9 Tips for Improving Your Credit Score

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RISMEDIA, November 14, 2009—Christine Van Tuyl and Margaret La Grange, an award-winning mother-daughter team with Prudential California Realty in Coronado, have compiled their latest list, “Top Tips for Improving Your Credit Score Now.” “Although interest rates are at historic lows, you need to have excellent credit to secure the best possible rate,” said Christine Van Tuyl, real estate agent. “Whether you’re looking to boost an already good score, or if you have a foreclosure or short sale on your record, it’s never a bad time to improve your credit score.”

Top Tips to Improve your Credit

1. Review your current credit report for accuracy. Everyone is entitled to one free credit report per year from each of the three credit bureaus—Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion. Get a copy of your credit report and look at it for accuracy. First, make sure that the information in your file is about you and only you, not someone who has a similar name or a similar Social Security number. It is very common for your credit reports to have mistakes or incorrect information. At a minimum, make sure that the information you are being evaluated on is current and correct.

2. Repair credit report mistakes. If you find something on your credit report that is incorrect or missing, you should dispute the mistake by contacting the credit bureaus directly. All credit bureaus have their dispute procedures on their website. They are also required by law to investigate any disputed items and these investigations will usually be done within 30 days of your request.

3. Pay your bills on time. Sounds like a no-brainer, right? Payment history accounts for roughly 35% of your credit score. Paying bills on time is the most important thing to do. If you’re struggling to catch up, contact your creditors to work out a payment schedule.

4. Increase the length of your credit history. This accounts for about 15% of your score. Don’t cancel your old card or get a lot of new ones in a short time span because this can hurt your score.

5. Keep credit card balances low. It’s a good idea to keep the balances below 25% of your available credit. Even if you pay off your credit cards every month, a high average balance will impact your score. This accounts for about 30% of your credit score.

6. Keep new credit requests to a minimum. This accounts for 10% of your score. Every time a lender runs your credit, an inquiry is recorded. If you are trying to get a loan, don’t apply for new credit cards first.

7. Be aware that paying off a collection account will not remove it from your credit report. It will stay on your report for seven years.

8. Pay off debt rather than moving it around. The most effective way to improve your credit score in this area is by paying down your revolving credit. In fact, owing the same amount but having fewer open accounts may lower your score.

9. Beware credit-repair scams. By all means, don’t pay someone to wipe away the negative items in your file. If they don’t follow through, the damaging items will reappear in two or three months.

Q: Did you find it funny that the Memphis Grizzlies sent 3,000 of Allen Iverson's jerseys to Tanzania, Hasheem Thabeet's home country?
-- Andy, Memphis

SG: Funny? I thought it was ingenious. They figured out a way to combine a failed free agent signing and high-lottery pick misfire and turn them into a heartwarming holiday story. That reminds me ...

Hilarious

National Geographic's International Photography Contest 2009

National Geographic's International Photography Contest attracts thousands of entries from photographers of all skill levels around the world every year. While this year's entry deadline has passed, there is still time to view and vote for your favorites in the Viewer's Choice competition. National Geographic was kind enough to let me choose a few of their entries from 2009 for display here on The Big Picture. Collected below are 25 images from the three categories of People, Places and Nature. Captions were written by the individual photographers. (25 photos total)

Beautiful shots

By JONATHAN CHENG

HONG KONG – Notoriously aggressive marketing tactics for Hong Kong residential property that helped turn the 46th floor of a landmark development into the 88th floor will soon be toned down.

Under new government guidelines, real-estate developers here will have to clearly state the floor number and square footage of condominium units in their sales materials.

"The government is deeply concerned about some recent sales tactics in the first-hand uncompleted residential property market and confusing market information," a government spokesman said Friday. "The new measures will further enhance the transparency of transactions ... and the clarity of property information."

Associated Press

New guidelines in Hong Kong require developers to clearly state the floor number and square footage of condominium units, after one builder represented the 46th floor of a landmark development, shown above, as the 88th floor.

Last month, blue-chip developer Henderson Land Development Co. said it sold a unit in its luxury condominium, 39 Conduit Road, for about US$56.6 million. The unit, which was marketed as sitting on the 68th floor of the building, was actually on the 44th floor.

The building's floor numbering plan skipped scores of numbers deemed to be inauspicious (those containing the number four, for example, which sounds like a Chinese word for death) and highlighted the ones considered lucky (such as ones containing eight, which sounds like a word for prosperity). The top floor of the 46-story building is called the 88th floor.

Now, the government says developers will have to "set out the floor numbering information clearly" in the front of their sales brochure.

The government also focused on how big developers say an apartment is. Typically, Hong Kong's developers include each unit's share of the public hallways, air conditioning units and the gym and spa in quoting its gross floor area to homebuyers. Developers don't always report the so-called "saleable," or usable, square footage of the apartment -- which includes only the unit itself, plus any extra balcony or utility areas.

Under the government's new measures, which it announced Friday in conjunction with the Real Estate Developers Association of Hong Kong, developers will have to show the per-square-foot price of individual flats, using saleable area.

At 6,158 square feet, the apartment at 39 Conduit Road sold for US$9,200 per square foot. After stripping out the extras, the condo is only 4,671 square feet, which works out to over US$12,000 per square foot.

A Henderson spokeswoman said that the developer would comply with any guidelines issued by the Real Estate Developers Association. Previously, Henderson Chairman Lee Shau Kee said the numbering of 39 Conduit Road was a response to market demand.

Under the government's new arrangements, developers will also have to disclose information about primary market transactions more quickly, within five days instead of the current period of one month.

By Lucia Mutikani Lucia Mutikani – 1 hr 4 mins ago

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Sales of previously owned U.S. homes rose in October at a faster-than-expected pace to the highest in more than 2-1/2 years as buyers rushed to take advantage of a popular tax credit, a survey showed on Monday.

The National Association of Realtors said sales surged a record 10.1 percent month-over-month to an annual rate of 6.10 million units, the highest since February 2007, from a downwardly revised 5.54 million-unit pace in September.

Analysts polled by Reuters had expected October sales to jump to a 5.70 million-unit pace from the previously reported 5.57 million units in September. Compared to October last year, home sales were up by a record 23.5 percent.

U.S. stock indexes extended gains on the data, while Treasury debt prices were little changed.

"Many buyers have been rushing to beat the deadline for first-time buyer credit that was scheduled to expire at the end of this month, and similarly robust sales may be occurring in November," said Lawrence Yun, NAR's chief economist.

Distressed transactions accounted for 30 percent of sales last month and continued to weigh on house prices. First-time buyers made up a third of sales in October.

The national median home price fell 7.1 percent from October last year, the smallest decline in over a year, to $173,100. Homes in foreclosure typically sell for 15 to 20 percent less than traditional homes.

"Existing home sales have already bottomed. Home prices are almost there. We are seeing a less of a decline in house values," said Yun.

The housing market is slowly mending after a three-year decline, which contributed to tipping the U.S. economy into its worst recession in seven decades. Housing construction contributed to economic growth in the third quarter for the first time since 2005.

Recovery is being supported by the $8,000 tax credit for first-time buyers, low mortgage rates and falling house prices. The government this month extended the incentive into next year and added a $6,500 credit for home owners buying a new residence. It had been due to expire on November 30.

"The tax benefits going into the housing market are working, and that's a relief," said William Larkin, portfolio manager at Cabot Money Management in Boston. "Everything is about housing and jobs right now."

The improvement in October sales was broad-based, with sales of single-family homes, the biggest segment of the market, rising 9.7 percent to an annual rate of 5.33 million units, while condominium and co-ops increased 13.2 percent to a 770,000-unit rate.

Sales were up in all four regions of the country. Prices rose 1.1 percent in the Midwest, which didn't see the same boom as the rest of the country, while declining in the other three. The rise in the Midwest was the first price increase in any region since November 2008.

Analysts are cautiously hoping a sustained housing market recovery will help to improve the psychology of households, which has been shaken by rising unemployment.

While the economy resumed growing in the July-September period after four quarters of decline, sluggish consumer spending is seen slowing the momentum.

The inventory of existing homes for sale in October fell 3.7 percent to 3.57 million units from the previous month, NAR said. At October's sales pace, that represented a supply of 7.0 months, the lowest in 2-1/2 years, from September's revised 8.0 months.

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I wish I would have had this months ago, I wouldn't be living in a house that looks like I own the Cleveland Browns. Thankfully they are having a wonderful season so far!

NikeA quarter-century after the Air Jordan line debuted, Michael Jordan hands the torch to Dwyane Wade.

Reserve me a pair of 11.5s

I had just polished off a 20-ounce coffee from Tully's -- no Starbucks on this Seattle stop, in honor of all the Sonics fans who swore off Starbucks because Howard "The Traitor" Schultz sold the team to someone who obviously planned on moving it

I always get looked at like I'm crazy when I tell people why I don't buy Starbucks, finally some support for my thought process. Thank you Bill.

Lost in all of the hoopla around the Realtors Property Resource (or RPR) database this past couple of weeks was one of the smartest strategic initiatives that the National Association of Realtors has launched in years: HouseLogic.

And while RPR is and will remain a hot topic for the next few weeks, for the average broker/agent the impact of RPR may not be felt all that deeply. HouseLogic, on the other hand, holds the possibility of being a real game-changer.  more...

NEW YORK (AP) -- Investors turned cautious Wednesday as an unexpected drop in home construction and disappointing forecasts from technology companies raised concerns about the pace of the economy's recovery.

Related Quotes

Symbol	Price	Change
ADSK	24.17	-2.83
RIM.TO	63.13	-1.40

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The modest drop came a day after major stock indicators closed at 13-month highs, including the Dow Jones industrial average, which has risen 9 of the past 10 days. Analysts said the quick ascent means the market is due for a rest.

John Brady, senior vice president of global interest rate products at MF Global in Chicago, said as the end of the year approaches traders are looking foremost at preserving the gains amassed in an eight-month rally that has given the benchmark Standard & Poor's 500 index a gain of 22.9 percent for the year.

"It's a bit of a consolidation trade," he said. "Traders are scared to go out too far out on a limb here and do anything too risky late in the year."

The day's economic news added to investors' caution. The Commerce Department said construction of homes and apartments fell 10.6 percent in October to an annual rate of 529,000, well below the pace of 600,000 that economists polled by Thomson Reuters expected.

Joe Heider, president of Dawson Wealth Management in Cleveland, said the disappointing results "will push against what was a very bullish attitude on Wall Street."

Heider said investors were trying to determine whether the slowdown signaled weakness in the economy or a reluctance among builders to break ground when the future of a homebuyers' tax credit was uncertain. Lawmakers extended a tax credit for first-time homebuyers that was set to end this month through June.

Building permits, a key indication for future activity, slid 4 percent and fell short of forecasts.

Technology shares fell after BMO Capital Markets said Blackberry maker Research in Motion Ltd. faces increased competition as consumers opt for less expensive phones. Meanwhile, forecasts from software makers Autodesk Inc. and Salesforce.com fell short of analysts expectations.

In late afternoon trading, the Dow fell 29.02, or 0.3 percent, to 10,408.40. The broader S&P 500 index fell 2.50, or 0.2 percent, to 1,107.82, while the technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index fell 15.33, or 0.7 percent, to 2,188.45.

Trading volume was light, as it has been for weeks. That suggests a relatively small number of buyers, which means the market may have trouble holding on to a surge this month that has vaulted the Dow up 725 points, or 7.5 percent.

There was little reaction to a report that found inflation at the retail level remained tame as rising unemployment, nervous consumers and tight credit keep prices stable.

The Labor Department said consumer prices rose 0.3 percent in October, slightly above the 0.2 percent economists expected. Core inflation, which excludes volatile energy and food prices, rose 0.2 percent, compared to expectations of a 0.1 percent rise.

A report released Tuesday on prices at the wholesale level showed rapid inflation was not imminent, supporting comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's earlier in the week.

Investors are looking for any signals of further improvement in the economy to justify the gains that pulled major stock indexes off 12-year lows in March. Rising unemployment and tepid retail sales have some analysts worried that investors might have been too quick to place bets on a recovery.

President Barack Obama told Fox News on Wednesday that he is worried that spending too much to help boost the economy could invite a second recession because rising deficits could sap confidence.

The dollar mostly fell against other major currencies, while gold rose.

The drop in the dollar offered some support to stocks. The market often moves opposite the dollar as weakness in the currency boosts demand for commodities. That, in turn, strengthens shares of energy and materials companies as well as exporters whose goods become cheaper to foreign buyers.

Matthew Eads, portfolio manager at Eads & Heald Investment Counsel in Atlanta, said the market is still at reasonable levels even though the S&P 500 index has risen 64.1 percent since March. But he cautions that stocks could pull back, however, if problems like unemployment don't ease or if confidence about a recovery falters.

"As long as people perceive fear or are losing their jobs, spending is going to go down," he said.

Bond prices fell, pushing yields higher. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose to 3.37 percent from 3.33 percent late Tuesday.

Crude oil rose 25 cents to $79.39 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Among tech stocks, Research in Motion fell $1.57, or 2.6 percent, to $59.83, while Autodesk slid $2.58, or 9.6 percent, to $24.42. Salesforce.com fell $2.59, or 4 percent, to $63.02.

Three stocks fell for every two that rose on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to 766.5 million shares compared with 680.9 million shares traded at the same point Tuesday.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 4.41, or 0.7 percent, to 597.93.

Overseas, Britain's FTSE 100 fell 0.1 percent, Germany's DAX index gained 0.2 percent, and France's CAC-40 slipped less than 0.1 percent. Japan's Nikkei stock average fell 0.6 percent.