All Forum Posts by: Scott Williams

I doubt 10 Inquiries in a year will drop your score that much.

Not that that makes it any better, can't imagine how po'd I would be too.

Does your loc report as revolving or installment debt? If it reports as revolving and you don't have some other decent under utilized tradelines showing that in itself will hurt your score alot.

Have you tried talking with the bank that kept pulling, its a longshot but its possible they would remove some of them.

Thanks Diane, guess I will just do some more shopping locally and try to compare a couple of the small guys to the big boxes.

Scott

Anyone buy kitchen cabinets online?

Looking for recommendations for a good (cheap) source for cabinets online.

Thanks, Scott

I have been considering the same thing, but in this economy think it is a very bad idea.

Utilization makes up a large percentage of your score, 30%. Both total utilization and per card utilization are factored in.

It is very easy to visualize a scenario where you start with great credit and high limits, then charge up a card or two scaring your creditors.

They start reducing your limits and chasing your balances. Your scores drop and utilization is now very high.

Now you look like a bigger risk even though you have done nothing wrong..they rate jack you and your payments increase. You can not get any new credit.

Not worth the risk imo, I love the security and benefits of having good credit too much.

I do agree with using business cards, and you may try to find loc's that report as installment loans with decent rates.

A few nice business lenders that do not report to personal with 0% bt offers are chase, bank of america, and barclays bank atlantic. Probably alot more, these are the ones I have used and like.

Scott

Something that interests me but I haven't read any conversation about are the pluses and minuses of buying houses that are great rentals versus houses that may be a little higher priced but will bring in a good profit in a few years.

This seems like a very exciting time in real estate to me, prices are all over, forclosures across the board from the best to the worst neighborhoods, and alot of things going on in the banking and credit industries.

I just closed on my first deal, a three bdrm 1 1/2 bath in a decent area. It sold for 90k eighteen months ago then sold yesterday for 25k and I am very happy to have it! At the closing I was told the end of the year was a big factor in my offer being accepted.

I bought it with the help of a hml and will be doing alot of repairs, new flooring, kitchen cabinets/counters, new windows, alot of stuff that will help the houses value but strictly from a rental standpoint is not entirely needed.

Total rehab around 20k, a good bit of which I will earn back as I make my living as a contractor and will spend alot of time working on the house over the next couple of months.

My question is this..this house will rent for $650-$700/month so after mortgage/ins/taxes I will only cashflow $100-$200/month, way short of where it needs to be for a good rental.

On the other hand its not hard to imagine the possibility of selling it for $70 to $80k in three years, which would not happen if I didn't put the money into it and will be a much bigger return than the $300/month I would make if it cashflowed properly.

I have been debating this as I look at homes in a little worse neighborhoods, where a house that needs very little work can be bought easily for the same 25k or less and turn a profit from day one. Plus the fact that I could afford more of them.

In general is it best to just spend as little as possible on rehab?

As long as I stay out of warzones is it a better idea to just buy as cheap as possible, to make as much each month as possible, and let the future take care of itself?

Just looking for some food for thought from more experienced people.

Scott

Anyone who has a little spare time and internet access can fix their own credit, learn excellent credit habits, and gather alot of practical info about different creditors.

www.creditboards.com is a great resource. I have no connection to this site, but visit for a few minutes each day and will say that it has had a large impact on my quality of life.

As for gaming the system(creditors), doesn't the system spend a whole lot of money gaming us?

I have been a contractor for alot of years and have always been interested in real estate, so finding decent deals and fixing them up isn't a huge problem.

Still working on exit strategies, talked a good bit with a local portfolio lender and looks like I will be able to get permanant financing after the rehab with them.

Going to work with a hml and do most of the work myself, while expensive this should allow me to increase my reserves slightly during the project and then refi with no cash out, hopefully straight into the next project.

Hi all!

My name is Scott from Birmingham, Al.

Been reading the forums for a month so its past time to Introduce myself.

Very new investor, my immediate goal is to buy a few reo's while they are cheap and remodel/rent them.

I have experience with remodeling and buying/selling houses, but have never been a landlord, so I am not sure what my long term goal is atm.

Scott

Does using a hml help establish a new value for the home, being as the hml's loan will include the repair costs?

You could also try writing a "good will" letter to your mortgage company to see if they would be willing to remove some lates from your report.

I have used credit karma for quite awhile too with no trouble. Be aware though that scores from credit monitoring services have no direct relationship to fico scores, they should be close but can actually be much different.

If you have no revolving debt you need to add a credit card or two, but if you have a few adding more probably won't help your score alot other than by lowering your utilization, the total percentage of available credit being used.