credit Archives - Indiana USDA Mortgages

Don’t Let BLACK FRIDAY Get in the Way of Buying a Home!

Black Friday is nearly upon us. Newspaper inserts, emails and TV commercials abound with information about the “BEST DEALS EVER!”. You get to the store before the sun even thinks about coming up only to find that you can get an even better deal if you open a line of credit! STOP RIGHT THERE. If you are in the process of buying a home, or considering doing so anytime soon, we urge you to stop and collect your thoughts for a moment. What the heck does Black Friday have to do with buying a home!? That additional percentage off for opening a line of credit could be a deal-breaker when it comes to purchasing a home. If you are in the midst of the mortgage process with a good lender, you already know that you should hold off on opening new credit...

Improving Your FICO Score May Be Easier Than You Think!

If you’ve been following mortgage news at all, you’ve probably noticed plenty of news on the lower rates. Mortgage rates today are low, but did you know you get your rate even lower? You can do this by boosting your credit score. Your credit score is based on a system. Typically, with higher scores come lower mortgage rates. Government-backed loans, such as the low down-payment FHA loan and the zero-money down USDA loan, allow for below-average scores; but in order to get the best conventional mortgage rates, you’ll want to have the highest credit scores possible. MORTGAGE LENDERS USE FICO SCORING MODEL There are many credit reporting companies. However, in the mortgage world, there are three companies which matter most — Equifax,...

5 Reasons to Pay More Than the Minimum

Being able to pay just a small percentage of your balance is one of the reasons we use credit cards. The minimum payment is a lot easier to make, but at the same time can come at a higher cost. There are multiple reasons you should make more than the minimum payment, but here are just a few… Save Money When you make the minimum payment, you end up paying much more in interest. You could be saving hundreds or even thousands in interest charges by raising your monthly payments. Pay It Off Sooner When you make the minimum payment, not only do you pay more in interest, it takes to longer to pay it off. With a credit card balance of $5,000 and an APR at 14 it would take you over 20 years to pay it off when you only make the minimum payment. Improve Your Credit...