Eric Mitchell Real Estate

Signs You're in a Lousy 401(k) Retirement Plan Many Americans just aren’t prepared for retirement. Two-thirds of families fall short of conservative retirement savings targets to retire at age 67, according to a 2015 study by the National Institute on Retirement Security. The median retirement account balance — including money in a 401(k) retirement account — is $2,500 for working-age households, and $14,500 for near-retirement households, the study found. Even for workers who contribute to their employer’s 401(k) plan, they may not be saving enough money to get them to the often recommended retirement income goal of having 70 – 80 percent of their pre-retirement income, or they may be in a 401(k) that isn’t doing a good job of making money for them. Here are some signs that you may be in a lousy 401(k) retirement plan: Low results:  Poor performance is an easy indicator to spot, and it doesn’t mean you have to stay with that 401(k). Moving to another retirement pla...

Steps to Take After Identity Theft Reacting quickly is essential after you’ve been the victim of identity theft. It can lessen the damage by thieves and lower the stress of having your credit card lost or stolen. You may notice when you get home that your credit card is missing. Or you may get an email from your credit card company that there is some suspicious activity on your account. Whatever alerts you to identity theft, here are some steps to take immediately after realizing it: Get on the phone Depending on the circumstances, you may want to first call the police to report a crime. If someone just grabbed your purse and ran away, the police are obviously the first agency to contact. Next, call your credit card company and ask that it cancel your credit card and send you a new one immediately. If any charges were made by the thieves, the credit card company should remove them. With anyone you contact about this theft, be sure to take notes of the names, dates, ...

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...

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 as...

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...

6 Small and Easy Steps to Improve Your Credit Score The best way to improve your credit score is simple, but not always that easy: Reduce your debt. Paying off your credit cards, or at least paying them down substantially, will not only increase your credit score, but having less debt will probably be more satisfying than a great credit score. And not using your credit cards anymore and paying off the balances is easier said than done. But there are smaller, easier steps that can improve a credit score. Here are six: Set payment reminders:  Making credit payments on time is one of the best ways to improve your credit score. Set payment reminders on your phone or whatever calendar you use, and check if your bank offers online reminders through email or text messages. Don’t open new accounts:  If you have a short credit history, then opening a lot of credit accounts too rapidly will lower your average account age and can drop your scores if you don’t have a lot o...

How FICO 9 May Increase Credit Scores How medical debt and other collection items are tallied in a credit score is changing, potentially increasing the credit scores of millions of people. Called the FICO 9, the new credit score changes how medical collections are treated from non-medical changes, such as credit cards. A medical debt will now damage a credit score less than paying a credit card bill on time, for example. FICO 9 came out in 2014, but the improved credit scores could just now be coming to fruition for many consumers because it can take a few years for banks and other lenders to implement the new system. The new FICO 9 score should give responsible borrowers better access to credit and lower rates on existing credit once the changes are accepted by the industry. Part of the thinking behind the changes is that for many people facing medical debt collections, it isn’t something they have a lot of control over. People get sick or are in an accident and can’t ...

Why Title Insurance Matters This comes up with just about every transaction. An owner’s title insurance policy protects your property rights as a homeowner. Those purchasing a home should obtain a policy to insure against defects associated with the title of the home. Owner’s title insurance is worthwhile because… …it protects your investment. A home is likely the largest investment you’ll make. Insuring it, says the American Land Title Association (ALTA), is like insuring any other valuable asset. Owner’s title insurance protects the rights of the property owner for as long as he or she (or heirs) owns the home. …it mitigates your risk. Issues inevitably arise for every homeowner, but title discrepancies shouldn’t be one of them. An owner’s title insurance policy will cover you in the event a title claim occurs. According to the ALTA, these include a tax lien against the property, an outstanding mortgage or a pending legal action related to the property. …it goes be...

Options If Your Mortgage Is Underwater Owing more money on your mortgage loan than your home is worth—commonly referred to as being “underwater” on a home mortgage—can seem hopeless. There were 6.7 million underwater homes in the U.S. at the end of the first quarter of 2016, representing 12 percent of all properties with a mortgage, according to RealtyTrac. The numbers are dropping since a peak of 12.8 million homes in 2012, when 28 percent of all properties with a mortgage were underwater. For people still underwater, those numbers don’t offer much solace. However, there are some options for underwater homeowners, including: Short sale:  If you have to sell your home, a short sale may get you the most money. Your lender has to agree to let you sell it for less than you owe, which may lead to the home being sold quicker than it would otherwise. Your lender must agree to the lower price, and it will take the loss, and your credit score will fall. Lenders can also rej...

Is Home Flipping for You? While you may think that home flipping went the way of the dinosaurs after the real estate bust, flips actually rose 3.1 percent from 2015 to 2016, with gross profits averaging $62,624, according to research from ATTOM Data Solutions. Home flipping enjoyed a boost last year thanks to low inventory in many areas of the country and an infusion of foreign and domestic capital, says ATTOM, who reported that roughly 6 percent of condo and single-family home sales in 2016 were flips - the highest share in three years. Hot markets in California - like San Jose, San Diego, and San Francisco - along with cities such as Baltimore, Md., Boston, Mass., New York, N.Y. and Seattle, Wash. earned more than $100,000 in profits. The most flipping took place Florida and Tennessee, where it comprised 11.7 percent of all sales in Memphis, Tenn. Are you ready to get into the flipping game? Consider these pros and cons from The Balance: Pro:  Home flipping can be...

Boomers Share 5 Lessons on Retirement The unanimous advice from Baby Boomers when it comes to retirement? Expect the unexpected. A survey of 1,200 investors conducted by Capital Group, revealed the many facets of retirement, including what causes sticker shock, the factors that affect why people end up retiring earlier or later than they had planned, and what keeps Boomers up at night when it comes to financial security in retirement. Here are five of the biggest lessons Boomer investors have learned when it comes to saving for a secure retirement: Be in it for the long-term —   Don’t expect much from quick hits. Nine in 10 (92 percent) retired Boomer investors stress the importance of getting and staying invested in the market. When markets fluctuate, stay put; only three in 10 (32 percent) say they would adapt their strategies based on market conditions. Know your fees —  Being able to easily understand fees is crucial to your peace of mind and financial se...

4 Exterior Renovations That Increase Your Home's Value If you're considering selling your home, you're likely looking into improvements that bring the highest return on your investment. Should you revamp the kitchen or the bathroom? Finally finish the flooring in the basement? According to a new study from the Appraisal Institute, the home improvement that offers the greatest bump in home value is actually the exterior. "The latest research shows that home renovations focused on the exterior of a property are most likely to generate a positive cost-to-value ratio," says Appraisal Institute President Stephen S. Wagner, MAI, SRA, AI-GRS. "However, not all home improvement projects offer a full return on investment – cost doesn't necessarily equal value." According to Remodeling magazine's most recent Cost vs. Value report, the projects with the highest expected return on investment are: Garage door replacements.  Garage door looking sh...