Credit card debt, left unchecked, can pile up quickly. Especially for debtors making minimum payments.   According to the Federal Reserve, a credit card balance of $5,000 at 23.99 percent APR won't pay off for 16,127 years. That's one reason why it's important to manage your credit card rates, and renegotiate them whenever possible. In this 4-minute piece from NBC's The Today Show, you'll learn the tested tactics that can cut a credit card rate, and get monthly payments to a.......   Read the COMPLETE BLOG POST HERE: How To Renegotiate Your Credit Card Interest Rates To Something Lower 01/11/2011

  When your CDs, DVDs and game discs are "skipping", most times, a simple cleaning will set them right. Make sure you clean your discs properly, though. Clean them the wrong way and you could damage your discs forever. You might also cause your electronic devices permanent damage. There's lots of.......   Read the COMPLETE BLOG POST HERE: How To Repair A Scratched CD, DVD, Or Game Disc 01/11/2011

Mortgage Insurance, sometimes referred to as Private Mortgage Insurance, is required by lenders on conventional home loans if the borrower is financing more than 80% Loan-To-Value. According to Wikipedia: Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI) is insurance payable to a lender or trustee for a pool of securities that may be required when taking out a mortgage loan. It is insurance to offset losses in the case where a mortgagor is not able to repay the loan and the lender is not able to recover its costs after foreclosure and sale of the mortgaged property. PMI isn't necessarily a bad thing since it allows borrowers to purchase a property by qualifying for conventional financing with a lower down payment. Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI) simply protects your lender against non-payment should yo... 01/09/2011

  On the first Friday of each month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics releases its Non-Farm Payrolls report. More commonly called "the jobs report", the government's data include raw employment figures and the Unemployment Rate. The jobs report hit the wires at 8:30 AM ET today. It's making big waves in the mortgage market and may help home affordability for buyers in Orlando this weekend, and would-be refinancers across Florida. For this month, and for the rest of 2011, employment data will figure.....   Read the COMPLETE BLOG POST HERE: December's Job Report : Good For Home Affordability 01/09/2011

  Starting April 1, 2011, loan-level pricing adjustments are increasing. Most conforming mortgage applicants will face higher loan costs. Loan-level pricing adjustments are mandatory closing costs. They're assigned by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and based on a loan's specific risk to Wall Street investors. First constructed in April 2009, loan-level pricing adjustment are a means to help Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac compensate for "riskier loans" by bolstering their respective balance sheets. Since the initial roll-out, Fannie and Freddie have amended adjustments five times. The pending April adjustment will be......   Read the COMPLETE BLOG POST HERE: Loan Costs Increasing April 1, 2011 01/09/2011

  The Federal Reserve released its December 14 meeting minutes Tuesday afternoon. There wasn't much there to disturb mortgage markets, thankfully. The "Fed Minutes" is an official recap of the most recent meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee. It's published 8 times annually, 3 weeks after the FOMC adjourns. The Fed Minutes is similar to......   Read the COMPLETE BLOG POST HERE: The Fed Minutes Keep Mortgage Rates On Hold (For Now) 01/05/2011

The housing market continues to expand, and surprise. According to the National Association of REALTORS®, November's Pending Home Sales Index gained 3 percent from October. A "pending home sale" is a home under contract but not yet closed.  The index is now at its highest point since April 2010's federal tax credit contract expiration deadline. If the tax credit really did "borrow" sales from the summer months, as has been theorized, housing has rebuilt its.....   Read the COMPLETE BLOG POST HERE: Pending Home Sales Rises To 6-Month High 01/04/2011

  When a garbage disposal clogs, a plumber's service call in Lake Mary can cost as much as $100 just for showing up. A "fix" could add even more to that bill. To minimize the likelihood of costly repairs, therefore, be mindful of how your disposal works, and where its limitations lie. Most clogs are the result of how certain food waste reacts with water and there's some items you......   Read the COMPLETE BLOG POST HERE: Foods That Don't Belong In A Garbage Disposal 01/03/2011

Altamonte Springs Florida Market Statistics December 2010   Altamonte Springs, Florida consists of zip codes 32714 and 32701 located in Seminole County. The results of this report are separated by the two area codes and by property style. The statistics do not include properties sold "For Sale Buy Owner" nor custom built new homes. These are only past month results, in order to get a better understanding of the market it is suggested to use a compilation of several months results.   Zip Code: 32714 Single Family Homes Sold 20 Townhome/Condos Sold 28 Average List Price $118,693 Average List Price $50,828 Average Sales Price $108,855 Average Sales Price $48,683 Average Days on Market 165 Average Days on Market 76 Lowest Priced home Sold $12,000 Highest Priced home Sold $219,000 $12,000, 3... 01/03/2011

While the actual credit score has a big impact on a loan approval, it's not the only component of the credit scenario that underwriters consider for a mortgage approval. Since loan programs, individual lenders and mortgage insurance companies all have their own credit report restrictions, it's difficult to define a standard Rule-of-Thumb to follow. However, the number of "Open and Active Trade Lines" seems to be the common denominator in most approvals. A trade line is basically a credit card, installment loan or other credit liability that is reported to the credit bureaus and displayed on a.....   Read the COMPLETE BLOG POST HERE: Is There A Rule-of-Thumb Regarding The Number Of Credit Lines To Have Open? 01/02/2011

  The Case-Shiller Index posted awful numbers in its most recent reading. Each of the index's 20 tracked markets showed home price deterioration between September's and October's respective reports. Some markets fell as much as 2.9 percent. The drop in values is nothing about which to panic, however. The Case-Shiller Index is just re-reporting what we already knew. It's a......   Read the COMPLETE BLOG POST HERE: Why You Shouldn't Put Too Much Faith In October's Case-Shiller Index   12/31/2010

  With 2010 coming to a close, the "experts" are out in full force, making predictions for next year's housing and mortgage markets on business television and in the papers. Predictions for 2011 are wide-ranging: Some say home prices will rise in 2011 Some say home prices will fall in 2011 Some say mortgage rates will rise in 2011 Some say mortgage rates will fall in 2011 The problem with housing and mortgage predictions is.....   Read the COMPLETE BLOG POST HERE: Housing And Mortgage Predictions For 2011   12/29/2010

  Like most housing data in November, the most recent New Home Sales report showed sales volume increasing last month, and home supplies falling. According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, sales of new, single-family homes increased to 290,000 in November on an annual basis, a figure equal to the New Home Sales 6-month rolling average, and a 6 percent improvement from....   Read the COMPLETE BLOG POST HERE: New Home Sales Rise In November; Hint At Strong Winter 2011 12/28/2010

    Americans spend a lot of time cooking and eating in their kitchens. What are you doing to keep yours germ- and bacteria-free? In this two-part, 6-minute video from NBC's The Today Show, you'll first ride alongside a county health inspector as he visits a home and inspects its kitchen. The tested areas include the refrigerator, the cutting boards, the sponges, the utensils, the ovens, and more. Ultimately, the home "passes", but not before the inspector points out some problems from which we all can.....   Read the COMPLETE BLOG POST HERE: Would Your Kitchen Pass A Health Inspection?     12/28/2010

  Existing Home Sales jumped another 6 percent in November, the report's third month of improvement since bottoming in July. According to the National Association of REALTORS®, a quarter-million more existing homes were sold during the annual period ending in November as compared to......   Read the COMPLETE BLOG POST HERE: Home Inventory Dwindles Into The New Year 12/23/2010

  The number of single-family Housing Starts increased in November, adding 30,000 units as compared to October. The Census Bureau defines a "housing start" as a home on which construction has started. November's starts represents a 7 percent increase from the month prior. However, if you see the Housing Starts story online or in......   Read the COMPLETE BLOG POST HERE: Housing Starts Rise In November, But With A High Margin Of Error   12/22/2010

  According to foreclosure-tracking firm RealtyTrac, the foreclosure filings fell 21 percent in November to 262,339 units nationwide. A foreclosure filing is defined as default notice, scheduled auction, or bank repossession.  November marked the first time since February 2009 that the number of monthly filings failed to.......   Foreclosure Activity Plunges (But With An Asterisk)     12/21/2010

    Over time, wooden furniture shows signs of age. Wear-and-tear from everyday use can lead to dings and scratches that are both distressing, and unsightly. But before you bring your piece to a specialist for repair, you can try the much-less-expensive, do-it-yourself route. In this 50-second video from HowCast, you'll learn how to...... Read the COMPLETE BLOG POST HERE: How To Erase Furniture Scratches With A Walnut 12/20/2010

While the basic Rule-of-Thumb for acceptable credit history is a minimum of four trade lines documented on a credit report, there are alternative methods of building a credit picture that an underwriter can use to make a decision for a loan approval. For potential home buyers with little or no credit history, keeping records for 12 months of paying bills on time is essential for mortgage loan approval. In fact, loan officers will appreciate receiving proof that you have paid a variety of accounts regularly and on time. Even if you do not have a credit history, or your credit report isn't as good as it could be, this may enable you to.......   Read the COMPLETE BLOG POST HERE: Alternate Sources For Establishing Credit 12/19/2010

  Home builder confidence is holding firm this month, according to the National Association of Home Builders. The group's monthly Housing Market Index survey posted 16 for December. That's the same value as from November. It's also equal to this 2010's average HMI reading. HMI is scored on a scale of......   Read the COMPLETE BLOG POST HERE: Why Builder Confidence Surveys Matter To Buyers Of New Homes   12/17/2010