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Choosing The Right Mortgage For You
This article will help you understand the differences between a variety of mortgage options. There are many different mortgage products offered by the various lending institutions in Canada, so you may not know what features to look for.
As...
Mississippi Real Estate – The Magnolia State
Mississippi is a state known for having a classic southern style. Mississippi real estate is some of the cheapest in the land.
Mississippi
Named after the Mississippi River, Mississippi is a state holding on to its history. Much of the state...
Simple Tips For Showing Your Home
If your home is on the market, it should be available at all times for showing to potential buyers. After all, how else do you expect to sell it? During the time your house is on the market, try to keep it prepared for a showing whenever possible....
The Hidden Costs of Picture Frames
This may come as a surprise to you, but I love picture frames.
Anything that can take an ordinary picture and make it look like
it's worth 10 times it's true value is a powerful thing. Some
people spend their entire lives collecting awards,...
Will The New "For Sale By Owner" Program Rock The Real Estate Industry?
First of all, let's talk about what makes the For Sale by Owner (FSBO) industry so hot. FSBO is normally used to describe homeowners who choose to sell their homes themselves and don't use a real estate company in that process. They advertise in...
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Home Loans ? Identity Theft Protection Could Hurt Home Sales
Identity theft has been a hot topic in the news during the last few years. Just a month or so ago, forty million credit card numbers were compromised due to a computer attack on a credit card processor. Consumers are rightly concerned, as it can take years to unravel the problems created when someone?s identity is stolen. New legislation in Texas and California, also proposed elsewhere, is designed to protect consumers by letting them put a ?freeze? on their credit reports. Those in the real estate industry are worried, however, that doing so may make it difficult for some people to buy homes.
The concept of freezing credit reports is a simple one. Every time someone applies for credit, the lender contacts on of the three main credit bureaus and requests a copy of his or her credit report, which contains the applicant?s FICO score. The score, a number ranging from 300 to 850, indicates how worthy the applicant is to qualify for the loan or credit. The new laws allow consumers to ?freeze? their credit reports, effectively blocking any attempts by anyone to view his or her credit score. If the score can?t be viewed, then credit can?t be issued, thus protecting the consumer from fraudulent activity.
The process is a simple one, and can be initiated or canceled with a simple transaction on the Internet. The problem, according to those in the real estate industry, is that this simple security precaution may make it difficult for a consumer who has blocked their credit to buy a home. In many markets, homes put up for sale sell in a few hours or days, and the process of
unfreezing a credit report can take longer than that. If a home seller or lender cannot assess a potential buyer?s credit rating, then the home sale may be lost to another buyer. True, it is a simple process to unfreeze a credit report, but some consumers may forget that they froze their reports in the first place, or they may forget or misplace their username or password for the Website that allows them to unfreeze their report.
On the surface, the new laws to protect consumers seem to be a good idea, and those in the real estate industry who are concerned may find that their worries are unjustified. This is a case where all parties would benefit from taking the time to see if the laws are effective, and whether or not they actually hurt the real estate industry. In the meantime, anyone considering purchasing a home should be made aware of the ramifications of freezing their credit, as doing so may make it more difficult to purchase the house of his or her dreams.
About the Author: ™šopyright 2005 by Retro Marketing. Charles Essmeier is the owner of Retro Marketing, a firm devoted to informational Websites, including http://www.End-Your-Debt.com, a Website devoted to debt consolidation information and http://www.HomeEquityHelp.net, a site devoted to information on home equity loans.
Source: www.isnare.com
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