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What’s In Your FICO Score?

Obtaining copies of your credit reports from the three major credit reporting bureaus is a must for all American consumers. If you order your copies directly from each bureau, you can get yours for free [once per year per bureau]. That is the law. There is, however, one piece of information not included with your credit reports and that is your FICO score. Your FICO score can determine several things, including what interest rate mortgage lenders will charge you and the rate you will pay for your credit cards. For just a small fee you can order your FICO score and get a hold of a piece of information that is critical to you fully understanding and improving your credit rating.

FICO, or Fair Isaac Corporation, is a score that helps determine what interest rate creditors will charge you. The higher your score, the lower your interest rate will be resulting in lower mortgage payments and more money for you. Indeed, when you apply for a new cell phone account, purchase a car, or make just about any type of credit application, your FICO score is obtained by creditors. Unfortunately, you typically do not know what that score is unless you get the information yourself. Don’t count on creditors sharing that information with you!

Your FICO score is based on five determining factors. According to the Fair Isaac Corporation, these five factors are weighted differently and each one is assigned a percentage figure based on their importance. Specifically, they are:

1. Payment History – 35%

2. Outstanding Balances – 30%

3. Length of Credit History – 15%

4. New Credit – 10%

5. Types of Credit Used – 10%

Obviously, if you have made several late payments and owe a large amount of money to your creditors, your FICO score will be much lower than the person who pays what they owe on time, has a manageable level of debt, and possesses a solid credit history.

Coupled with your credit report, your FICO score can help you determine the plan of attack you need to take to improve your credit standing. This is very important step to take especially if you anticipate making any sort of credit application within the next year. If there are errors in your credit report than these will lower your FICO score. Make certain that the three credit reporting bureaus correct each error now and, once amended, run your FICO score again to determine if it has been adjusted upwards.

Remember, the higher your FICO score, the lower your monthly payments will be on virtually everything you finance through a creditor. Order your free credit report today and pay a little extra to obtain your FICO score.

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Buyer Tips, Helpful Tips, Interesting, Mortgages, Real Estate News, Real Estate Tips

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Making A Safe Room

The safe room, which is also known as a panic room, is a secure location within a home or building that is designed to provide safety for families during terrorist attacks, nature, burglaries, or other types of threats.  A safe room is an ideal investment for any home owner, although the more fortified rooms with heavy security are normally found in the homes of rich people.  Those that have a lot of money really have no budget – therefore they can easily spend thousands on making their safe room the best place to go in the event of an emergency.

For most of us, a safe room is a location that family members can run to and hide, or call for help in an emergency situation.  You don’t really need to go all out and put steel walls and a steel door in the room, although you do need a fortified door that opens outward with fortified walls.  You can have a door constructed of wood or other material, although the key should be a material that is very hard to break through.  No matter what type of door you choose, the door jamb should be steel, to prevent the door from being kicked in.

It’s almost important that your safe room doesn’t contain any windows.  Windows can provide entry for burglars, which is something you obviously don’t want.  You should also make sure that you keep a phone in the room, along with water, first aid kits, food, and any type of defensive weapons that you can get.  It’s also a good idea to keep medical supplies in the safe room as well, just in case you need them.

No matter how hard you may try, it’s impossible to predict how long you will be locked in your safe room when an emergency happens.  Therefore, you should always think about ventilation, lighting, and even hygiene.  Being locked in a room for several days or possibly even weeks can affect your hygiene, which is why you should keep proper hygiene supplies in your room at all times.

The reason why most people invest in a safe room is burglars, as they present a real threat.  No matter where you live, or how nice the neighborhood may be, a burglary can happen at any given time.  When a burglary happens, the last thing you want to try to do is to reason with the burglars, or attempt to cooperate with them.

When you have a safe room, you can take your family there.  You should always make sure that everyone in your family knows where the safe room is located and how to use it.  If you have children, you should teach them about the room and how important it is.  The room should never be used for recreation purposes or for children to play in.  Instead, it should only be used in case of an emergency or a place for you and your family to hide.

If you have a safe room or just interested in one, you should always make sure that you keep the proper supplies on hand, just in case.  When you finally do use the safe room, you should always make sure that you keep the keys to open the room inside, so no one else can get in.  While you are in the room you can call the local authorities, then wait inside your safe room until they get to your house and the problem is solved.  Never, under any circumstances should you come out of your safe room before the police arrive.  If a burglary is taking place, you will only make the situation worse.

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Home Security

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