Hope | Your Charlotte, NC Credit Repair Specialists! hope4usa.com/‎ Hope | Your Charlotte, NC Credit Repair Specialists! hope4usa.com/‎ Fort Mill South Carolina

Business Funding – LIVE Lunch and Learn Event

Wednesday, 10/04/13 from 12:00 – 1:30 PM
*Lunch will be provided.

Call 704.499.9696 or click here to reserve your space today! 

Registration:  Call 704.499.9696 or click here to register. HURRY – Space is limited.

Don’t miss out on the seminar that could change the way you do business forever!

Call 704.499.9696 or click here to reserve your space today! 

  

Your credit scores are arguably the most important numbers in your life. After all, credit has an impact upon you when you apply for a mortgage, try to finance a vehicle, open a new utility account, and credit may even impact you when you apply for a job. In fact, building healthy credit scores is so important that you should consider it to be one of your top wealth building priorities. Yes, in my opinion building healthy credit scores is right up there on the financial importance scale with becoming debt free and saving for retirement.

In order to establish healthy credit scores, you have to prove to the credit bureaus that you can manage credit responsibly. In order to prove that you can manage credit responsibly, you have to open some credit card accounts. However, for many people it can be very intimidating to have open credit cards. If you have ever made credit mistakes in the past or if you have ever overextended yourself financially and found yourself underneath a crushing load of debt, then you may be a little gun shy where credit cards are concerned. I cannot tell you how many people I have met over the last 11 and ½ years who have told me, “Oh, I don’t mess with credit cards anymore.”

It can be very tempting to avoid credit cards all together if you have ever made credit card management mistakes in the past. Unfortunately, avoiding credit cards is almost certainly going to have negative repercussions where your credit scores are concerned. What you need to remember is that credit cards themselves are not evil. A properly managed credit card offers customers a lot of great benefits. Here are a couple of the best ones:

1. Fraud protection –
If someone steals your cash, you have no reliable way to get your money back. If someone steals your debit card, your personal money is at risk rather than the bank’s money. If someone steals your credit card then the bank’s money is at risk, not your own.

2. Credit Building Possibilities –
If you keep a $0 or very low balance on your credit cards and you always make your payments on time then you have the potential to receive a great increase in your credit scores. The longer you manage your credit cards correctly, the better the impact to your credit scores.

Those who are determined to live a “plastic-free” life with a cash only payment mentality will wind up paying more money in the long run than those who have credit cards but manage them properly. Remember, credit cards are not evil or bad. However, racking up credit card debt by overusing your credit cards is bad, but can easily be avoided if you manage your credit cards properly.

Properly managed credit cards can help to build your credit scores. An individual with no credit scores (or low credit scores) will likely pay more for car insurance, home insurance, and utility deposits. Plus, while it would be nice to pay cash for a house, most of us have to take out a mortgage to purchase one. Without high credit scores you can expect to either be turned down for a mortgage or to pay a higher interest rate. A higher interest rate on your mortgage could cost you tens of thousands of dollars extra over the life of the loan.

The truth is that bad credit happens to good people all the time. Just because you have low credit scores does not mean that you are a horrible person. Low credit scores simply mean that either you have made credit management mistakes in the past or that you have been the victim of unfortunate circumstances. Either way, you deserve a second chance and you can absolutely make a plan to begin rebuilding healthier credit again today. However, swearing off the use of credit cards is not a good strategy.

If you need help developing a plan developing a plan to begin rebuilding healthier credit,CLICK HERE to schedule a no-obligation analysis with a HOPE Credit Expert. You can also visit www.GreatCredit101.com to check out and compare credit card offers which might be right for you.

About the Author: 
Michelle Black is an 11+ year credit expert with HOPE USA, the credit blogger at www.HOPE4USA.com, and a recognized credit expert on talk shows and podcasts nationwide. She is regularly published in Fort Mill Magazine and is a featured speaker at monthly seminars up and down the East Coast. She is an expert on improving credit scores, budgeting, credit repair, and recovering from identity theft. You can connect with Michelle on the HOPE Facebook page by clicking here.

  

I wanted to write a quick word of encouragement to my loan officer and Realtor friends. Be a blessing to your clients who do not qualify for a loan today. Refer 100% of your clients to us instead of turning someone down. Referring your unqualified customers to HOPE will be the greatest act of kindness you can ever do for them. Instead of telling a customer “no,” you can tell them “when!”

Many of your customers with credit problems have a story similar to my own. When I was young, I really did not know much about credit and I made some bad mistakes. I became so discouraged that I thought I would never have good credit again. However, when I got older I realized that if I was going to qualify to buy a home I had to learn how to fix my past credit problems and earn good credit scores. You will meet other customers who once had great credit scores in the past, but because of the tough economy and other hardships they no longer enjoy that once great credit standing. Many good people out there want to be responsible and have a great credit. They just are not sure how to get started. Your customers will hear all kinds of advice about credit – and you and I both know that not all that advice will be good.

HOPE can truly help to make a difference in the lives of your credit challenged clients. HOPE is local. HOPE has been helping clients to restore their credit and operating with integrity for over 12 years. Because we work on nothing but credit every day, we have become true credit experts. HOPE’s team of credit experts can help guide your customers toward making the right decisions regarding credit. Plus, our goal is always to help your clients graduate as quickly as possible so they and you can refer someone else to us. HOPE’s 24 hour portal offers complete transparency into what is going on with your customer’s files at all times. Your customers can look at the progress of their file and track exactly where they are in the restoration process, and so can you.

Your customers will thank you for sending them to see their dream of home ownership come to pass. And while it’s true that not everyone you send us will follow through and actually take the steps necessary to correct their credit situation, you might be surprised at just how many will. You have the power to offer your credit challenged customers a wonderful gift – the ability to break out of credit prison!

By being a blessing to your customers I believe that you will be blessed right along with them. Naturally, you will have the joy of seeing their dreams come to pass, but you will also add to your own closing pipeline each year! If you will REFER everyone who does not qualify today to HOPE, we commit to work hard to help your customers and to send them right back to you when they are done for a home closing celebration. If we were able to send just 10 of these clients back to you how much would that bless you financially? Think about what just 10 extra closings would do for you bottom line! 10 extra closings, and more, can easily happen. If you will send every credit challenged customer to HOPE then, before long, you could begin to see additional closings every single month.

Please call our staff at 704-499-9696 so we can get to work for you and your customers today!

About the author: Ron Lambright has been a credit expert for over 12 years and is the Executive Director of HOPE – a company he helped to found after struggling to overcome personal credit issues on his own twice before. He is a regular guest on radio talk shows and is featured weekly as the premier credit expert at training seminars in the Charlotte, NC region and up and down the East Coast.  Ron is an expert on teaching consumers how to achieve a “loan ready” credit report, improving credit scores, and an expert in the fields of business financing and business credit as well. You can connect with Ron on the HOPE Facebook page by clicking here.

  

HOPE is excited to welcome the new branch of Intercap Lending to the Ballantyne Area in Charlotte, NC! Branch Manager, Jim Garrison, and his team of loan officers are pumped about the new branch and the new opportunities it will give them to better service their customers. Here are a few of the awesome reasons why Jim Garrison and his Intercap team are so excited to bring Intercap Lending to the Charlotte Area:

• Direct seller to Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and Ginnie Mae. Only 1% of lenders have all 3! This means that Intercap has NO credit overlays which equals less fussy underwriting conditions for every customer.
• Better rates available since Intercap is a direct seller. The middleman is cut out of the picture.
• 620 minimum credit score for FHA!
• Investors and owner-occupants can finance up to 10 properties.
• Full underwriting approval just 48 hours after application

If you would like to get in touch with Jim Garrison you can reach him here:

Intercap Lending
11200 Elm Lane, Suite 200
Charlotte, NC 28277

www.intercaplending.com/jgarrison
jgarrison@intercaplending.com

704.488.5020

Congratulations again to Jim Garrison and the entire staff at the new Ballantyne Area Intercap Lending office! Welcome to the neighborhood.

Do you have credit problems that are keeping you from becoming a homeowner? If so, then learn how the HOPE Program can help! You don’t have to spend another day in credit prison feeling HOPEless! Schedule your no-obligation credit analysis with a HOPE Credit Expert now:CLICK HERE.

  

I hope you have enjoyed the 4 credit improvement secrets and tips that I have shared with you this week. Today’s tip reveals another powerful way that you can potentially boost your credit scores:

5. Authorized User Strategy.
If you have a friend or a family member with great credit who is willing to help you out, then the authorized user strategy can be an awesome way to bring about some potential credit score improvement. When a loved one adds you as an authorized user to his/her existing credit card account, all of the good payment history and the age of the account should show up on your credit reports. Plus, there is no way for any negative items on your credit reports to transfer over to your loved one’s credit reports and damage them. That is a myth. (Note: It is also a good idea to establish some credit of your own if you have not already done so instead of relying solely on the authorized user accounts of loved ones.)

I do want to issue a word of caution here. Please do not engage in the practice of paying to be added as an authorized user to a stranger’s credit card(s). There are companies which “sell” authorized user accounts from individuals with great credit to individuals with damaged credit. However, if you purchase an authorized user account from a stranger and are approved for any type of loan after doing so, it could be considered loan fraud you could potentially land yourself in a lot of hot water!

Also, if you have ever studied the subject of authorized user accounts before then you may have read or heard that these accounts are no longer an effective way to improve credit scores. However, that simply is not the case. It is true that some newer versions of the FICO scoring model have intelligence built in to “sniff out” phony authorized user accounts – accounts someone would buy from a stranger – but the truth is that genuine authorized user accounts still have the potential to boost your credit scores. (Bonus tip: authorized user accounts can also lower your credit scores if they are not managed properly. So, be sure to only ask a loved one with impeccable credit history to add you to his/her account.)

If you are struggling to overcome credit problems then let me encourage you to make a plan, stick with it, and be patient. In fact, you may wish to seek reputable, professional assistance – like HOPE Credit Experts – when developing your plan in the first place. The real TRUTH about how to improve credit scores is that improving your credit is 100% possible! No, it will not happen overnight, but achieving cleaner credit reports could absolutely be on the horizon for you if you refuse to become discouraged and give up. If you never give up then you will always be successful.

About the Author: 
Michelle Black is an 11+ year credit expert with HOPE USA, the credit blogger at www.HOPE4USA.com, and a recognized credit expert on talk shows and podcasts nationwide. She is regularly published in Fort Mill Magazine and is a featured speaker at monthly seminars up and down the East Coast. She is an expert on improving credit scores, budgeting, credit repair, and recovering from identity theft. You can connect with Michelle on the HOPE Facebook page by clicking here.