Prioritizing What is Really Important in your Home Search

Looking for your dream Atlanta home or townhome? Look for the home you need at the price you can afford, suggests the experts at the Equifax Finance blog. In their recent article, “What Kind of Mortgage Can You Afford?” buyers are encouraged to assess what is really important in a home (not just their “likes” or “nice-to-haves” but necessities) and go from there. Think about amenities and features. Is a pool a must? How about parking? Proximity to parks? How many bedrooms? How large of a yard is necessary? Also think about the total costs involved with a home; not just the monthly mortgage payment, but utilities and transportation costs. Utilities in a larger home will be higher. Transportation costs in a home farther from work will be higher.

How Accurate is your Credit Report?

There’s no question that with something as vital to your personal finance as a credit report, it is incredibly important that the report is accurate so you aren’t denied financing when you need it or have to pay a higher interest rate for money borrowed. But with identity theft and the chance for reporting errors, it is important to know just how much a chance of error there is. Experts on the Equifax Finance Blog explore the importance of accuracy in the new article, “The Facts About Credit Report Accuracy.”

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau keeps track of accuracy with credit reports and found that only between 1.3 and 3.9 percent of consumers disputed items on their credit report. Another study found that only a tiny portion - half of a percent - found mistakes on their credit report that would put them into a higher risk category, which would cause them to pay more or receive a higher interest rate.