What's your credit rating?

[Don Ro]

840

[74-911]

Originally Posted by widgeon13

Never checked, what difference does it make for someone 68 yo and a bad attitude.

My sentiments exactly..... I check annualcreditreport regularly to be sure nothing unusual is going on but as to my exact score, I suspect it is good but don't care enough to check and find out.

I find it interesting that the only posts so far are those with excellent credit ratings....

[on2wheels52]

I retired Thursday, can't imagine borrowing any money. 30 years of predatory lending has paid off

[M.D. Holloway]

Mine is what I got on my SATs ... 375

[porsche4life]

Originally Posted by fintstone

I am curious about this. When I bought my current house, I saw it listed on Zillow. I did my research and decided to buy it. I had my wife (who has a real estate license in another state but does not practice now) call the listing realtor (o speakerphone) to set up an appointment to see it. She told her we wanted to buy it...but wanted to see the inside first (sometimes photos don't show everything as they may be old, etc.). The realtor wanted an application, a contract with SSN to pull a credit check and then would show me the house only if I would spend the day (or more) looking at a bunch of other houses that cost less.

We told her that we did not want another house. We knew exactly what was on the market and specifically wanted to buy that only that one and we would come up with whatever money/financing we needed if we did decide to buy it. Without even knowing who we were, she refused to show it to us...and actually had the nerve to tell us that "we could not afford it". Thinking that absurd, I called another realtor and told her what happened and asked her to show it. She called the listing realtor who did not want let her to show it to us either. The new realtor had to threaten this one a bit to get to show it (some sort of ethics thing). We saw the house the next day and bought it...but I was so mad that I played serious hard ball and ended up paying a lot less than I would have. In the end, it cost the seller money and our realtor got a nice commission for showing us one house (about a half hour's work). The listing realtor missed out on a nice commission.

My question is...do you not show houses to people who will not let you make a credit check or agree to spend much more time with you than they want to as this lady did? I had never had that situation before. Personally, My credit is almost 850, but I don't like to give out my SSN unless I am ready to purchase something. I also do not like the person I am buying something from to know how much money I have (I had enough in my account to pay cash, full asking price, for the home (around $600K), although I did want to get a VA loan (and did)...and wanted to make a lower offer (and did). I think it irrelevant if I can easily afford something or not. That should not effect the price...although it seems to.

This was not my first rodeo, as I have bought at least a dozen homes (I own seven right now)...but, previously I had to fight off realtors who wanted to show me homes whether I wanted to see them or not. Is this a new trend?

Put simply, that realtor sucks!


I let the conversation dictate how I handle the need from a lender. If I'm talking to someone who owns a house or two I will take them out before getting the prequal. Chances are pretty good they can find a way.

But when I'm talking to someone who has never owned a home, pretty young and just starting to look I want them to talk to a lender about their options. I don't take any personal information. I have several lenders I work with and I have one of them contact the client to get all of that information and get them qualified.

In AZ the market is very hot, so I want to get all that out of the way before we look at very many houses. The time we have to wait for a prequal(a few hours) may mean the difference between getting an offer in on their dream house or not.

In your case I would have shown you the house no doubt. I would have asked you if you wanted to see anything else while we were out, just to make the most of it, but if you were already in love with it online, why waste time muddying the waters?

I'm very low pressure. My team encourages against employment agreements with our buyer clients. Our theory is that if we are doing our job right, we won't need you locked under contract because you will WANT to work with us above everyone else.

Its a fun business, and there are many ways to do it. Some realtors take the approach of beating their commission out of other realtors and clients. I believe if I work my butt off for you, and prove my value I will make more money in the long run, and I'm not running around stressing out all the time because I've picked a fight with everyone and their dog.

[drcoastline]

Originally Posted by fintstone

I am curious about this. When I bought my current house, I saw it listed on Zillow. I did my research and decided to buy it. I had my wife (who has a real estate license in another state but does not practice now) call the listing realtor (o speakerphone) to set up an appointment to see it. She told her we wanted to buy it...but wanted to see the inside first (sometimes photos don't show everything as they may be old, etc.). The realtor wanted an application, a contract with SSN to pull a credit check and then would show me the house only if I would spend the day (or more) looking at a bunch of other houses that cost less.

We told her that we did not want another house. We knew exactly what was on the market and specifically wanted to buy that only that one and we would come up with whatever money/financing we needed if we did decide to buy it. Without even knowing who we were, she refused to show it to us...and actually had the nerve to tell us that "we could not afford it". Thinking that absurd, I called another realtor and told her what happened and asked her to show it. She called the listing realtor who did not want let her to show it to us either. The new realtor had to threaten this one a bit to get to show it (some sort of ethics thing). We saw the house the next day and bought it...but I was so mad that I played serious hard ball and ended up paying a lot less than I would have. In the end, it cost the seller money and our realtor got a nice commission for showing us one house (about a half hour's work). The listing realtor missed out on a nice commission.

My question is...do you not show houses to people who will not let you make a credit check or agree to spend much more time with you than they want to as this lady did? I had never had that situation before. Personally, My credit is almost 850, but I don't like to give out my SSN unless I am ready to purchase something. I also do not like the person I am buying something from to know how much money I have (I had enough in my account to pay cash, full asking price, for the home (around $600K), although I did want to get a VA loan (and did)...and wanted to make a lower offer (and did). I think it irrelevant if I can easily afford something or not. That should not effect the price...although it seems to.

This was not my first rodeo, as I have bought at least a dozen homes (I own seven right now)...but, previously I had to fight off realtors who wanted to show me homes whether I wanted to see them or not. Is this a new trend?

I am a New Jersey Real Estate Broker. In this state and I am sure in your state as well what that realtor did was illegal and they could loose their license. You can not discriminate in that fashion. It's a form of steering.

[wdfifteen]

I had an interesting experience with Experian. I tried to check their report and they ask a bunch of questions to see if the inquiry is really from you. The questions are strange. One was, "Our records show you took out a car loan in December 2014. Which bank did you finance with." They listed a bunch of banks and None of the Above. Since I haven't had a car loan in 30 years I checked None of the Above. Another question was what institution my home is financed with. I paid of my house ten years ago and I can't remember who financed it. Again I checked None. I got a message saying from the information I gave them they couldn't give me the credit report.
I tried Transunion and the qualifying questions were much more reasonable (what county did you live in in 1995) and I got their report no problem.

[mreid]

Retired with no debt and a lot of reasons to protect your nest egg is a reason to keep your credit rating low.

[fintstone]

Originally Posted by porsche4life

Put simply, that realtor sucks!


I let the conversation dictate how I handle the need from a lender. If I'm talking to someone who owns a house or two I will take them out before getting the prequal. Chances are pretty good they can find a way.

But when I'm talking to someone who has never owned a home, pretty young and just starting to look I want them to talk to a lender about their options. I don't take any personal information. I have several lenders I work with and I have one of them contact the client to get all of that information and get them qualified.

In AZ the market is very hot, so I want to get all that out of the way before we look at very many houses. The time we have to wait for a prequal(a few hours) may mean the difference between getting an offer in on their dream house or not.

In your case I would have shown you the house no doubt. I would have asked you if you wanted to see anything else while we were out, just to make the most of it, but if you were already in love with it online, why waste time muddying the waters?

I'm very low pressure. My team encourages against employment agreements with our buyer clients. Our theory is that if we are doing our job right, we won't need you locked under contract because you will WANT to work with us above everyone else.

Its a fun business, and there are many ways to do it. Some realtors take the approach of beating their commission out of other realtors and clients. I believe if I work my butt off for you, and prove my value I will make more money in the long run, and I'm not running around stressing out all the time because I've picked a fight with everyone and their dog.

It seemed like easy money for a realtor to me. I was ready to buy and had the money. The house had been for sale for many months and the price had been dropped about $100K making it a good deal (house is fabulous, but in a somewhat rural area without a lot of employment that would pay well enough to buy it). From my experience in other markets, realtors are more than happy to show a home that they have listed...because they have a contract with the seller which entitles them to the commission.

Oh well, I hope the realtor is still kicking herself as her decision not to spend 30 minutes with me cost her about $10K and her client about $50K.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

A realtor license is sort of a joke anyway. It's not like a real professional license (MD, PE, RA, attorney, etc.) It's largely a made-up credential intended to elevate or legitimize a job that really requires all the skill and ethics of a used-car salesman.

Even if a realtor loses his or her license, they can still sell houses, just not call themselves a "realtor" (BFD and most probably would anyway - after all, what's the consequence?) . It's not a big deal. In fact I believe they can reinstate themselves with minimal effort anyway.

Sorry but the whole "profession" of house hawkers is anything but. It's just a bunch of glorified sales schlockers. It's a joke.

Sorry but the NAR lost any credibility it might've had in the wake of the obvious housing bubble crash (c. 2007-08) with their laughably rosy, obviously embellished "impartial" market assessments.

Hey if someone is good at pimping houses, good for them. They can make a decent living off of it and that's not a bad thing. But don't try to pretend a realtor is somehow a learned profession with a bona fide code of ethics. That's ridiculous.

[sand_man]

Also, I think there are differences between the Vantage 3.0 and FICO calculations. And not too long ago, Credit Karma switched from FICO to Vantage. Under FICO I was an 860. Under Vantage I was an 815. I think the scale is like 100 points less under Vantage. I'm not an expert, and I did not stay at a Holiday Inn...

[Baz]

Originally Posted by porsche4life

Put simply, that realtor sucks!


I let the conversation dictate how I handle the need from a lender. If I'm talking to someone who owns a house or two I will take them out before getting the prequal. Chances are pretty good they can find a way.

But when I'm talking to someone who has never owned a home, pretty young and just starting to look I want them to talk to a lender about their options. I don't take any personal information. I have several lenders I work with and I have one of them contact the client to get all of that information and get them qualified.

In AZ the market is very hot, so I want to get all that out of the way before we look at very many houses. The time we have to wait for a prequal(a few hours) may mean the difference between getting an offer in on their dream house or not.

In your case I would have shown you the house no doubt. I would have asked you if you wanted to see anything else while we were out, just to make the most of it, but if you were already in love with it online, why waste time muddying the waters?

I'm very low pressure. My team encourages against employment agreements with our buyer clients. Our theory is that if we are doing our job right, we won't need you locked under contract because you will WANT to work with us above everyone else.

Its a fun business, and there are many ways to do it. Some realtors take the approach of beating their commission out of other realtors and clients. I believe if I work my butt off for you, and prove my value I will make more money in the long run, and I'm not running around stressing out all the time because I've picked a fight with everyone and their dog.

Very impressive Sid! You sound like the kind of person I would like to work with, were I ever in the market.

Seems like most people would try to qualify before looking for a home. Except of course for buyers like Fint (and others here), who already have what's needed. I guess there are many who don't understand how the system works.

[Don Ro]

"Sorry but the whole "profession" of house hawkers is anything but. It's just a bunch of glorified sales schlockers. It's a joke."
~~~~~~~~~
When I sold my place in CA back in '08, I auditioned no less than 12 realtors/real estate agents.
The reason why I did that is because I noticed how much they lied to me.
For example, I would intentionally tell a made-up story about some fictitious real estate agent and then asked the agent that I was auditioning if they had heard of the person.
All but 3 said that they had.
Also, most of them told me that my place would sell for a rather unreasonably high figure - just to get me to salivate over their involvement.
The woman that I hired and who sold my place was an older lady who was a straight-shooter from the get go.
In fact, when I first called their office and she answered, I told her that she sounded "mature"...she told me her age (60+) and how many years she had been in the business and then said, "There are younger people in this office. Would you rather speak to them?" I liked that about her.
It got better and better with her. She didn't diddle with my foreskin (manipulate) like the others did. She went way out of her way in many areas...took me to Bed, Bath, & Beyond to buy some new bedding that would appeal to buyers...for example. Now that I think about it, she rather "mothered" me.
She set a price on my place that I agreed was quite reasonable ($300k less than the other agents) and it sold in 3 weeks for $50k less than asking...in an extremely slow, flat market that was rapidly heading downward. The buyers were the only offer I got.
That was my experience with RE folks.

[jorian]

680 will get you a bank deal at best rates in Canada. A higher score than that, although fun to brag about, is irrelevant.

[GH85Carrera]

I can't really care much about my credit rating except insurance companies for sure use it to set your insurance rates. A good rating shows them someone willing to play by the rules. I recently started selling some of my excess junk on eBay. I wanted to use a different credit card to limit my liability. I called my credit union and asked for a card with the lowest possible credit limit. $500.

They sent me a letter with the approval and noted exceptional credit. It was 840.

[Rodsrsr]

You do realize the whole thing is kind of a scam in a way... There exist no state or federal laws that mandate a specific interest rate in direct correlation to a credit score. At the end of the day its all a negotiation, and a poor credit score provides a better rebuttal/excuse for the lender to charge a higher interest rate.

[porsche4life]

Originally Posted by Porsche-O-Phile

A realtor license is sort of a joke anyway. It's not like a real professional license (MD, PE, RA, attorney, etc.) It's largely a made-up credential intended to elevate or legitimize a job that really requires all the skill and ethics of a used-car salesman.

Even if a realtor loses his or her license, they can still sell houses, just not call themselves a "realtor" (BFD and most probably would anyway - after all, what's the consequence?) . It's not a big deal. In fact I believe they can reinstate themselves with minimal effort anyway.

Sorry but the whole "profession" of house hawkers is anything but. It's just a bunch of glorified sales schlockers. It's a joke.

Sorry but the NAR lost any credibility it might've had in the wake of the obvious housing bubble crash (c. 2007-08) with their laughably rosy, obviously embellished "impartial" market assessments.

Hey if someone is good at pimping houses, good for them. They can make a decent living off of it and that's not a bad thing. But don't try to pretend a realtor is somehow a learned profession with a bona fide code of ethics. That's ridiculous.

Jeff, nice to see that your lack of knowledge on a topic doesn't slow you down any...

The NAR has nothing to do with our actual license. Licenses are through whichever state you are working in. The class to get your license is all about the laws of Real Estate in that state. They don't really teach you how to do the job, just how to not get yourself sued, and how to protect your clients.

The NAR is the National ASSOCIATION of Realtors. Its just a trade association like any other. To be members we agree to abide by their code of ethics, and they can kick us out of the association for violations. However, any violation of the law(ie fair housing as DR Coastline mentioned) will get you in hot water with the state board. Once you've crossed that bridge there are usually fines that have to be paid, and you are in a probationary period before you can practice with a full license again.

Now I will give you that there are plenty of sleazy agents out there that have no more skill and knowledge than a car salesman, but there are also those of out there that bust our butts to make the deal happen for our clients. Please don't let the actions of a few ruin your opinion of the many.

[fintstone]

What makes credit rating important is that for many states/companies, car insurance premiums are partially based on it.