All Forum Posts by: Chris D

Wait, what? Civilians can use USAA now? Aren't they one of the best companies in the country?

As the OP on this thread, I should probably chime in and let people know what all I found out:

I ended up going with this company:
http://www.identityguard.com/

I made the decisions based on information found in this random web page: http://www.knowzy.com/credit-monitoring-comparison.htm

The reason I trusted the information on the above linked web page is because it looks like it was written by a person who was faced with this problem and did a bunch of their own research. It was the only web page I could find of this nature that didn't look extremely biased and "scammy".

Identity Guard gave me all three of what I think are my genuine FICO scores. The reason I think that they are probably genuine is because I ran my Equifax FICO score separately (paying $20) to verify and the score Equifax gave me directly was identical to the Equifax score reported to me by Identity Guard.

This leaves 3 possibilities:
1) Identify Guard reports genuine FICO scores for all three agencies
2) Identify Guard is owned by Equifax so they report the genuine Equifax FICO score, but estimates for Experian and Trans Union
3) Identify Guard only reports estimates of FICO scores (FAKO scores) for all three agencies and the fact that my genuine Equifax FICO score matched what Identify Guard gave me was giant coincidence.

I suspect possibility 1 or 2. I should also point out that I found Identity Guard to be useful and "straight up" almost all of the credit reporting sites seem to be extremely "scammy." I did not feel this way about Identity Guard. I previously used FreeScore.com. I successively got scores from them and then cancelled the trial period before paying, however their site was extremely difficult to navigate due to all the scammy misdirection they used.

Does anyone know the best way to get my personal credit score from all 3 agencies?

Ideally, I'd like to get the score for all three agencies and then be able to monitor changes on it for the next month or so. But it would also be fine if I could get the 3 scores for a low price, and then pay the same low price again when I need to check on the scores a few weeks later.

Thanks so much for your help!

This is probably a really dumb question, but its been bugging me all the same:

Why can't I tour the inside of a house that is for sale without a realtor?

From what I understand, the combinations to lock boxes are not listed on MLS. So why not just call the listing agent, get the lock box code, and tour the house?

Thanks everyone for replying to this post!

I decided to go for it and am already enrolled in an online course.

I would like to obtain my real estate license in the state of Maryland for the purpose of investing. I do not want to be a Realtor as a career or participate in transactions in which I am not either the buyer of the seller.

My objectives for obtaining the real estate license are:
1) To get access to the MLS listings
2) To be able to view the inside of properties on my own without having to coordinate with a realtor.
3) To be able to take my time in traveling to and examining properties in search for the best deals without having to be concerned that my realtor will only make $8 an hour after we look at 75 properties and I buy only one 50k townhouse.
4) To save the 2.5% commission that I would normally pay to the realtor. (Instead I would pay this to myself)

From what I understand, the effort to study for and obtain the license seems nominal. (About 60 hours?). And I assume the fee for obtaining the license is also nominal (a few hundred dollars)

However, I have two concerns having to do with parts of the process that I do not understand:
* Do I need to pay a broker thousands of dollars a year just to have the right to look at properties and represent myself in transactions?
* Are there any other *gotchas* such as other expenses or hoops to jump through that I am not aware of?

Thanks so much!