Dear BMWK, I Want To Buy a Home

Money

by Lamar Tyler | on March 17th, 2009 | 2 comments

We’ve ran several posts on the $8 Thousand Dollars available for first time home buyers in the new stimulus package and we received a question in our inbox concerning this. We called up our friends at ASG Investments to give us an answer, see below:

Dear BMWK,

I need to find ways to fix my credit. My credit score is very low. I want to purchase a home this year. Before this year is out, there is so much on my credit report that is so old that I don’t know where to start. How can I fix my credit up if i have mountainous debt and very little money in one year?

ASG Investments Response:

Hi there,

Honestly it is going to take sometime to rebuild credit there is no magical way to make it all go away, it took some time to go bad and it will take sometime to get good. The first thing to do is if you see old items on your credit report still reporting you should send letters to all three credit bureaus requesting they be removed. They will send letters to the creditors seeing if what they are reporting is still current.

The next step is to write letters to all your creditors asking for proof that the debt they are reporting belongs to you, if they do not respond within 90 days you can have the credit agencies removed it from your credit (you can google some really good letters to use, just enter your account number, creditors name, etc and its ready)

Another good task to take on is try to bring down your balances, your credit score is effected by the balance you have on an account versus the credit limit. Close accounts that you no longer need to many accounts is just as bad. Of course try to pay everything on time now you are going to try and establish a time line that you can point to and say since this time you can see I have been able to start getting things back in order.

Everyone goes through a tough stretch and these days more people than normal, so being able to prove that you are coming out of yours and starting to get back on the right track will be another plus in your pocket.

Hope that helps.

Antoine and Shonda Grier
ASG Investments, LLC
1-888-210-6134
Info@asginvestments.com
Blog: www.asginvestments.com/blog/

About the author

Lamar and Ronnie Tyler are the creators of the award-winning blog BlackandMarriedWithKids.com . They also are behind the Amazon.com bestselling DVDs Happily Ever After: A Positive Image of Black Marriage, You Saved Me and Men Ain’t Boys that explores manhood in the African American community. The Tylers are also the proud parents of four children.

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Comments (2)

Anna Tuesday - 17 / 03 / 2009 Reply

Great tips. There are still some lenders willing to loan first time homeowners. My sisters church holds credit counseling seminars. The goal is to teach them better spending habits, along with the tips mentioned above, they even have lenders attend to help out. It is very easy for car dealerships to sell you a brand new car. If your credit is poor you just get a higher interest rate. In buying a home back in the day (the reason why we are in this housing mess) to get a home loan was not hard either. Some ppl just did not do their homework or ask the right questions and ended up with mortgages they could not afford. I know there are many responsible ppl who lost their homes due to lack of employment. Knowing that there are ppl out there who are willing to help and want you to get a piece of the American Pie is a great thing.
MissJay Wednesday - 18 / 03 / 2009 Reply

Thanks for the post! My fiancé and I were just talking about purchasing a home in about another year or 2. My grandmother is a real estate agent so we have a great connection there since she is able to let us know what is available to us and what isn't as far as what's on the market as well as lenders and financers.