5 Fatal Mistakes We All Make That Drive Down Our Credit Scores

Author: Ron Cahalan

Most people don't realize that they can drive down their credit scores even if they have a near-perfect record of paying their bills. The five classic mistakes you need to avoid are:

1. If you are applying for a mortgage, never pay off old collections, judgments or tax liens until the closing. (Ask your mortgage lender if you pay these debts at your closing.)

When you pay these debts off before applying for a mortgage, they are treated and scored as new and recent accounts with delinquent activity. This drives your credit scores down.

2. Closing credit card accounts initially lowers your scores. Again, this is due to your action showing up as new and recent credit activity. Any new or recent activity will have an initial detrimental effect on your scores.

Of course, after you close inactive or unnecessary accounts the scores will eventually come up because you will have less credit or potential credit risk. But it may take months for this to occur. Unfortunately most people close superfluous accounts right before applying for a loan thinking that it will improve their scores. If you want to close these accounts, do so well in advance of applying for a loan.

3. Don't keep high balances on credit cards and revolving debt. Maintaining balances under 30 percent of the available credit on each card can improve your scores. For example, if your available credit on a card is $1,000 keep the balance under $300. Also remember to pay off debt instead of moving it to other revolving accounts. Moving balances to zero- or low-interest credit cards can actually lower your scores.

Lured by credit card offers with low initial rates, many consumers move their credit card balances over and over again to keep their accounts at lower rates. This creates new activity on your credit report and lowers your scores.

4. Don't apply for credit you don't need. Many people are tempted by department store promotions offering them 10 percent to 20 percent off their purchases if they apply for a credit card. What may look like a great deal really isn't because the new account will lower your credit scores.

Use credit cards wisely. Remember that someone who has a good credit card history is viewed more favorably by credit bureaus than someone who has no credit cards. To build an effective credit history, have a mix of installment credit (cars, furniture, etc) along with credit cards and mortgages.

5. Don't assume the collection account, judgment or tax lien you paid has been reported to all three credit bureaus. Likewise if you close an account, don't assume that has been reported to all three bureaus.

Unfortunately, agencies and creditors are quick to report you when you owe them money or have made a recent mistake. But they can be slow to report the final resolution to that account when you have paid them off. Collection agencies and the creditors that have sold your account to the collector are both extremely poor at reporting the account paid in full. If you have declared bankruptcy you need to be especially vigilant. Less that 50 percent of the accounts, collections and judgments discharged in a bankruptcy will show up on your credit reports after the completion of the bankruptcy.

It is your responsibility to make sure that all three bureaus have the most recent and accurate information about you. You can write to them or file online disputes with each individual bureau. Be sure to supply them with copies of paid receipts and any correspondence you may have to ensure that your record is recent and correct.

Ron Cahalan is a 26-year veteran of the mortgage lending industry. His controversial new book, ""Lenders Are Liars,"" exposes what he calls the greed and lack of ethics in the industry. It provides steps homeowners and borrowers can take to get the best rates and negotiate lower closing costs and other essential information homeowners must know.

About the author: Visit http://www.LendersAreLiars.com for free eBooks on such topics as ""Basic Guide to Debt Relief,"" and ""15 Top Ways to Save Money"" and to be entered into a drawing for an iPod.

Franchise Opportunity - How Do I Raise Funds to Buy?

Author: Naz Daud

Many people buying a franchise opportunity or starting a business for the first time raise funds by getting a second mortgage on their property. This method is extremely popular due to the fact that it is possible to raise funds at exceptionally favourable terms. The interest rates are the lowest in the market and you can spread payments over many years.

Many people turn to their family and friends to either provide funds. The benefit of getting loans from friends and family is that often there is no arrangement fee and interest is usually waived. The problem with this is that if you fail for whatever reason chances are you will also lose a friend and bring financial pressures to bear to someone close to you!

If people are trying to raise money from the banks and they do not have a decent credit score they can often overcome this by getting personal guarantees from people close to them. Banks now know that if there is a problem getting repaid they can chase the guarantor for sums outstanding. Again this method carries the risk of bring you into disrepute with someone close to you.

One of the benefits of buying a franchise versus starting a business on your own is that many lending institutions look more favourably at lending for franchises. The reason for this is that franchisees have a much better track record of repaying monies due then people starting their own business. The majority of franchisees are still trading after five years where as the majority of people who choose to go it alone fail!

Usually, banks will lend fifty percent of funds required for a new start up whereas they can lend up to seventy percent for people considering a franchise. Many banks have already analysed the franchises prior to the approach for funds. They know as much about the franchise as the potential franchisee and in many cases have carried out more due diligence.

Many banks have franchise managers who specialise in assisting prospective franchisees. They have already prepared guidelines to assist and advice them. They have also been trained to examine new franchise opportunities and can point out the potential and downfalls of the type of business that is being considered.

Franchise managers can assist with the creation of business plans and forecasts. They will also help in analysing the franchise fee and ongoing royalty payments. On average, royalty payments vary between ten and fifteen percent of turnover.

Usually this advice is free and fees are only payable once funds have been approved. The recommendations they give are invaluable and based on many years of experience lending monies to franchisees. Be wary of lending institutions which insist on a charge just to examine your case.

Even if the funds are present to buy the franchise, it is still a good idea to approach the banks and see how they feel about the franchise that you are considering purchasing. At this point it is probably not the time to let them know of your financial situation!

Always base your choice of a franchise, not only with regards to the money making potential but also your lifestyle. It is important to find a business opportunity that you can commit to for many years!

About the author: Naz Daud

Business Franchise Opportunity Business Directory & Franchises Ireland Franchises

Bad Credit Mortgage UK: Use an Online Mortgage Calculator

Author: Johnathon Smith

If you are interested in obtaining a bad credit mortgage , you are not alone. The fact of the matter is that not everybody has perfect credit. And with that being said, not everybody wants to rent for the rest of their life. When you combine all of these details, it is easy to see why bad credit mortgages have become so popular as of late. To get a bad credit mortgage UK you need to first do a bit of legwork. After all, it is going to take some hard work and determination on your part in order to find the bad credit mortgage that is right for you. But if you are willing to search high and low, and do some basic research, you will end up with the perfect bad credit mortgage UK.

One of the most important things that you can do is use an online mortgage calculator before you begin to apply for bad credit mortgages. By doing this you will be able to find plenty of information. First off, an online mortgage calculator will give you a better idea of how much money you can borrow. From there, you will be able to tweak the type of home that you are looking to buy. Additionally, an online mortgage calculator can also be used to determine monthly payments, etc.

There is nothing to worry about when using one of these calculators. You can adjust the numbers time and time again until you find the ones that work best for you and your financial situation. From there, you will be set up to apply for a bad credit mortgage UK.

As you can imagine, it is not mandatory to use a mortgage calculator before applying for a bad credit mortgage UK. But it is a good idea because it will allow you to have a better idea of where you stand as well as your chances of securing a particular type of loan.

So before you apply for a bad credit mortgage, you will want to look into using an online mortgage calculator.

About the author: Visit http://www.badcre dit-remortgageuk.co.uk/ and get a Quote today, apply online if you are looking for a bad credit remortgage or a bad credit mortgage . Use our online mortgage calculator to see how much you could potentially borrow.

Exclusive Mortgage Leads Generated For Free

Author: Randall Neale

Free exclusive mortgage lead generating resources revealed to help maximize profits and eliminate monthly marketing budget.

The internet has allowed us to market the entire planet from the comfort of our own home or office. We are no longer limited to a local market and the possibilities are limitless.

If you're trying to generate your own exclusive mortgage leads and do not want to spend thousands on your marketing budget, you are in luck.

Randy and Courtney Neale have spent years and thousands of hours learning how to get their mortgage website on the first pages of every major search engine using free resources. Their time and efforts are making people money and saving them the most valuable commodity they have; Time.

""My wife, Courtney, and I have learned how to utilize the internet to promote and market our mortgage business to the entire planet for free and our website is on the first pages of Google, Yahoo, MSN, Ask, and various other search engines and we have done it all for free."" Randy says.

Once you pay the upfront premium for expensive and typically bogus mortgage leads you are instantly in the catch up mode trying to earn that money back and then get into the profit mode. The last thing you want to do is spend thousands of dollars every month on mortgage leads. The only problem is; how do you market your mortgage business without paying money? The answer; purchase Randy and Courtney Neale's e-book, Free Mortgage Traffic at www.FreeMortgageTraffic.com.

The problem with paying for pay-per-click campaigns to market your mortgage business is that it costs thousands of dollars every month. Every time someone clicks on your website you should hear ""KA-CHING"", because it's money coming right out of your wallet.

The information, techniques and ideas outlined in Free Mortgage Traffic, when followed correctly, will result in generated traffic to your website, resulting in a pipeline of people to follow-up with and convert into sales. Sales is a number's game, the more people viewing your mortgage website the more sales you will close and the more money you will make.

Instead of paying thousands of dollars every month for so-called exclusive mortgage leads , now you can generate your own for free.

For more information on how to generate your own Exclusive Mortgage Leads, please visit www.FreeMortgageTraffic.com

About the author: Contact: Randy and Courtney Neale Exclusive Mortgage Leads

Home Business Internet Income Program: Clicking It Rich Online

Author: Ikey Benney

This article is about the ""SECRET"" on how to succeed in home based business opportunity program without doing any work or selling a product/service or doing any cold calling or listening to conference calls or doing affiliate programs or MLM programs or eBay auction business or working your self to death trying to get website traffics so as to generate sales or doing any other moronic, time consuming, fluffy and nutty internet money making program filled with hassles

It seems that millions of people have dabbled into various home based business programs and spent money and time for a couple of years working themselves to death to succeed but have failed miserably and are frustrated and may have given up on their dreams of creating true wealth and financial security from a home based business.

Are you one of these people?

If yes, read on to discover an eye-opening ""SECRET"" which may rock your world and finally give you the little known ""SECRET GOLDEN KEY"" to unlock vast internet wealth and make all your dreams to come true.

Most people got fade up from doing 9-5 jobs and all the stress and hassles involved and decided to try their luck in doing home based business opportunity programs which they operate from home to generate auto-pilot cash flow.

However, most of these people are ordinary folks who have no computer programming or business marketing or webmaster or web designing or website promotion skills.

Therefore to get their home based business programs off the ground, they had to spend a lot of time and money to seek and find website designers, web hosting companies, website marketing information and had to read hundreds of e-zines, e-books as well as attend $5000 hot seminars conducted by snake oil internet marketing wannabe gurus.

Yes, there are millions of people who are making large amounts of money doing home business programs and even affiliate programs.

Ironically, they include these so-called internet marketing gurus.

However, the problem is that they do not tell you the whole truth about the ""secret"" to get rich doing home based business program, because they don't want you to know the WHOLE SECRET and begin to compete with them!

They do not tell you the WHOLE TRUTH about how to generate website traffics.

If you cannot generate massive website traffics, you will not get website visitors or sales and you will fail. There are very powerful little known secrets on how to generate massive website traffics for any home based business program.

However, the so called gurus and webmasters do not share all the secrets.

They sell only half truths to you for $39.99.

Half truths are very dangerous because they complicate matters and waste your valuable time and resources.

Some home business marketers have been told by the internet marketing gurus to buy traffics from traffic companies, to do banner advertising, to do opt-in e-mail marketing or joint ventures.

Most of these internet marketing strategies have been dead and invalid for a few years now. They do not work anymore.

There are millions of fake traffic companies selling 1000 traffics for $10, 50,000 traffics for $50, 1,000,000 traffics for $500.

So, you spent your hard earned money to buy the traffics.

And you are told it would take about a month for them to deliver all the traffics and a report and proof will be sent to you after the traffics were sent.

So you waited for a month, but at the end, you did not get even one sale, even though the traffic company claimed they had sent 1,000,000 traffics to your website and also gave you a proof for it.

What you did not realize was that, yes, they sent 1,000,000 hits to your website, but they were computer generated, and not real human beings!

That was the reason why you did not generate even one sale.

You have been conned and ripped off!

So, you felt angry, scammed and frustrated.

Therefore, you decided to try to get traffics from the search engines.

So, you squandered $5000 to attend seminars by the so-called website marketing gurus and spent a lot of time reading all their hare-brained silly e-books and listening to their tapes and watching their videos.

From all these you probably learned how to optimize your website, do link exchange and submit your website to search engines.

But what happened after you did all these?

To your horror, you discovered that the major search engines would not even index your website for at least 6 months!

This is what is called being sandboxed.

Your website was placed on probation for at least 6 months.

So, there was no way to get any traffic.

Your website had not been included in their databases.

So, since there was nothing you could do about that, you decided to wait.

You waited and waited for 6 months.

Then luckily, finally in about 8 months it was indexed.

Therefore, you started expecting traffics and hits from the search engines so you could finally start making sales and earning income.

But what happened when you checked your keywords positions in the major search engines?

You became shocked to discover that the largest corporations dominated all your keywords and your website was no where to be found in the top 100 websites in the search results!

Holy mackerel, you moaned.

No wonder you were not getting any traffics or hits or making any sales!

Ouch. That hurts.

It was then about 1 yr since you started your efforts to earn income from a home based business program.

At that point, you were angry, frustrated and disappointed.

Who would blame you?

Nobody enjoys failure.

So you decided to fight on by hiring a website search engine optimization company (SEO or SEM) to do all the work for you so you could get to the top 10 positions in your keywords and begin to generate traffics and sales.

You plunked down $2,500 for the SEO company to work their magic for you, in addition to agreeing to pay another $100-$250 monthly for them to maintain your keyword positions.

They told you that you should not expect any result for at least 3 months-6 months and you had to agree because you had no choice.

If the SEO company you hired was a genuine one and they did their work right, yes, in 3-6 months, you would finally started getting traffics and sales.

Yahoo! You exclaimed out of excitement.

At last, you finally made it.

You felt happy and wanted to scream and tell the whole world.

Sales were coming in.

You were then able to start paying some of your bills, especially your rent or mortgage, insurance, medical and car loan as well as other payments.

But after 3 months when the major search engines updated their databases, your keyword positions disappeared and suddenly your website traffics as well as your sales screeched to zero!

You were back to where you began! Zero!

No traffic and no sales, in addition to having spent $2,500 and additional maintenance fee of $100-$200 monthly for about 3 months.

When you phoned the SEO company, they told you that it was not their fault and they would keep charging you $100-$200 monthly as you agreed and that you must have patience because after the next search engine update, your website keyword positions could go back up to the top 10 positions again.

You do not have to go through this. Enough is enough.

This is not how those who are getting rich online are making it.

There is a better way to get rich online without selling your soul to the devil.

And what is great about it is that there is no website required, no product/services to promote, no search engine optimization needed because there is nothing to sell, so you do not need any traffics or to squander your hard earned money paying website search engine optimization companies $2,500 plus $100-$200 monthly.

This little known but extremely potent and powerful millionaire's secret of creating, preserving and propagating wealth is 100% legal, easy and fun to do.

(http://www.secret33.com/home-based-business-program)

All you will be required to do will be to open a special ""INTERNET FINANCIAL ACCOUNT"", click your mouse and enter a ""SPECIAL CODE NUMBER"", then click your mouse a second time and you make money.

The amount of money you make may vary from $100 every hr to $2,500 daily and even $100,000 monthly.

And you can make fast cash all day, 7 days and 365 days from the comfort of your home or office and from any country in the world.

There is no limitation on how much money that you can make.

It is the fastest and greatest ""SECRET"" to creating infinite wealth on the internet without doing any work.

Read my lips: no work. Nada. Zip.

This is hot stuff and that may be the reason why you may not have heard about it because the millionaires and the ""power elites"" who have been using it to create vast wealth without doing any work have hushed it up and jealously hidden it and kept it away from the public.

Can you blame them?

If you wake up tomorrow and discover that there is a goldmine or treasure in the ground under your home, will you place a full page ad in New York Times newspaper to tell the whole world?

However, for a little goodwill fee, you can learn about this mind boggling millionaire's ($100,000 monthly for life) fast wealth creating ""SECRET"".

Anything great that is worth its weight in GOLD costs money.

If you're frustrated and you are ""sick and tired"" of being ""sick and tired"" because of your failure to get rich from home based business programs, then you must get this jealously guarded ($100,000 monthly for life) fast wealth creation ""SECRET"" and use it to create abundant wealth, financial security, success, and happiness which you richly deserve.

You can discover how to get rich from this jealously guarded ($100,000 monthly for life) ""SECRET"" of the ""Money and Power"" Elites, the multi-national and multi-billion dollars corporations, largest banks and governments of the world, the ""Movers & Shakers"" of International Banking & Finance, Business moguls & Tycoons, CEOs of major Corporations, secret societies and the privileged blue bloodlines of the Wealthiest Families of Europe and the Americas.

With the millions of dollars which you could potentially make from this $100,000 monthly for life, millionaire's ""SECRET"", you'll be free like a bird to buy a mansion, with the most lavish and expensive furnishings, jewelry, antiques, electronics, a 50ft yacht, dream luxury cars, pick your choice: Lexus X470, $44,000 Jaguar 2007 S type, Silver Porsche Carrera, $180,000 Ferrari Testarossa, Mercedes 2007 Model S Class, 2007 Rolls Royce Silver Seraph, Bentley Mulsanne S, $220,000 Bentley Arnage Silver Tempest or a flaming red Lamborghini Jalpa!

You can make all your dreams in life to come true, without any hard work!

May these insights into home based business opportunity, online income opportunity, internet wealth secret, internet millionaire secret, shortcut to online wealth, home business internet money making, earn income online, residual auto-pilot cash flow program, website traffics, website sales, affiliate program, website marketing, website search engine optimization, SEO, SEM major search engines, website internet marketing gurus, help you make millions of dollars and to achieve your life's ambitions and dreams.

Copyright Info:

This article is copyrighted and you may publish this article at your website, in your e-zine (newsletter, blogs) or send it to a friend as long as you retain the author's resource box, including the website address, and refrain from altering the content or using it in any re-direction manipulation scheme.

If you do not agree to these conditions, please do not copy and use this article.

Anyone who violates this condition will be subject to legal action and payment of damages for violation of our copyrights. Thank you.

Ikey Benney

About the author: I-key is the creator of $10 0,000 monthly for life automated home based business autopilot cash flow program Discover the jealously guarded ""WEALTH SECRET"" of the rich and powerful. No work involved. hom e based business, internet income program : http://www.secret33

The Advantages of Home Ownership

Author: Erick Larson & Vicki Walker

Buying a Home is at the heart of the ""American Dream"", and it's a big step in anyone's life and probably the biggest financial commitment you will make. It can bring happiness and provide a solid foundation for you and your family. It has also proven to be a wise investment in past years. It has many benefits, but today I highlight what many believe to be the three biggest:

Tax Breaks

When compared to other investments, few can generate the healthy and long lasting tax breaks that home ownership does. When you become a homeowner, there may be tax breaks that you can take advantage of that renters and non-homeowners cannot, the mortgage interest deduction being just one of them. Sometimes ""points"" paid to obtain a home loan are deductible.

In addition, the deduction of your real estate tax on your federal income tax return is a common practice. Some homeowners choose to use the built up equity in their home to obtain Home Equity Lines of Credit (HELOC) or home equity loans. Interest on these loans may also be tax deductible. With investment real estate, additional tax advantages include the deduction of depreciation and other expenses. With proper planning you may receive tax advantages that last a lifetime. As always, consult with your own tax advisor as to the specific benefits of home ownership that apply to you.

Equity

A home is an investment that can, and usually does, increase in value over time. In some markets, home values have been rising dramatically in recent years (California, Florida, Nevada, Arizona, etc.). In other markets the rise has been more slow and steady.

In addition, you can use your own hard work to make improvements that will increase the value of your home. Each improvement that you make will add to the overall value of your home and your way of living.

As the value of your home increases, and the amount of your mortgage shrinks, you build equity. That is, the money that would be left over if you sold your home and paid off the mortgage. As mentioned above, you can borrow against this equity should the need arise. It's almost like a savings account that you live in.

Community

Moving into a home gives you a chance to meet new people, get involved in your community, patronize local merchants, and shape your new neighborhood. By improving your community you raise the value of your home and others in your area. It's a way to put down roots and invest in your town. Home ownership provides a sense of permanence and a solid foundation for our lives, and the lives of our children.

Buying a home may be the single, largest investment you will make in your life. But there are so many benefits, some tangible and some emotional. If you are paying rent year after year, you are missing out on the advantages mentioned above. Maybe now is the time for you to take the plunge and buy a home, condominium or townhouse and experience this part of the ""American Dream"". So choose a Realtor and get going today.

About the author: Erick Larson & Vicki Walker are Realtors serving clients in Northern California. For more information about Sonoma County Real Estate , see Erick. If your interest is in Davis Real Estate and Homes for Sale , see Vicki.

Bad Credit Remortgage UK: You can get what you need

Author: Johnathon Smith

Do you have bad credit? Do you need to get a bad credit remortgage UK, or maybe a first mortgage? If so, you are not alone. And although you may think that it is impossible to get the type of loan that you need, nothing could be further from the truth. The fact of the matter is that you can get a bad credit remortgage UK if you are willing to take the time to search the various lenders who work in this area of financing.

If you are interested in bad credit remortgage , you need to first start out by obtaining several quotes. While this may have been difficult in the past, the internet has made it easier than ever before. You can easily go online, find a broker, and then apply for a bad credit remortgage UK. This will only take you a few minutes, as compared to a few hours if you were to call several lenders and institutions on the phone. When it comes down to it, the internet has changed the way that the mortgage and finance industries operate.

Once you have obtained several bad credit remortgage quotes, the next step is to compare and contrast each one. Take a close look at all of the details that are presented to you as well as any underlying details that may come back to haunt you. Just like any loan that you secure, with a bad credit mortgage you need to take your time. This is the only way to ensure that you get yourself into a good situation.

All in all, getting a bad credit remortgage UK is not impossible. If you start out by searching for online quotes you will be ahead of the game from the start. You will want to get your quotes, and then apply for the loan online. This will not only cut back on the time that it will take to secure the loan, but it will also give you the best chance of getting a solid deal; despite your past problems.

About the author: Visit http://www.badcre dit-remortgageuk.co.uk/ and get a Quote today, apply online if you are looking for a bad credit remortgage or a bad credit mortgage . Use our online mortgage calculator to see how much you could potentially borrow.