Eric Mitchell Real Estate

Fast and Easy Ways to Improve Your Credit Within Months Improving your credit score can take a few months. So if you’re looking to get an auto or home loan, or want to apply for a new credit card, an early start can give you time to raise your credit score and then get a loan or new credit card at a better interest rate. Here are some ways to improve your credit within a few months: Pay your bills on time Payment history is the most important factor in FICO scores, accounting for up to 35 percent of a credit score. Paying your bills on time — from credit cards to utility bills — can help a lot. Late payments stay on a credit report for seven years. The longer ago they happened, the less they affect credit scores. If a bill goes unpaid long enough the debt can be sold to a collection agency, which will be reported to credit bureaus. Set up online alerts when a bill is due, look at your balances online and set automatic payments for a credit card. Low credit utilization...

Money Matters for Millennial Parents As a young parent, you may just be learning about all the responsibilities parenthood requires. When it comes to financial planning, setting your sight on the future can help immensely. Demolish debt.  Slaying your own debt will positively impact your family’s financial future. While it may take years to pay off those student loans or credit card debt, creating a plan can help. Tackle your lowest balance first to gain momentum then take on the next smallest. Additionally, pay attention to higher interest rates that are costing you a lot of money. Build a budget.  Creating a budget doesn’t have to be hard. There are many budgeting apps available on the market to help you track your expenses, or you can try the trusty envelope system with monthly allowances for groceries, entertainment, utilities, etc. Build an emergency fund.  Setting a fund for potential emergencies will never backfire. Aim for a small, achievable goal a...

Making Financial Lessons a Family Tradition Teaching children manners and how to tie their shoes is one thing, but financial lessons are often pushed to the wayside until it’s too late. Budgeting and financial planning should be a focus in every household. Whether you are passing along your lessons to your children, nieces or nephews, keeping financial sense in the family can have longstanding benefits. Here are some financial lessons you can teach children before they leave home: How to Budget Whether it’s through a household budget that you let them become a part of, or a weekly allowance on which they have to determine how to spend and save, budgeting is a skill they will be able to use throughout their lives. Show the younger generations how to budget for monthly expenses, such as a mortgage, groceries, utility bills and other expenses, and then show them what your monthly income is. If the expenses are higher than the income, then work together to cut expenses and l...

5 Financial Tips for First-Time Parents So a babe is on the way? Congrats! Along with the chaos of, well, everything that is to come, your finances are about to experience an upheaval, as well. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, it will cost upwards of $245,000 to raise a child born in 2013 to the age of 18—and this does not include college. Feeling that bank account burn already? Below are five tips for rocking your budget as a new mom or dad. 1. Tweak the budget.  Your new little one is going to cost a pretty penny. From hospital costs to diapers and child care, budgetary stress is an added strain on you as a new mom or dad. Look for any unnecessaries you can slash to make room for more baby dollars. The more prepared you are, the better. 2. Track your spending.  Don’t just make that budget and set it aside. Set a monthly meeting with your spouse to look over your spending, make sure you’re on track, and identify any problem areas or potential savin...

Building Credit Without Credit Cards A credit card is one of the main ways to build credit. By using a credit card wisely and not running up huge bills and paying them off in full on time, consumers can improve their credit score. A good credit score can make getting a home, car and other loans easier, and at better interest rates. Some people who have poor credit may have difficulty improving their credit score fast enough, and others may not even want a credit card. A credit card isn’t the only way to build credit. Here are some other ways: Get a small loan Apply for a small loan from your bank or credit union. If you’ve had an account in good standing for a few years, you should be able to get a small loan. Some banks may only offer secured loans, meaning you’ll have to come up with some collateral such as a car to qualify for the loan. However you get a bank loan, pay it back on time and your credit score should improve. Monitor student loan payments You shoul...

Understanding Car Title Loans, and Why You Should Avoid Them If you’ve seen advertisements by lenders saying “No credit, no problem,” then you may have heard of car title loans. And chances are, you could end up with a problem. Like their maligned brethren payday loans, car title loans prey on the poor and underbanked, offering loans of $1,000 or less with an annual percentage rate of 200 percent or more on the loan. A car title loan does just what the name implies — it uses your car as collateral if the loan isn’t paid, which means that a missing payment could lead to repossession. Worse yet, the loan can be rolled over monthly indefinitely as the borrower pays only interest each month. If you own your car outright, you can sign over the title to the lender and then get it back once your loan is repaid. Typically, up to 25 percent of the car’s value can be borrowed in a title loan. According to the Pew Charitable Trusts, the typical car title loan is $1,000. Payment is...

Growth vs. Value Investing: Know the Differences Your investing style and tolerance for risk can help determine what type of stock mutual funds you invest in. The two main types of funds — growth and value — have different characteristics that can match your investing style. Owning a mix of both funds is probably a smart move, but it can still be worthwhile to understand how each fund works. Here are some short explanations of growth vs. value funds: Characteristics Growth businesses are likely to reinvest profits, instead of paying out dividends to shareholders, as a way to grow. Growth stocks can be seen as expensive and overvalued. Growth stocks tend to be newer companies with products that are expected to be in high demand in the future. Value funds are stocks that are undervalued by the market, meaning their prices don’t reflect their fundamental worth. They can trade at a lower price when compared to their fundamentals. Value stocks can be undervalued for vari...

How to Negotiate a Clean Credit Report A late payment on a credit bill or other debt such as a mortgage can have a significant impact on your credit score. And the higher your credit score is to begin with, the more it can fall after a late payment. Paying your bills on time is the best way to avoid this. If you don’t make your payments and your account is turned over to a collections agency, you won’t be able to get that account current again. Late payments can stay on a credit report for seven years. Before it gets to that point, there are four ways to remove late payments from your credit report so that your score isn’t affected: Ask for a Goodwill Adjustment Creditors can remove a late payment as a “goodwill adjustment” if you write a forgiveness letter explaining why you were late and asking that they forgive it and adjust your credit report. You’ll likely be successful if you have a good payment history with the creditor and haven’t asked for an adjustment previou...

How Yards Affect Home Values After deciding on a neighborhood, finding the perfect home can come down to price. One home could be priced five or six figures higher or lower than another home on the same block. What gives? Big factors such as neighborhood comps, crime and the quality of nearby schools affect prices, but they should affect all homes in an area equally. Some factors are less obvious but can affect a home’s price in a big way. For example, yards that can have a big influence on a home’s value for a number of reasons, according to an analysis by  HouseCanary , a data analytics real estate business. Here are some: View Angle The bigger the view angle is from a backyard to scenery or nature, the better. This was the most popular hidden factor influencing home values in the analysis, affecting 95 percent of counties studied. No scenic view would be the worst angle, while 180 degrees is a scenic view from every angle. Backyard view angles were most prize...