REMAX Goes Mobile

Another Avenue to RE/MAX

Are you ready to get moving? Let RE/MAX move with you. Download the free RE/MAX Mobile App on your iPhone or Android smartphone to find homes for sale – wherever you are and wherever you want to be.

REMAX Gold’s Smart MLS Map Search Tool

 

So you have probably noticed how cool our new REMAX Gold website is, right? Well. Let me point out one of our coolest features. It’s call “Smart MLS Map Search”

 

 

 

 

Now what makes this home search tool so cool is it allows you to input any city, street, neighborhood or area and using Google’s GEO satellite imagery the map brings up every home in the MLS for sale.

 

 

 

Now once you find the homes for sale you can use a quick view to see the basic details, like price, beds, baths and square footage of the home, but you can also click on the home and see a full description of the home including school reports, demography and a “Walk Score” which shows you everything within a 1 mile radius of the property, things like Starbucks, gas stations, grocery stores, banks etc.

 

 

 

You can schedule a showing, email the property to a friend, calculate the monthly payment and even save the search to your profile.

 

 

 

All this right at your finger-tips. Why go anywhere else to find a home. To get started using our Smart MLS Map Search, simply click on the link below. 

 

Access the RE/MAX Gold Smart MLS Map Search Tool Here

Interest Rates Low, Time to Buy!

We’ll you’ve probably heard that interest rates are at historical lows. We are talking about 30 year rates under 4%. What does this mean to you? We’ll first of all if you are a renter and thinking about owning now is the best time to jump in.

Chances are the home you rent could be purchased for less than you pay in rent.  A typical 4 bedroom, 3 bath home renting for $2,000 a and selling for $250,000 would generate a monthly payment of around $1,500 a month. This would include Principal, Interest, Taxes and insurance. Plus you could get upwards of $8,000 in tax credits. In today's challenging market, being prequalified is more important than ever. We can help you navigate the challenging waters. Take just a few minutes and complete the information below to get started today! And we’ll connect you with one of our local RE/MAX Agents. 

 

Click here to access Prequalifying Loan Form

Building and Maintaining a Great Credit Profile

 

Your credit report represents how well you manage your financial responsibilities. The good news is that your negative information drops off over time but the positive information remains. Building a strong and consistent history of responsibly using credit is the foundation to building a great credit profile. Although it’s relatively easy to gain access to new credit such as credit cards, there are many best practices to use and common traps to avoid. Here are a few easy tips for effectively building your credit history.

Applying for new credit

• Don’t apply every time you see an offer. Getting too much credit too quickly can hurt your credit profile.
• Don’t build your credit profile through trial and error. Consult an expert such as a credit coach to develop a plan based on your short- and long-term needs.
• Print clearly when applying for credit. If your application information is entered inaccurately it can create variations of reported information on your credit report.
• Consistently use your complete name without any variations. Providing complete, accurate and consistent identification on your credit applications helps set up your credit history correctly from the beginning. It also minimizes the chance that your credit file will be incomplete or mixed with another consumer's file.

Once you have credit

• Pay your bills on time. Most lenders look at the most recent information on a report. So if you've paid your accounts on time for the last two to three years, the lender may weigh that more heavily than a series of late payments from five years ago.
• Set up a budget, and follow it. This is so much easier said than done! A credit coach can help provide you guidance on creating and managing a budget based on current income and debt as well as your short- and long-term credit needs. In the age of self-help and empowerment, managing your finances should top your list. The key is not to over-extend yourself.
• Develop and follow a plan for the type of credit you have, how you use it, and the type of credit you may need in the near future.
• Review your credit report periodically throughout each year.
  • At least 60 to 90 days before making a major purchase (such as a home, car or large household goods) you should prepare by reviewing your credit profile to help ensure it is optimized.
  • Continual evaluation of your credit profile is necessary to ensure you are not paying unnecessary interest expenses (i.e., you could qualify for lower rates and better terms). The average homeowners spend an estimated $300,000 in their lifetimes on unnecessary interest expenses.
  • Ensure no fraudulent or erroneous activity has occurred related to credit profile. An estimated one in eleven families was a victim of identity theft last year.

Getting help

A personal credit coach can be incredibly valuable whether you understand credit or not. Having a credit coach is similar to an asset manager except it’s for your liabilities. A coach will work closely with you to explain your credit profile, provide you guidance with ways you can more effectively manage it, and can help you evaluate it on an ongoing basis. Changes continually occur for all of us. Jobs change, unforeseen expenses happen and so on. If you begin to fall behind on your payments.

• Contact your lenders. Ignoring the situation will only add to your problems. Many lenders will work with you to set up a different payment schedule or interest rate. It never hurts to ask.
• Pay your bills when they're due. If you have an overdue bill, unpaid debt, tax lien or judgment, pay it off. You may find it easier to pay one affordable consolidation loan rather than several separate accounts. Your credit coach can help identify what options may be available to you.
• Stop using credit, if possible, until your finances are under control. Consider going to cash purchases only based on your budget. This will STOP the financial bleeding while you pull your credit management plan back into place.
• Look to professionals like the ApprovalGUARD Service. Your credit coach is experienced in explaining your credit and indentifying ways to optimize and manage debt.
• AVOID credit repair agencies. "If it’s too good to be true then it often is!" Most credit repair agencies typically charge you high prices to artificially "fix" your credit. This unfortunately often amounts to "band aid" work that manipulates loopholes in the system and often results in the credit issue returning to your credit report within months after it was supposedly fixed. If you have inaccurate information on your report, your ApprovalGUARD credit coach can help you identify it and specifically provide you with the proper methods for getting it addressed.

It’s important to note that The Credit Repair Organization Act is a federal law that prohibits credit repair clinics from taking a consumer's money until they have fully completed the services they promised. It also requires such firms to provide consumers with a written contract stating all the services to be provided and the terms and conditions of payment. Consumers also have three days to withdraw from the contract.

The ApprovalGUARD Service - Is the first and only service of its kind. Each ApprovalGUARD customer is assigned a personal credit coach to help them understand, evaluate and optimize their credit and debt profiles. The ApprovalGUARD Service additionally provides each Full Service customer with credit reports, credit scores, continual informative credit tips and education, and tools to more effectively manage and analyze their credit and debt profiles. Go to www.ApprovalGUARD.com and use the promotion code: REMAX1 for your free 30 day, no obligation trial.

© 2009 ApprovalGUARD Service

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