Bankruptcy and buying a home

You have been through bankruptcy and you would like to buy a home. Here are the steps you need to take to get you on the right path of good credit.
When banks look at you for credit cards and home mortgage applications they look at your credit score. You credit score is determined by many factors. One is your credit history or payment history. This is one of the key factors in determining your credit score. They look at how many times you have been late on a payment, or how many accounts you have not paid at all or went to collection. Even if it is a small payment of $15 you still need to make the payment on time. They look at how many times you have been 30 days late, 60 days late, 90 days late, and 120 days late. The more often you are late and the longer you are late will lower your credit score. If you don’t pay at all or let the account go into collection then it is even worse.
If you have ten accounts and eight of them have been late and only two are paid on time your credit score is going to be low.
So the key is to get as many accounts paid on time each and every month. Be consistent. Strive to make every payment on time. If you have come out of bankruptcy you most likely have no open credit lines. You want to get at least 2 or 3 open credit lines. If you have to get a secured credit card. Go to http://www.russravary.com/ and go to the site map and see secured credit card in the credit section for more info on secured credit cards.
What do you mean get more credit after coming out of bankruptcy? You have to have credit in this world to get ahead. The secret is learning to live within your means and to use credit sparingly. You must have a credit history to buy a house. So you must learn must learn to use credit correctly. And you must have open credit lines. Learn to use credit cards to buy necessities such as gas or food and be sure to put the money aside and pay the bill on time each and every month.
That is number one to get at least one open line of credit open immediately. The longer you have the open line paid consistently on time the better the lender likes you. Over time you need to get 2 –3 open lines of credit.
The number two step is if you are renting is to pay your rent out of your checking account. If you do not have a checking account get one opened and pay your rent out the account every month. You need to be able to prove to the bank that you have paid it on time. Cashiers checks, money orders, and rent receipts mean nothing to the lender. They want to see a cashed check and nothing else. So remember the number one thing to do is to get at least one open line of credit started right away, make the payments on time each and every month. Pay the credit card off each month. This will get you started on the path to home ownership.
Remember live within your means, have some extra savings and that will help you buy a home and keep it with out going into foreclosure.
Russ Ravary

What are points? Mortgage Information

If you have good credit, you should never have to pay points!!! The only reason to pay points when you have good credit is to buy discount points to get the rate down. You should know or have a general idea of what rates are. So let's say for example rates are 6% at some of the local banks and mortgage brokers. But you know you are going to stay in the house for a long time, you are a saver, and rates are pretty low. You can buy down the rate by paying 1 or 2 discount points. 1 point usually lowers the rate by a 1/4 of a percent and 2 points usually lowers the rate by 1/2 percent.
A point is one percent of the loan amount. So if your loan was $200,000, 1 point is $2,000 to lower it a 1/4 % from 6 to 5 3/4%. 2 points is $4,000 to buy the rate down 1/2 percent to 5 1/2%. The amount points buy down a rate vary from each bank or mortgage broker so be sure to check with them what the cost of the point and how much it will bring down your rate.
The reason you don't want to buy points usually is because it takes anywhere from 4 to 7 years to re coup the money from buying the points. So if you refinance or sell your house during that period you lose that savings. You just threw that money out the window. Most people refi or move during that period.
Let's continue with that example. A $200,000 30 year fixed loan at 6% will have a payment of $1199.10. If you buy that loan rate down a 1/4% you would have a $200,000 30 year fixed rate at 5 3/4% with a payment of $1167.15 that cost you $2000 to do . A savings of $31.95 a month or $11,502 saving over the life of the loan! If you minus the $2,000 cost for the point then it is $9,502 over the life of the loan. Quite substantial. But only if you stay in the loan.
To figure your breakeven point you take the cost of the point ($2,000) and divide by the savings ($31.95). $2,000 divided by $31.95 = 62.59 months. It would take you about 63 months to break even. So you would have to stay in the loan for 5 years 3 months before it is a benefit to you and you actually start saving money. For more mortgage information go to www.russravary.com May today's troubles disappear quickly for you. Russ Ravary