When buying a home it is prudent to know about your credit score. According to a recent survey by Experian, many of those in the market for a home are already aware of the importance of their credit score. However, only half of recent buyers said they checked their credit when they first considered purchasing a home.

1. 67% of buyers are NOT pre-approved
2. 45% of buyers delay their purchase (ultimately) to improve their credit

That is almost HALF of buyers who delay the purchase based on information they should have known prior to shopping for a home.

This survey underscores how important the pre-approval loan process is. Even if just to give buyersan idea of what their credit report contains, what their rate and payment would be and how much they can qualify to buy. Too often, there are situations where people cannot qualify once under contract and it would have been quickly uncovered during a pre-approval.  This represents wasted time for the realtor, buyer, seller and all involved.

Lesson learned? Pay attention to your credit year-round, and understand that what you do today impacts how your credit works for you in critical purchase moments like home buying.

Information provided by Orlando Realtor Teri Isner.

Access Teri’s one-stop Orlando FL home search website.

Teri Isner is the team leader of Orlando Avenue Top Team and has been a Realtor for over 24 years. Teri has distinguished herself as a leader in the Orlando FL real estate market. Teri assists buyers looking for Orlando FL real estate for sale and aggressively markets Orlando FL homes for sale.

You deserve professional real estate service! You obtain the best results with Teri Isner plus you benefit from her marketing skills, experience and ability to network with other REALTORS®. Your job gets done pleasantly and efficiently. You are able to make important decisions easily with fast, accurate information from Teri. The Orlando Avenue Top Team handles the details and follow-up that are important to the success of your transaction.

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Is your credit score a big deal? If you want to buy a home, it’s a huge deal!

Your credit score will determine if you can get a loan. It will also determine how much you can borrow and what your interest rate will be! To buy a home with a mortgage loan you must have a strong credit score.

There are three primary sources for credit scores in the US: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. They all use the FICO system. These are the most used sources by creditors.

FICO developed the computer software the major credit scoring companies use. FICO scores range from 300 to 850. However, many creditors consider 500 to be the bottom of the acceptable range.

Your score is a measure of your credit-worthiness and determines the interest rate that you will pay for a loan. It’s not unusual for a creditor to obtain all three of the major scores and average them. A very good score is 700, and an excellent score in 750.

The primary factors that determine your score are:

• payment history (35%)
• debt/amounts owed (30%)
• age of credit history (15%)
• new credit/inquiries (10%)
• mix of accounts/types of credit (10%)

65% of the total score is determined by only two factors: payment history and amount of debt owed. You must have a good history of paying your bills on time. And you must be very careful about how much debt you have relative to your income!

That last point is extremely important when borrowing for a home mortgage. As of 2014 the federal regulations governing mortgage lending have changed. Borrowers can no longer carry total debt of more than 43% of gross annual income, including the mortgage debt! Lenders are going to be very strict about adhering to that ratio. There are serious consequences for the lender not doing so.

Many actions you take affect your score. Most people don’t think about:

• unpaid medical bills and parking tickets can lower your credit score
• heavy credit use can lower your score, even if you pay large balances off in full in a short time
• credit scores drop if you sign up and use store cards for initial discounts

For more advice about managing your credit, click here.

Looking forward to buying a home? Educate yourself, manage your credit score, and know your credit score before your lender does.

Information provided by Teri Isner Orlando Avenue Top Team.

Access Teri’s one-stop Orlando FL home search website.

Teri Isner is the team leader of Orlando Avenue Top Team and has been a Realtor for over 24 years. Teri has distinguished herself as a leader in the Orlando FL real estate market. Teri assists buyers looking for Orlando FL real estate for sale and aggressively markets Orlando FL homes for sale.

You deserve professional real estate service! You obtain the best results with Teri Isner plus you benefit from her marketing skills, experience and ability to network with other REALTORS®. Your job gets done pleasantly and efficiently. You are able to make important decisions easily with fast, accurate information from Teri. The Orlando Avenue Top Team handles the details and follow-up that are important to the success of your transaction.

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With fixed rate mortgages as low as they are, most purchasers or owners wanting to refinance might not even consider an adjustable rate loan. The determining factor should be how long the person plans to be in the home and which mortgage will provide the cheapest cost of housing.

For instance, if you compare a $300,000, 30 year term mortgage with a 4.125% rate on the fixed and a 3.25% on the 5/1 adjustable, the breakeven point would be almost seven years assuming the rates adjusted the maximum that they could in each year.

Therefore, if a person is going to stay in the house less than 7 years, the ARM would provide the cheapest cost of housing.  This example shows that at the end of five years, the ARM would generate almost $13,000 savings over the fixed-rate.

On the other hand, this could be a good time for homeowners with an existing adjustable rate mortgage to consider refinancing into a fixed-rate mortgage.  The longer that they intend to stay in their home, the more advantageous it might be for them to convert their mortgage to lock-in their payment and fix their housing costs.

A trusted mortgage professional can analyze the alternatives to provide you with the information necessary to make a good decision.  You can try the Adjustable Rate Comparison with your own numbers to see the effect.

Information provided by Orlando Real Estate Expert Teri Isner.

Access Teri’s one-stop Orlando FL home search website.

Teri Isner is the team leader of Orlando Avenue Top Team and has been a Realtor for over 24 years. Teri has distinguished herself as a leader in the Orlando FL real estate market. Teri assists buyers looking for Orlando FL real estate for sale and aggressively markets Orlando FL homes for sale.

You deserve professional real estate service! You obtain the best results with Teri Isner plus you benefit from her marketing skills, experience and ability to network with other REALTORS®. Your job gets done pleasantly and efficiently. You are able to make important decisions easily with fast, accurate information from Teri. The Orlando Avenue Top Team handles the details and follow-up that are important to the success of your transaction.

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“With tools to help users do everything from manage their mortgage payments to compare job opportunities and pay off debt, this website aggregates more than 175 financial calculators.” This is what Entrepreneur has to say about the new calculator at Calcmoolator.com.

Calcmoolator’s free, easy-to-use financial calculators make it simple to calculate your mortgage payment, compare job opportunities, make educated financial decisions like whether to lease vs. buy and ultimately save money. The  most popular calculators include:

• Auto Lease vs. Buy
• Auto Loan Estimate
• First-Year Baby Costs
• Estimate Your Credit Score
• Pay Off My CC Debt Sooner
• My Lifetime Earnings
• Salary to Hourly Wage
• Rent vs. Buy
• What If I Pay More?
• Mortgage Payment Estimate

Check it out!!

Access Teri’s one-stop Orlando FL home shopping website.

Teri Isner is the team leader of Orlando Avenue Top Team and has been a Realtor for over 17 years. Teri has distinguished herself as a leader in the Orlando FL real estate market. Teri assists buyers looking for Orlando FL real estate for sale and aggressively markets Orlando FL homes for sale.

You deserve professional real estate service! You obtain the best results with Teri Isner plus you benefit from her marketing skills, experience and ability to network with other REALTORS®. Your job gets done pleasantly and efficiently. You are able to make important decisions easily with fast, accurate information from Teri. The Orlando Avenue Top Team handles the details and follow-up that are important to the success of your transaction.

Consolidating credit cards and loan debts into your Orlando home mortgage can seem a ‘no-brainer’ – after all, given the size of the debt, mortgage payments are really low, aren’t they? However, it’s not necessarily the win-win strategy it seems.

To learn more about whether debt consolidation is right for you read this article by Money.Co.UK. Yes it is an article from the UK, but it offers some really useful tips and information about finance that a lot of people misunderstand and some solid advice that applies no matter what country they happen to live in.

Access Teri’s one-stop Orlando FL home shopping website.

Teri Isner is the team leader of Orlando Avenue Top Team and has been a Realtor for over 17 years. Teri has distinguished herself as a leader in the Orlando FL real estate market. Teri assists buyers looking for Orlando FL real estate for sale and aggressively markets Orlando FL homes for sale.

You deserve professional real estate service! You obtain the best results with Teri Isner plus you benefit from her marketing skills, experience and ability to network with other REALTORS®. Your job gets done pleasantly and efficiently.  You are able to make important decisions easily with fast, accurate information from Teri. The Orlando Avenue Top Team handles the details and follow-up that are important to the success of your transaction.

there are 100% loans available both for purchase and refinance transactions.

Did I stutter?  I do mean it… there are 100% loans available both for purchase and refinance transactions.

No… I am not one of those scumbags trying to lure you into a dangerous loan!  If you’ve read my posts at all, you know I’m definitely not about bad loans for good people.

Here’s what I am about… helping people buy the home they want and need… and refinance the loan that is about to start hurting them financially…

These affordable mortgages are FHA and Fannie Mae loans – a.k.a. Government Backed.  They are safe loans with only a few options.

Here are the loan features:

• Full Documentation
• Seller Concessions 
• Reduced PMI
• Up to 100% financing
• 30 or 40 year Fixed Rates 
• and more

So whether you are a first time homebuyer or a homeowner looking to refinance.  The option is available to you to get a great rate – usually lower than you’d expect!

Call now to find out what you need to do to get in on one of these loans. 

If your ARM’s adjustable rate is about to reset, there’s no time like the present!

If you are buying a home, there are some great deals out there with all this inventory!

To read more about these programs and more please follow this link:

Florida Mortgage | 100% Loans are Available