OK so my seller say’s we’ve got one offer on the table, we’re going to sell this thing Monday morning, let’s make sure we get the most money possible. Buyers, Investors…..you have 48 hours to get your offers in!…..Ready…Set…GO!!! Listed at $15,000 MLS #7081093

A recent report in USA Today shows Atlanta area home prices jumped by 13.4% from January of 2012. That’s a fact I can attest to! We have moved from a Buyer’s market to a Seller’s market for the first time since the economic crisis. That is wonderful news if you have been waiting to sell.

Prices are up, and on homes under $150,000 I am seeing multiple offers becoming the norm. However, I do foresee the possibility of a flood of inventory coming later this Spring and early Summer. Many people who have been waiting to sell are not aware of just how quickly and how much prices have jumped. As they do become aware of the turn in the market there could be a rush to sell. Banks have been slow on moving through their foreclosures, an increase in prices could motivate banks to release pent up inventory as well.

If you have been waiting to sell, you need to make your move now! Ahead of the pack. There is still a possibility of timing the market to get the most for your house now and buy your next home at a deal, but that window is closing FAST!

Great commercial property in Stockbridge close to the intersection of Fairview Rd and Panola Rd. Call Mike for details

Great 3 bedroom 2 bath in Snellville!

2013 is shaping up to be THE year to take advantage of the real estate market.

Buyers need to be aware, one of the most popular loan programs out there is in for some changes. Now is the time to get pre approved and find that house!

Here’s the scoop from my friends at Homestar:

1. Annual Mortgage Insurance Premium (commonly and mistakenly referred to as PMI) will go up .10% to 1.35%.
2. Annual MIP will remain on the loan for the life of the loan for all 30 year mortgages.

3. This will be effective on any NEW FHA Case number Assigned on June 3, 2013 and after.

Item #1 will make a $100,000 FHA loan cost $8 more per month than current MIP costs. BUT item #2 is the real game changer. Currently MIP can end after 5 years. Buying a house after June 3, 2013 with FHA will require MIP for the life of the loan. On a $100,000 FHA loan, this could add up to $33,750 to the total cost over the life of the loan.

This has implications for Sellers as well. Get your home on the market now and avoid any potential slow down caused by rule changes.

In this post, we’ll take a look at what goes into a credit report, who puts it there, and how lenders look at the information

A credit report is an accumulation of information about how you pay your bills and repay loans, how much credit you have available, what your monthly debts are, and other types of information that can help a potential lender decide whether you are a good credit risk or a bad credit risk.

Your FICO credit score is derived by a secret FICO formula that measures each of these factors. FICO scores are computed using the information found in your credit report. To improve your score, you must improve the underlying factors. Paying on time, reducing debt to credit limit ratios, resolving any outstanding issues are the things you must work on.

Credit bureaus collect information from merchants, lenders, landlords, etc., and then sell the report to businesses so they can evaluate your application for credit. Not all lenders report to credit bureaus, so if you are using a small buy here, pay here car lot in hopes of improving your credit score by showing on time payments, make sure they report.

Information that makes up your credit report includes:

• Personal identifying information – This includes your name, address (current and previous), Social Security number, telephone numbers, birth date, your current and previous employers, and (on the version you get) your spouse’s name may be included as well.
• Credit history – This section includes your bill-paying history with banks, retail stores, finance companies, mortgage companies, and others who have granted you credit. It includes information about each account you have, such as when it was opened, what type of account it is, how much credit it includes (or the amount of the loan), what your monthly payment is, etc. If you’ve closed the account or the loan has been paid off, then that information shows up as well. If there were missed or late payments, this is where that appears.
• Public records – Information that might indicate your credit worthiness, such as tax liens, court judgments and bankruptcies. This information is readily available from public records.
• Report inquiries – This section includes all credit granters who have received a copy of your credit report. It also includes any others who were authorized to view it. In addition, lists of companies that have received your name and address in order to offer you credit are included. These companies don’t actually see your report, but get your name if you meet their criteria for an offer of credit, insurance or other product. This is where all of those “pre-approved” credit card offers come from.
• Dispute statements – The report may also include any statements you’ve made disputing information on the report. Most credit bureaus allow both the consumer and the creditor to make statements to report what happened if there is a dispute about something on the report.
• Inquiries – Every time you apply for a credit card or loan you are adding another hard inquiry to your credit report. When potential lenders see these inquiries, it may wrongly imply that you’re either in some financial situation where you need a lot of credit, or are planning to take on a large debt. Either can flag you as a high credit risk. Hard inquiries can hurt your FICO score. Avoid having any hard inquires hit your report if you are looking to apply for a home loan. Other types of inquiries, such as your own requests to view the report, employer requests to view the report and requests by marketers to get your name in order to sell you something, count as soft inquiries. These inquiries don’t show up on the reports that lenders see, and therefore don’t affect how they view your credit.  When you are mortgage shopping, all inquiries for the same type of credit in a brief time frame will be counted as a single inquiry. So it’s usually OK to allow your lender to pull your credit in regards to trying to pre approve you for a loan.
• Missed payments – Obviously, your payment history makes a huge difference. You should always make at least the minimum payment. These delinquencies stay on your report for seven years — even if you’ve caught up your payments! The same goes for accounts that creditors have turned over to collection agencies or charged-off — meaning that they’ve written the account off as a loss. Even if you do pay off the account at a later date, the charge-off or collection action stays on your report for seven years.
• Maxed-out credit lines – Another thing that scares lenders is a maxed-out credit line. This waves a big red flag and indicates that you may be financially strapped for some reason. Some experts suggest moving debt around if this is the case. For example, if you have a maxed-out card but have other cards that haven’t reached their credit limits, you might consider moving some of the debt from the maxed-out card to the non-maxed-out ones.
• Debt in relation to income – If you have unsecured credit card debt that is more than 20 percent of your annual income, lenders may not want to give you the best deal on a loan — if they’ll take the chance and give you a loan in the first place. Work to reduce the debt-to-income ratio and you’ll be able to get better rates on the loans you seek.

The single most important factor in improving your credit score is paying on time. Next is reducing debt. Do those two things and your credit score will improve over time.

Next time we will look at creating a written budget to be sure that those bills get paid on time and the debts get paid down.