a result of the inspection,

We just had a Short Sale buyer withdraw from a possible sale on this property and I now want to relaunch the listing in the MLS. But I’m locked out ! I immediately informed the sellers that I’m locked out and so are they ! They have authorized me to regain entry for me and for all future MLS activity. My next step is to enlist a locksmith to yet again change the locks so I can regain entry.

Of course the lender is just protecting its asset, as one commenter stated.  In the end, the agent was able to regain access because the property management gave him the code.  But this is another caution for people behind on their mortgage. Keep an open line of communication with your lender to possibly avoid this type of problem.

There are tons of home upgrades and renovations that can be made to a house, but some should be avoided if you are planning to add value to the home for when you sell.  Kitchen renovations are always a good choice.  Adding tile to the floors, new counter tops, and stainless steel appliances will certainly help the house stand-out to buyers.  However, adding a swimming pool could be a huge turn-off.

Moneyning has a great write-up about what type of home renovations will not add value to you home,

Adding green technology. Sadly, being good to the environment is one of those things that everyone wants but no one wants to pay for. Though the technology for solar and geothermal energy is getting less expensive, these are still projects that will cost you but won’t necessarily impress your future buyers. If you’re thinking of adding solar panels or radiant heating to your home, do it for your own reasons.

Read the full article to see what else you should avoid when renovating to sell.

There are three things that will sell a home – even in this market that has me crying in my coffee: price, condition, and marketing.  Agent Tyson Reeves of Keller Williams makes the pitch for hiring a Realtor with a good marketing plan,

You need a Realtor who believes in his own marketing plan. Wait let me back track first you need a realtor with a marketing plan, then he needs to believe in it. You can tell by asking him about his plans to get the home sold, ask him what he and/or his team does to get the home sold. If he can’t confidently rattle off a good plan then likely he doesn’t truly have on. It need to be more than putting it in the MLS and displaying it one a bunch of websites. There needs to be out reach, and a proactive approach. Today, while money is short, less and less Realtors properly market homes, thus adding to sell headache.

Yes great photos and descriptions on the MLS are a great first start, but dig deeper when you find an agent to list you house. See if they are putting out flyers, doing outreach with other agents and other firms, sending postcards to neighborhoods, hosting open houses.  Learn the marketing plan.  And hold the agent to it!

With Fall in full swing in most of the U.S., it’s time to start thinking about how to reduce your heating bill.

Some tips include:

• Make sure that windows and doors are properly caulked.
• Keep the refrigerator door closed unless you have to because that appliance drinks the most energy.
• Change your air filters monthly.
• Wrap your water heater in a blanket or other insulation.
• Invest in a programmable thermostat so the house is heated when you’re actually home.

Hopefully these simple tips will help you save at least a little bit of money as the months turn cold.

When my husband and I were first married, we struggled to find a way to save.  We had to put back then what people generally have to save today – about 20 percent of the the purchase price toward a down payment.  After cutting expenses until nothing else could be cut and still not getting anywhere, the solution came to me.  I had to get a second job.  Earnings from it would be used solely toward saving for our down payment.

Sometimes it’s just old fashioned true grit.  Get in there.  Earn the money.  Save it.

Our old friend Miranda Marquit says the same thing,

Many of us have a goal to pay down debt and to increase the amount of money that we save. The only issue that seems to get in the way is a lack of resources. What happens is you don’t feel like you have enough money to pay down your debt faster or improve your savings rate? When it comes right down to it, there is only so much cutting you can do. There are only so many money leaks you can plug as look for a way to improve your financial situation.

The solution is to increase your income.

It may not be fun.  It may not be easy.  But sometimes getting that part time job is what you need. If you do carry the dream of owning your own home and you weren’t born rich, then buckling down and working hard may be your own way to realize it.

Photo by Satish Krishnamurthy.

I have been so tempted in the past to buy a timeshare property after hearing lines like,

“Aren’t you worth an annual vacation?”

“Don’t you love each other enough to do this?”

“Spending time with your family is the most important thing for families.”

Almost as bad as, “What will it take to get you to drive a new car today?”  Ay yi yi…

I have an aunt who went all-in for a time share and now owes tens of thousands of dollars for her hundreds of thousands of points.  She only ever goes from Southern Indiana to Nashville.

So what does it take to get rid of a timeshare you no longer want?  WalletPop helps answer that question,

You need to determine whether you have a deeded timeshare or a leased timeshare property. A deeded timeshare bounds you to the contract as an exclusive owner, while the leased timeshare means you are only the owner for a set number of years. If you have a deeded timeshare, you have the option to sell it to someone else. If you have a leased timeshare, you may have to keep paying your annual fees until the lease expires.

There are more really great tips at the site. I’ll forward the link to my aunt now!

Photo by Victor Martinez via flickr creative commons.

I am truly surprised we are not hearing more about people moving into tiny houses. People are downsizing to do more with less – lower utility bills, lower heating bills, etc.  Or perhaps they have lost their house and have converted a shed to live in on the back of their parents’ property.

Nevertheless, if you do live in a tiny house, here are some tips from a guest writer on Steve’s bripblap page,

When you live in a small space, especially a shared space, it can be difficult to find a way to create the appropriate setting for mindfulness or meditation. If you are persistent and creative, you can create a space that will allow you to meditate quietly in almost any location. The key is to discipline your mind so that your surroundings play a small part in your ability to remain mindful for a period.

Discipline. Your mind.

Photo from thistinyhouse.com.

Even in these years of a sagging economy and a pitiful mortgage atmosphere, staging a home remains an important part of selling a home.  From Offbeat Home, Ariel Meadow Stallings shows how important it is to stage with some great before and after photo shots,

Everyone says this, and it’s true. You have to basically move out of your home to stage it, or make your peace with living in a sparse, slightly twisted version of your home. You’re allowed bland art (not too much!) and one tchotchke per room.

Here was how our living room looked before I staged it:

Here’s what it looked like after I took all our stuff out of it:

Still funky and colorful, but way less cluttered. No My Little Ponies or sagging spider plants to distract potential buyers.

Fantastic article!