my advice to you is get rid of his debt. then just save money for a down payment. dh and i are homeowners and trust me you want as little debt as possible when you have mortgage to pay and oil bills, electric bills, cable/phone bills, i could go on and on.
this is only my opinion, but i personally would get rid of as much debt as possible first. b/c remember you're going to want to do work on a house you buy if you don't buy a brand new house and you'll want to have leverage with how much you borrow, which will make your payment higher and add a large mortgage payment on top of high monthly credit card bills, all i can say is, i hope you haven't gotten used to eating!
good luck with your decision!
Yea that definitely makes sense. I remember we were trying to work out numbers and with our debt there would be no way we could even afford a house upstate where we were looking.
Espo22
Posted:
Member since
Re: Need advice
Posted by kristi313
Posted by Espo22
Posted by JB1122
Posted by Espo22
Call up every CC and ask them to cut a deal, just about all of them will do it. Theres 2 ways you can do it, one you can pay only 70% or lower of what you owe but to pay it right then and there. Or you can pay about 60% then and there and the last payments will be monthly payments to pay the rest off. Fight with them and try to see how low you can get them to settle for. I did this for 1 card i still owed money on and i owed over $2k and since i paid that day i only had to pay about $1200
Denise - are you only able to do that if you are in financial trouble (like have been missing payments and stuff)? If I'm in good standing can I call up and negotiate like that?
might be harder if youre in good standing bc they will prefer for you to make lower payments and paying the interest. I had a CC from 2001 that i still owed money on, i didnt even know, for 4 years they've been sending the bills to my old address i finally got a call and got into an arguement about this and the lady fought with me that they've sent me notices, when i asked where they told me the wrong address.
You can call and say you would like to pay off your credit, which alot of ppl think a CC would love to hear that but they actually hate hearing that. They lose money in the end by doing this. I would at least call up and fight for a lower interest rate, you can do that.
isn't this considered a 'charge off' on your credit report? i did that with one card once a LONG time ago and i definitely know it negatively effects your credit score and doesn't leave your record.
in my case i had a cc over 4 years that wasnt paid off, so i had to take this option there was nothing i could do. Not paying it was looking bad on my credit report so i had to. On my credit report it shows that the account has been closed. My credit score didnt go down but it doesnt help to do this if you dont have to.
So yeah if you are in good standing then maybe dont do this lol. If you are at the point where you HAVE to then its better to pay it off somehow than to let it go. I would call the CC companies for a lower interest rate or switch the balance to cards with a low interest rate.
kimNanthony
Posted:
Member since
Re: Need advice
He just tried to call Chase and basically they told him that since his account is in good standing they don't offer any type of settlement offers
Espo22
Posted:
Member since
Re: Need advice
Posted by JB1122
Posted by Espo22
Posted by JB1122
Posted by Espo22
Call up every CC and ask them to cut a deal, just about all of them will do it. Theres 2 ways you can do it, one you can pay only 70% or lower of what you owe but to pay it right then and there. Or you can pay about 60% then and there and the last payments will be monthly payments to pay the rest off. Fight with them and try to see how low you can get them to settle for. I did this for 1 card i still owed money on and i owed over $2k and since i paid that day i only had to pay about $1200
Denise - are you only able to do that if you are in financial trouble (like have been missing payments and stuff)? If I'm in good standing can I call up and negotiate like that?
might be harder if youre in good standing bc they will prefer for you to make lower payments and paying the interest. I had a CC from 2001 that i still owed money on, i didnt even know, for 4 years they've been sending the bills to my old address i finally got a call and got into an arguement about this and the lady fought with me that they've sent me notices, when i asked where they told me the wrong address.
You can call and say you would like to pay off your credit, which alot of ppl think a CC would love to hear that but they actually hate hearing that. They lose money in the end by doing this. I would at least call up and fight for a lower interest rate, you can do that.
Funny you mention the interest rate thing - DH has great credit but had a similar situation - he moved and in the move he didn't get his bill for one cycle. When he got it, he had missed the prior payment so they increased his interest from 11% to 30%!!!!! He called up and paid the card off and said he couldn't believe they would do that and said he wanted to close it. So they begged him to stay and in exchange for staying gave him like a 7% interest rate, lol.
Yeah financial experts say to always do this, always at least try and call your CC company to get them to lower your interest to see if it works. But most of us don't do it for no reason.
BNBride60
Posted:
Member since
Re: Need advice
Posted by Espo22
Posted by kristi313
Posted by Espo22
Posted by JB1122
Posted by Espo22
Call up every CC and ask them to cut a deal, just about all of them will do it. Theres 2 ways you can do it, one you can pay only 70% or lower of what you owe but to pay it right then and there. Or you can pay about 60% then and there and the last payments will be monthly payments to pay the rest off. Fight with them and try to see how low you can get them to settle for. I did this for 1 card i still owed money on and i owed over $2k and since i paid that day i only had to pay about $1200
Denise - are you only able to do that if you are in financial trouble (like have been missing payments and stuff)? If I'm in good standing can I call up and negotiate like that?
might be harder if youre in good standing bc they will prefer for you to make lower payments and paying the interest. I had a CC from 2001 that i still owed money on, i didnt even know, for 4 years they've been sending the bills to my old address i finally got a call and got into an arguement about this and the lady fought with me that they've sent me notices, when i asked where they told me the wrong address.
You can call and say you would like to pay off your credit, which alot of ppl think a CC would love to hear that but they actually hate hearing that. They lose money in the end by doing this. I would at least call up and fight for a lower interest rate, you can do that.
isn't this considered a 'charge off' on your credit report? i did that with one card once a LONG time ago and i definitely know it negatively effects your credit score and doesn't leave your record.
in my case i had a cc over 4 years that wasnt paid off, so i had to take this option there was nothing i could do. Not paying it was looking bad on my credit report so i had to. On my credit report it shows that the account has been closed. My credit score didnt go down but it doesnt help to do this if you dont have to.
So yeah if you are in good standing then maybe dont do this lol. If you are at the point where you HAVE to then its better to pay it off somehow than to let it go. I would call the CC companies for a lower interest rate or switch the balance to cards with a low interest rate.
lol dammit! i've never been late or missed a payment, but i do have one card with a balance that iw ould loveeeee to not pay all of. oh well!!!
BNBride60
Posted:
Member since
Re: Need advice
Posted by kimNanthony
He just tried to call Chase and basically they told him that since his account is in good standing they don't offer any type of settlement offers
Kim have you guys sat down and done a calculation of how much you oculd afford to save each month IF he didn't have to make his CC payments (assuming he paid them off w/your current savings)? Then you can figure out how long it would take you to get back to the place you are at now w/your savings.
Espo22
Posted:
Member since
Re: Need advice
Posted by kimNanthony
He just tried to call Chase and basically they told him that since his account is in good standing they don't offer any type of settlement offers
can he lower the interest rate?
Maybe talk to a financial specialist. Our broker even did this with us and explained how certain cc's look bad on the credit report. ALso DONT close your cards actually, they said that also effects your credit score, so pay them off but dont close them. He told us which CC's to pay off and exactly what hurts you and what helps you. We took his advice, paid off the cc's that should be paid off but Dh didnt close any of those accounts either they're still active
Espo22
Posted:
Member since
Re: Need advice
Posted by JB1122
Posted by Espo22
Posted by kristi313
Posted by Espo22
Posted by JB1122
Posted by Espo22
Call up every CC and ask them to cut a deal, just about all of them will do it. Theres 2 ways you can do it, one you can pay only 70% or lower of what you owe but to pay it right then and there. Or you can pay about 60% then and there and the last payments will be monthly payments to pay the rest off. Fight with them and try to see how low you can get them to settle for. I did this for 1 card i still owed money on and i owed over $2k and since i paid that day i only had to pay about $1200
Denise - are you only able to do that if you are in financial trouble (like have been missing payments and stuff)? If I'm in good standing can I call up and negotiate like that?
might be harder if youre in good standing bc they will prefer for you to make lower payments and paying the interest. I had a CC from 2001 that i still owed money on, i didnt even know, for 4 years they've been sending the bills to my old address i finally got a call and got into an arguement about this and the lady fought with me that they've sent me notices, when i asked where they told me the wrong address.
You can call and say you would like to pay off your credit, which alot of ppl think a CC would love to hear that but they actually hate hearing that. They lose money in the end by doing this. I would at least call up and fight for a lower interest rate, you can do that.
isn't this considered a 'charge off' on your credit report? i did that with one card once a LONG time ago and i definitely know it negatively effects your credit score and doesn't leave your record.
in my case i had a cc over 4 years that wasnt paid off, so i had to take this option there was nothing i could do. Not paying it was looking bad on my credit report so i had to. On my credit report it shows that the account has been closed. My credit score didnt go down but it doesnt help to do this if you dont have to.
So yeah if you are in good standing then maybe dont do this lol. If you are at the point where you HAVE to then its better to pay it off somehow than to let it go. I would call the CC companies for a lower interest rate or switch the balance to cards with a low interest rate.
lol dammit! i've never been late or missed a payment, but i do have one card with a balance that iw ould loveeeee to not pay all of. oh well!!!
sorry but its better off bc when you have to take a settlement and dont have a choice, thats a worse situation trust me lol. I am so sick of having to fix all these things. I took care of mine last year but like you DH never had a missed payment but owed alot in school loans and CC's and its constantly having to either pay it off, or send letters to say that some things on his credit report are old and the accounts have been closed for years and they need to take it off
BNBride60
Posted:
Member since
Re: Need advice
Posted by Espo22
Posted by kimNanthony
He just tried to call Chase and basically they told him that since his account is in good standing they don't offer any type of settlement offers
can he lower the interest rate?
Maybe talk to a financial specialist. Our broker even did this with us and explained how certain cc's look bad on the credit report. ALso DONT close your cards actually, they said that also effects your credit score, so pay them off but dont close them. He told us which CC's to pay off and exactly what hurts you and what helps you. We took his advice, paid off the cc's that should be paid off but Dh didnt close any of those accounts either they're still active
Actually we were told the opposite in terms of a mortgage. Yes, you want to show a long standing relationship but when you have open cards. But, they supposedly take cards without balances into account b/c they view them as open lines of credit that you are free to run up and get yourself into trouble with after you take out the mortgage.
Espo22
Posted:
Member since
Re: Need advice
Posted by JB1122
Posted by Espo22
Posted by kimNanthony
He just tried to call Chase and basically they told him that since his account is in good standing they don't offer any type of settlement offers
can he lower the interest rate?
Maybe talk to a financial specialist. Our broker even did this with us and explained how certain cc's look bad on the credit report. ALso DONT close your cards actually, they said that also effects your credit score, so pay them off but dont close them. He told us which CC's to pay off and exactly what hurts you and what helps you. We took his advice, paid off the cc's that should be paid off but Dh didnt close any of those accounts either they're still active
Actually we were told the opposite in terms of a mortgage. Yes, you want to show a long standing relationship but when you have open cards. But, they supposedly take cards without balances into account b/c they view them as open lines of credit that you are free to run up and get yourself into trouble with after you take out the mortgage.
I dont know it worked for us and right after we did this everything was cleared up and he was just approved for a mortgage this month. They said CC hold it against you to close accounts, we took the advice and did what they told us to do. And after 3 mortgage brokers telling us so many different things, this is what finally worked.
Espo22
Posted:
Member since
Re: Need advice
here is something i found online
So, is there ever any reason to close a credit card, from a credit score perspective?
Not from a scoring perspective, no. There really is never any good reason to close an account. I don't get to say that about too many things that have to do with scoring because usually you're going to hear a lot of 'it varies' -- because it does. I can tell you one other way that closing an account can hurt your score: Once it's paid off, that account will be on your credit report for no more than 10 years.
here is the rest of the site, it answers alot more questions about your credit report and how they look at it
He just tried to call Chase and basically they told him that since his account is in good standing they don't offer any type of settlement offers
can he lower the interest rate?
Maybe talk to a financial specialist. Our broker even did this with us and explained how certain cc's look bad on the credit report. ALso DONT close your cards actually, they said that also effects your credit score, so pay them off but dont close them. He told us which CC's to pay off and exactly what hurts you and what helps you. We took his advice, paid off the cc's that should be paid off but Dh didnt close any of those accounts either they're still active
Actually we were told the opposite in terms of a mortgage. Yes, you want to show a long standing relationship but when you have open cards. But, they supposedly take cards without balances into account b/c they view them as open lines of credit that you are free to run up and get yourself into trouble with after you take out the mortgage.
I dont know it worked for us and right after we did this everything was cleared up and he was just approved for a mortgage this month. They said CC hold it against you to close accounts, we took the advice and did what they told us to do. And after 3 mortgage brokers telling us so many different things, this is what finally worked.
That's great - congrats on getting approved! We're going thru a similar thing now - DH owns our house and has owned it for 6 years, but his father cosigned originally b/c he was only in his mid 20s when he first bought it and couldn't get approved alone. Now we want to get DH's dad off the mortgage and deed and me on it, but our bank said we'd need to refinance to accomplish this. So we're wondering how it will work out b/c I am younger than DH and only in my mid20s, so my credit history, though 100% positive, is not that long. I just started my first lawyer job, so I'm hoping my salary will be able to offset the short credit history.
Espo22
Posted:
Member since
Re: Need advice
Posted by JB1122
Posted by Espo22
Posted by JB1122
Posted by Espo22
Posted by kimNanthony
He just tried to call Chase and basically they told him that since his account is in good standing they don't offer any type of settlement offers
can he lower the interest rate?
Maybe talk to a financial specialist. Our broker even did this with us and explained how certain cc's look bad on the credit report. ALso DONT close your cards actually, they said that also effects your credit score, so pay them off but dont close them. He told us which CC's to pay off and exactly what hurts you and what helps you. We took his advice, paid off the cc's that should be paid off but Dh didnt close any of those accounts either they're still active
Actually we were told the opposite in terms of a mortgage. Yes, you want to show a long standing relationship but when you have open cards. But, they supposedly take cards without balances into account b/c they view them as open lines of credit that you are free to run up and get yourself into trouble with after you take out the mortgage.
I dont know it worked for us and right after we did this everything was cleared up and he was just approved for a mortgage this month. They said CC hold it against you to close accounts, we took the advice and did what they told us to do. And after 3 mortgage brokers telling us so many different things, this is what finally worked.
That's great - congrats on getting approved! We're going thru a similar thing now - DH owns our house and has owned it for 6 years, but his father cosigned originally b/c he was only in his mid 20s when he first bought it and couldn't get approved alone. Now we want to get DH's dad off the mortgage and deed and me on it, but our bank said we'd need to refinance to accomplish this. So we're wondering how it will work out b/c I am younger than DH and only in my mid20s, so my credit history, though 100% positive, is not that long. I just started my first lawyer job, so I'm hoping my salary will be able to offset the short credit history.
look at the post i posted right above yours. It talks about this and the link i gave talks about having things on your credit report for a long time and that being a good thing. Its hard to say now bc they look for any little thing to not give it to you. These companies are so afraid to give out loans and the rules are alot more strict that any little thing can hurt you. I know for a fact that if we did this a few years ago, we wouldn't have any of these problems. I went through this about 4-5 years ago, it was all in my name, so i was only 24 at the time and there wasnt a problem. Now forget it, they really look at all your info and try to find something wrong. If you have good credit, dont have alot of debt and can show a good salary then you are on a good start.
Espo22
Posted:
Member since
Re: Need advice
Kim-here is something i found that answers basically what you are asking. It also says what i was talking about with the whole debt to income ratio thing but they explain it alot better hahaha and shows exactly how they calculate this
'First: Pay Off Your Debt It's a common mistake for home-buyers-to-be: They focus on saving as much money as possible for a down payment instead of paying off other debts. A better approach is to use extra cash to eliminate credit-card and other high-interest consumer debt — even if that means you can put down less on your future home.
Why? First, credit-card debt is expensive and limits your ability to save. The average interest rate on credit cards now stands at 14%, or more than double the 6.1% national average for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, according to Bankrate.com. Second, credit-card debt will limit how much you can borrow. That's because lenders often won't allow your total monthly debt service — which includes payments for credit cards, student loans and car loans, as well as homeowner's insurance, property taxes and a mortgage — to exceed roughly 40% of your gross income.
kimNanthony
Posted:
Member since
Re: Need advice
Posted by Espo22
Kim-here is something i found that answers basically what you are asking. It also says what i was talking about with the whole debt to income ratio thing but they explain it alot better hahaha and shows exactly how they calculate this
'First: Pay Off Your Debt It's a common mistake for home-buyers-to-be: They focus on saving as much money as possible for a down payment instead of paying off other debts. A better approach is to use extra cash to eliminate credit-card and other high-interest consumer debt — even if that means you can put down less on your future home.
Why? First, credit-card debt is expensive and limits your ability to save. The average interest rate on credit cards now stands at 14%, or more than double the 6.1% national average for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, according to Bankrate.com. Second, credit-card debt will limit how much you can borrow. That's because lenders often won't allow your total monthly debt service — which includes payments for credit cards, student loans and car loans, as well as homeowner's insurance, property taxes and a mortgage — to exceed roughly 40% of your gross income.
Thank you!
Espo22
Posted:
Member since
Re: Need advice
Posted by kimNanthony
Posted by Espo22
Kim-here is something i found that answers basically what you are asking. It also says what i was talking about with the whole debt to income ratio thing but they explain it alot better hahaha and shows exactly how they calculate this
'First: Pay Off Your Debt It's a common mistake for home-buyers-to-be: They focus on saving as much money as possible for a down payment instead of paying off other debts. A better approach is to use extra cash to eliminate credit-card and other high-interest consumer debt — even if that means you can put down less on your future home.
Why? First, credit-card debt is expensive and limits your ability to save. The average interest rate on credit cards now stands at 14%, or more than double the 6.1% national average for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, according to Bankrate.com. Second, credit-card debt will limit how much you can borrow. That's because lenders often won't allow your total monthly debt service — which includes payments for credit cards, student loans and car loans, as well as homeowner's insurance, property taxes and a mortgage — to exceed roughly 40% of your gross income.
Thank you!
you're welcome. Yeah i just read that and thought it explained the whole thing alot better than i did haha. I didnt know it's not supposed to exceed 40% of your gross income, so thats definitely helpful. So i guess you can calculate all these things for your DH and see if it exceeds 40%.
