What's In a FICO Score?

When youre applying for credit whether its a credit card, a car loan, a personal loan or a mortgage lenders will want to know your FICO score. FICO is an acronym that stands for Fair Isaac Credit Organization and has become the main measuring stick mortgage companies use to predict whether or not someone is a good credit risk. FICO scores range from 300 to 850 and, unlike in the game of golf, a low score is not good.

Here are some general rules regarding FICO scores. If your score is below 500, mortgage companies consider you a poor credit risk, and you will not be approved for a mortgage. On the other hand, if your score is 700 or above . . . well, just tell us how much money you want and well drop it off on your door step the next day! Just kidding, but you get the picture. A score between 500 and 619 tends to put you in what we term a sub-prime category, which means you will pay a higher interest rate if your loan is approved. Scores between 620 and 699 are weighed along with a variety of other factors in determining whether your loan will be approved and what interest rate you will receive. Again, the higher the score, the better.

If Ive got you wondering, Whats my FICO score?, you can do one of two things. You can go to www.annualfreecreditreport.com and retrieve a free copy of your credit report from all three Credit Reporting Agencies: TransUnion, Equifax, and Experion. I always sugest paying to get the credit scores so you have a rough ideas of where you stand; unfortunately with the free service, they will not provide you with credit scores; thank the government for that.

Once you receive it, I will review it with you to ensure everything is as it should be and recommend changes that could increase your score. The other way to get your score is to go to www.myfico.com and purchase one of the services they offer, which range in price from $14.95 for one bureau report to $44.85 for all three. You should be aware that some businesses will sell or give you credit scores that are not FICO scores and may also give you credit management advice that does not apply to FICO scores and could actually hurt your credit standing with lenders.

How Does FICO Determine Your Score? In taking a closer look, we get an understanding with this breakdown from the experts who understand credit scoring and how various choices you make impact your score.....

35% of your score is derived from payment history. Pay your bills on time and avoid judgments, collections and tax liens and youll be OK. The longer you pay your bills on time, the less your credit score will be affected. If you are late, however, the score takes into consideration how late (i.e., 30, 60, 90 days past the due date), how much was owed, how recently the late pay(s) occurred and how many there were. A 90-day late payment is not as risky as a 30-day late payment, in and of itself. Recency and frequency count too. A 30-day late payment made just one month ago will affect your score more than a 90-day late payment from five years ago.

30% of your score is derived from balances carried on accounts. The lower your balances the better. Revolving credit card debt is the most significant factor in this area. Scores are significantly reduced if your revolving credit balance is close to or at your credit limit. The scoring model considers you to be maxed out when this happens. One of the easiest ways to increase you FICO score, if you find yourself maxed out, is to ask the credit card company to increase your credit limit, and if possible, to do it without pulling your credit. Pulling your credit will create a credit inquiry, which we will talk about later. If at all possible, keep your balances below 45% of your available credit limit. Be aware that some credit card companies, Capitol One for example, withhold or fail to report your credit limit. When this happens, the scoring system typically substitutes your highest reported balance on the card for your missing limit. That in turn will often depress your score because it will appear you are maxed out when in fact you may be nowhere near your credit limit.

15% of your score is derived from the average length of time you have had credit. The longer the amount of time, the better. So if at all possible, never close a credit card account . . . just stop using it if you no longer have a need for it. Being added as an authorized user to someones older credit card account will help a lot also. The card should be at least seven years old to make a decent impact in this area. 10% of the score is derived from the mixture of credit you have on your credit report. To maximize your score in this area, FICO would ideally like to see on your record a mortgage, a car loan and a few credit cards. The magic number of credit cards to have is three, but it is never a good idea to close credit cards to get down to that number because closing cards does more damage than the benefit received by having fewer cards.

And finally, 10% of your score is derived from the number of times you apply for credit because each time you do so, you generate a credit inquiry , which, as stated, can work against you. The number of your accounts that are new is also an important factor. Inquiries remain on your credit report for two years, although FICO scores only consider inquiries from the last 12 months. Important to note is that all mortgage inquiries made within a 45-day period are treated as one credit inquiry no matter how many times your credit is pulled for that purpose.

Douglas Boncosky is a Licensed Mortgage Planner with Smart Mortgage Access in Schaumburg, IL. Doug has written a number of articles about mortgage related financing including his popular book titled "First Time Home Buyers Guide to a Stress Free Home Buying Process" Doug also writes a series of business improvement articles to help his marketing partners grow their business. Doug can be reached at http://www.dougboncosky.com

Resolve to Stop Smoking

The Top 10 New Years Resolutions are: 1) Spend more time with family; 2) Start an exercise program; 3) Lose weight; 4) Stop smoking

Hold it right there! Lets get real! We all know that nobody ever keeps those stupid New Years Resolutions, so why bother making them in the first place? You can resolve to do something all you want, but thats not going to get you what you want, right? Well, yes, and no.

You wont achieve anything if you dont resolve to do itand I do mean to resolve! A resolution isnt just mouthing some words. I used to make New Years Resolutions to stop drinking because I dont drink, so I knew I could keep my resolution. Was that a real resolution? No. I was just mouthing some words. A real resolution is a whole-being determination and commitment to make a change, and always, always demands some kind of sacrifice on the part of the person making the resolution. Thats why so many people fail to keep their resolutions.

You cant stop smoking unless you are wholly, consciously, passionately, firmly committed to quitting, and you must remain resolved every minute of your life, for the rest of your life! Sounds like a hard row to hoe, doesnt it? It is, and there is a great deal of sacrifice involved. But as time passes and you keep your resolution to not smoke, it becomes easier; not smoking becomes a part of your lifestyle and who you are.

Just resolving to quit smoking isnt enough though; you must also act upon your resolution. Once you have resolved to stop smoking, quit right then and there! Each time you resist the urge to smoke, you reinforce your resolve to not smoke. The pride you feel at being strong enough to overcome the addiction, the long-time habit, to know that you are taking care of your body and protecting yourself and your family from deadly cigarette smoke makes you resolve once more to never smoke again!

Keeping any resolution isnt easy, and you may need help from your family and friends to help you do it. In your moments of weaknessand you will have themthink back on your success, even if its only been an hour since you quit, and talk to someone who will give you the support you need to not fall back. Its just a moment of weakness, and it will pass. It doesnt mean that you are weak, but only that you need to resolve to weather through the moment. Find a distraction that will take your mind off the urge to smoke. Leave the room youre in; go outside for a walk; play with your child or pet or call someone on the phone. There is any number of ways to get your mind off the urge to smoke. Once the moment has passed, both you and your resolve are stronger for having resisted the urge to smoke!

By the way, people who make New Years Resolutions are 10 times more likely to achieve their goals! But you dont have to wait until January 1 to make your resolution to stop smoking. Start your New Year and resolve to stop smoking right now, and make this moment the first moment of a lifetime of being smoke free!

So now you're a little more educated. You know the benefits of quitting smoking. But knowing the benefits of quitting smoking is rarely enough to get people to quit. They need help. If you're looking to quit smoking and you're actually looking for a way to do it ON THE FIRST TRY, then CLICK HERE to Learn The Step-By-Step System that led over 95% of smokers to quit on their very first try!

Five Money Saving Tips When Selling Your Home

Your home is undoubtedly the most valuable asset for the vast majority of us and selling it will cost thousands. Using the money saving tips in this article should reduce the cost of moving home.

Estate Agent fees vary, so shopping around and dont forget to haggle and pay one off against the other. You should aim for 1% commission, also push then to limit the tie-in period to no more than 6 weeks, this gives then enough time to sell the house, but if they cant you can move to another agent without going multi-agent which will increase the fee to about 3%+, a big no-no! Ensure you get a fair valuation, never tell an estate agent what other agencies have valued your house at. They will use this to manipulate its offer, often resulting in wide distortions.

It is false economy to go for the cheapest solicitors, so get recommendations from all the estate agents you speak to and remember to ask for the name of specific people, rather than just the legal firms. Give them a call and ask what their charges are, also note whether they are they friendly, helpful, and most important efficient? Fees are negotiable so haggle! Play off each one against the other to get yourself the best service at the best price.

Selling you house privately can save thousands. One in twenty vendors are now taking the DIY route which could save you thousands. That is a massive money saving tip, but there are a couple of downsides, basically time and effort. You could consider newspaper advertising, flyers and signs. Newspapers usually charge per line or per word so try to keep your advert as brief as possible without making it uninteresting. The simplest way would to sell your house yourself is to use one of the many online house selling service.

Obviously it is best to sell your house when the market is strong and demand is high, so keep an eye on the local property market. Generally, the market tends to be stronger in early and late summer than the rest of the year, so aim to sell your house then. Also avoid completing with your neighbours so if there are already a few For Sale signs on your street, it might be better to wait a bit.

Research has shown that a poor presented house can take longer to sell and may reduce the price by thousands. So get your paint brushes out, give your home a lick of paint and finish all of those DIY jobs which are outstanding. Also talk to the estate agent about adding value to your property it maybe worth spending a bit of cash to make some more. However, be careful not to over spend, you might not get your money back, so talk all planned improvements through with your estate agent.

If you are determined to save money when selling your home, do some more research, as they say knowledge is power. Websites such as Moneysavingexpert.com specialise in offering money saving tips, a brief browse around such sites will allow you to get all the information you need to save you a ton of money.

Julian Smith works for http://www.maxxsave.co.uk, a website which provides free impartial advice, reviews, buying guides, and http://www.maxxsave.co.uk on personal finance, household bills, insurance and electronic products.

Oral Sex Tips - What Women Can Do For Men

Women who want to please their men with oral sex, the first thing that they will need to do is to find out what their men really prefer. Different man has different preference when it comes to oral sex. Some may want it slow, while some may want it fast and furious right from the start.

Men like to have oral sex as they will not need to do anything, other than to sit back and relax to receive pleasure. Therefore, you should try your best to give your man an oral sex every now and then. But the thing to bear in mind is to do it the RIGHT way.

Let me just share with you when it comes to oral sex, what women can do for their men to give them pleasurable moments:

1.Ask for his preference. As I have said earlier, different man has different preference. You will need to ask your man what he likes. An open communication here will be helpful.

2.Get down to real business. Do not spend too much time playing and teasing around. Get down to business and stimulate it.

3.Do not be too rough. This is a very sensitive part, and too much rough play will just make the whole encounter seems awful. Make him tell you whether he likes what you are doing.

4.Give it to him at a right pace. Majority of the men will like it to be slow at the beginning. Usually when they want to finish off, they will tell their women to go fast. Listen for the cue.

By giving him an enjoyable oral sex, you can expect to receive a better one when he is doing it for you later on.

Want to know more tips and creative suggestions on performing the most incredible oral sex that will drive your partner absolutely insane? Visit the website below for more information.

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