Ready to navigate the whirling world of Las Vegas real estate and master the art of managing your credit score? This episode guarantees you a seat at the table with renowned financial expert, Cindy Hallas from CMG Financial, who will guide you through the maze of credit card usage, credit scores, and how they impact your property buying capabilities. We offer a fresh perspective on the recent happenings in the real estate market - from the drop in active listings and sold homes to the influence of the holiday season and the buzz from the F1 event in Vegas.
Have you ever wondered how your credit card usage impacts your credit score? We debunk myths surrounding credit card due dates, statement dates, and reveal how timely payments can boost your credit scores. We take you through the labyrinth of debt-to-income ratio and shed light on how a maxed out credit card can lower your credit scores. We also share handy tips and tricks to manage your credit card usage and improve your credit scores.
Your credit score isn't just a number. It's the key that opens multiple doors, including the one to your dream home. We bring to the table a discussion about the importance of freezing credit during sensitive times like divorce and equip you with tools to manage your credit effectively. We also dive into the nitty-gritty of credit monitoring, explaining the difference between soft pull and hard pull on your credit. And, if you spot any errors in your credit report, we've got you covered with advice on how to dispute those. As we wrap up this episode, we want you to remember - understanding credit and managing it effectively is not an overnight process, it's a journey. And we're here to walk that journey with you!
Welcome to Vegas Realty Check, the informative podcast that dives deep into the world of Las Vegas real estate.
Our expert hosts break down the complexities of the ever-changing Las Vegas property market, analyze market trends, economic indicators, and unique property features to provide you with valuable insights on timing your home sale or purchase.
Don't miss out on the fun! New episodes drop every Thursday! Stay in the know about Las Vegas real estate with insights straight from the pros . Thanks for watching, listening, and sharing!
If you LOVE our content , Please subscribe to our show here
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Ready to navigate the whirling world of Las Vegas real estate and master the art of managing your credit score? This episode guarantees you a seat at the table with renowned financial expert, Cindy Hallas from CMG Financial, who will guide you through the maze of credit card usage, credit scores, and how they impact your property buying capabilities. We offer a fresh perspective on the recent happenings in the real estate market - from the drop in active listings and sold homes to the influence of the holiday season and the buzz from the F1 event in Vegas.
Have you ever wondered how your credit card usage impacts your credit score? We debunk myths surrounding credit card due dates, statement dates, and reveal how timely payments can boost your credit scores. We take you through the labyrinth of debt-to-income ratio and shed light on how a maxed out credit card can lower your credit scores. We also share handy tips and tricks to manage your credit card usage and improve your credit scores.
Your credit score isn't just a number. It's the key that opens multiple doors, including the one to your dream home. We bring to the table a discussion about the importance of freezing credit during sensitive times like divorce and equip you with tools to manage your credit effectively. We also dive into the nitty-gritty of credit monitoring, explaining the difference between soft pull and hard pull on your credit. And, if you spot any errors in your credit report, we've got you covered with advice on how to dispute those. As we wrap up this episode, we want you to remember - understanding credit and managing it effectively is not an overnight process, it's a journey. And we're here to walk that journey with you!
Welcome to Vegas Realty Check, the informative podcast that dives deep into the world of Las Vegas real estate.
Our expert hosts break down the complexities of the ever-changing Las Vegas property market, analyze market trends, economic indicators, and unique property features to provide you with valuable insights on timing your home sale or purchase.
Don't miss out on the fun! New episodes drop every Thursday! Stay in the know about Las Vegas real estate with insights straight from the pros . Thanks for watching, listening, and sharing!
If you LOVE our content , Please subscribe to our show here
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1428685/support
Linktree https://linktr.ee/vegasrealtycheck?utm_source=linktree_profile_share<sid=665d8181-2204-45fb-b56f-e8ed3efbfd18
Send Listener Questions to : VegasRealtyCheck@gmail.com
Access All Episodes at RealtyCheck.Vegas
Watch Live on Facebook Thursdays @9:30am PST
https://www.facebook.com/VegasRealtyCheck
Linktree https://linktr.ee/vegasrealtycheck?utm_sourc...
Good morning Las Vegas. Welcome to Vegas, Real Cheap. Check your Vegas Real Estate news show. I am your host, Tiana Carroll, and my partner in crime, Trace Williams, is off today, but thank you so much for tuning in and joining us. We have a great show for everybody who is ready to jump into the market once those rate drops. You need to be prepared to do that and in order to do that, you're going to have to start getting your credit in line. So we have a returning guest, Cindy Hollis. She is with CMG Financial and she's been here before. We've talked about buying second homes, but now, like I said, interest rates are slated to drop next year. When that happens, everybody's going to jump into the market and those who are serious about it they need to be prepared. So we're going to talk everything credit. Thanks for being here. It's good to have you back. Thank you, how have you?
Speaker 2:been Great. I mean, the holiday season is definitely upon us, so we're seeing that trickle effect, yeah, and that actually showed up in our numbers this week. Oh my goodness yeah, so every week.
Speaker 1:At the beginning, you've been here, you know every week at the beginning of the show we talk about our numbers, our active listings in Vegas what's sold and what have you. So today our active sales are 4,118 active homes on the market Now in perspective, last week was 4,177. So we have a little bit less now than we did last week.
Speaker 1:Holidays are definitely on, yeah, but you know where I really saw it was in the solds, because the homes that sold last week were 377 homes that were sold, and that's a pretty normal number, right, but we had a huge dip this week and we did 137 sold homes.
Speaker 2:Wow, that is a dip.
Speaker 1:That is a dip, so that is definitely an indicator that people are on pause for this holiday season. Yeah, so there you go, and price decreases have also fallen. We had 418 price decreases last week and this week we have 351. Yeah, that is a big decrease again. Well, it also is a good indicator that everybody's sort of sitting happy right where they're at right, we're not losing value. No, no.
Speaker 2:I mean, and that's the I mean, that's the fear right now, if you will.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:But people are like, oh my gosh, we're going to lose value or we shouldn't be doing anything, but really our market's holding very strong.
Speaker 1:Yeah, our market's doing really, really good. There's a lot of other markets that went way, way up like we did and have come down more than we have. But I think that there's so much going on in our valley and development happening like did you hear there slated a new airport for Las Vegas? Oh my gosh. Yeah, not only will we have the Harry Reid International Airport located right here by the Strip, but they're doing a. I believe it's going to be a commuter airport out by Prim.
Speaker 2:Wow. That should bring a lot more activity. I mean, you already have everybody from all over the world that come here. Yeah, it's Vegas, right?
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah yeah, we just literally had the biggest global event we've ever had when, we had F1 here. Oh wow, that was crazy, were you in town for that.
Speaker 2:I know you go back and forth, no, so can you explain what F1 is? Oh my gosh.
Speaker 1:So F1 is the Formula One Racing, the Grand Prix it's a European motor racing, so it's not like NASCAR or stock car or anything. It's very high speed. I mean, it was crazy.
Speaker 2:A lot of adrenaline.
Speaker 1:I'm sure, A lot of adrenaline. Those cars are so fast. Like I was coming over the bridge when the cars were passing by and I could hear them, could hear them, could hear them and I thought I'd catch a glimpse and all of a sudden it was like a streak of lightning and I was like, oh OK, that's pretty sexy. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, those cars are sleek and powerful, but that's a huge global event. It's so much bigger in other parts of the world than it is in the United States. But we are now on the circuit for 10 years and I think overall it was a. I mean, of course, the locals didn't like it.
Speaker 2:Right, they're ripping up the roads, commute towards whatever. Well, I mean there are more reasons for people to come visit right, right.
Speaker 1:But I think overall the event went pretty well, especially for the first one. This was the first one, yeah this is the first one, and this is also the first time that F1 itself has been a promoter. Usually they'll go to the city and the city is the one who promotes and puts it together, but F1 did it themselves, and so cheers to you guys. Overall, it was a really good showing.
Speaker 2:And kind of behind the scenes. What I'm seeing as an opportunity is the build of the economy.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Because of events like this. This was a worldwide event.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Worldwide transient city.
Speaker 1:Yeah, oh my gosh.
Speaker 2:I mean, everybody from the world wants to come here. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And it's crazy.
Speaker 1:I grew up in this town and you still live here. Well, I love it here, right? It's hard for me when I go on vacation or something and they roll up the streets at 9 or 10 o'clock at night. I'm used to being able to pop into a Walgreens at 1 AM and get what I need, or whatever.
Speaker 2:Try for her hours.
Speaker 1:My kids were notorious when they were little, telling me the night before that they need a poster board at 9 o'clock at night. I'm like what You're supposed to be in bed and then I'm rushing off to a target to grab a poster board at 10 30 at night. But they're open, so yay, Vegas.
Speaker 2:Yeah, oh my gosh, that's crazy. I'm long gone in bed by then.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah. That's sort of the extreme of people, right, especially when you get to my age. Most of them are like we're done, we're in bed by 7, 30. And I'm like, oh, I haven't even had dinner at that point yet.
Speaker 2:But that's what happens when you grow up here in Vegas.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, I do. I love Vegas and I'm still here, and anybody who wants to come out here and get a house. We're going to teach you all about building your credit so that way you can get the house, because that's what you're hearing, right? When the market changes, we're going to buy yeah.
Speaker 2:And you know really it's a plan, it's a process, it's not something you're going to just qualify for. So you really do want to put some time, invest and effort into it so that when you are ready to buy, you're actually qualified to buy.
Speaker 1:Yeah, get those ducks in a row.
Speaker 2:Yes, and sometimes we've got the ducks but they are not in a row. Yeah.
Speaker 1:You're like it's like herding kittens at this point, like oh no come here, let's get these in a row.
Speaker 2:Yes, how did this goose get in? Here and where's the swan from A whole menagerie of animals trying to get in a row? So it can be really hectic and complicated and a little bit overwhelming if you don't have the right guidance.
Speaker 1:And there's a lot of bad credit management companies really out there taking advantage of people who they don't know, a large national one that recently was it the beginning of this year, february March-ish, march, yeah, and they ended up filing vacancy. Right, they did.
Speaker 2:And it just goes to show and how that name recognition is not always the most reliable Right. So you want to research and make sure that you get to a good, reliable, trustworthy resource that can actually help you.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and those are hard to find. Or, yes, I'm only saying that because I have a lot of first time home buyers. I love helping people realize the dream of home ownership, because that's really the foundation for the rest of your financial future, in my opinion. Yeah, lifetime, yeah, exactly. So I always like to help them out. But there's so many that come to me with the purest intentions and they're like we've hired a credit repair company and we pay them $100 a month for the past six months and my score has gone up 17 points and I'm like there's got to be a better way. Yes, yeah, but before we get into actually how to raise that credit score, let's talk about credit itself, basically, the variables that go into determining a credit score.
Speaker 2:So there's lots of variables and, quite honestly, they don't teach us in school at all, and we're still trying to figure out why they don't teach these valuable life lessons and one of the things I say, I have to agree.
Speaker 1:I feel like there's a deficit when you come out of school. For a lot of us that didn't know, because I didn't know about credit when I got out of school.
Speaker 2:I don't care about algebra anymore. I've never used algebra, by the way, and I'm a numbers-minded person.
Speaker 1:Yes, you do love numbers.
Speaker 2:Our trigonometry, our calculates, and I'm a numbers person. I use numbers every single day, but what I do care is how to increase my credit score. So the rule is when you have good credit, you can borrow money for cheap, or even get paid to borrow money, but when you have poor credit, you're going to pay a lot of money when it comes to borrowing money. So you're really penalized.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's sort of an unfair scale, but for people lending money, they want to basically know that you're going to get that money back to them in a timely manner. So there's risk levels, right.
Speaker 2:So lots of factors. Credit score is a huge factor when qualifying for a mortgage or any type of loan, really, and the higher your credit score, the less risk you appear to be to the lender or to whoever is trying to give you money.
Speaker 1:So how is that credit score determined?
Speaker 2:There are several factors. One of course is credit history. That's the biggest factor. Do you actually pay your bills on time? Oh my gosh, this sounds so simple and elementary, but that's the biggest piece of the pie If you don't pay your bills on time, you're going to be penalized.
Speaker 1:All right. So mental note everything gets paid on time I know.
Speaker 2:There's this thing called due date. That's pretty important. Yeah, pay by this time, yes. And then the next section that's really surprising actually is your credit utilization, basically on revolving credit.
Speaker 1:OK, so how much of your credit you're actually using?
Speaker 2:Yes, and of revolving credit, only this section I'm going to focus on is if you max out your credit cards. So revolving credit, as a reminder, is like a credit card where you only pay on the balance that you owe and then, once you pay it down, you can borrow against it Again. You have a credit limit. So the more you max out your credit limit, the higher or, I'm sorry, the more you're going to drop your credit score.
Speaker 1:OK. So if I had a credit card that had $1,000 credit limit and I put $900 on that buying all sorts of fun stuff for my?
Speaker 2:new place Christmas or what? Yeah, christmas holidays, ok all right.
Speaker 1:So I'm spending all of this money and I get to $900 on my $1,000 credit card. That's maxed out.
Speaker 2:That's pretty close to maxed out OK.
Speaker 1:So my credit would take a ding for using my own credit Right.
Speaker 2:So we already talked about due date. Ok, and you? I'm shocked because so many people don't know about this, but there's two dates that we really want to know, two due dates very important.
Speaker 1:Wait, do I get to ask the question?
Speaker 2:that I had there.
Speaker 1:Oh, my gosh OK so what is the due date? Payment versus the statement date?
Speaker 2:See, oh my gosh, so you're ahead of the game like seriously.
Speaker 1:Well, I kind of have a little bit of experience. I'm not a pro at this, but it does fall in line with me being able to do my job is to helping people and facilitate it Right right. So I have a very rudimentary idea of all this, but you are the pro, so tell me girl.
Speaker 2:That, I'm telling you, is like 50% of the battle. So, yes, we've got the due date, and then we have what we call the statement date.
Speaker 1:OK.
Speaker 2:The statement date is the date that credit card company reports your current balance to the credit bureaus.
Speaker 1:OK.
Speaker 2:So if your due date is the 15th of every month but the statement date is the 10th of every month, you can see that you might be maxed out right before your due date or the cycle date or statement date.
Speaker 1:So wouldn't it then make sense to make the payment on this or before the statement date, so you had less? That's being reported. Yes, it would.
Speaker 2:Or what you do have control of. A lot of people don't know. You can change your due date. Oh, so we can change our due date. If the statement dates the 10th, we can change our due date to the 5th.
Speaker 1:Oh, so you're paying it right before the statement date? Yes, so then you don't?
Speaker 2:have to worry about. Okay, I want to pay it down before the statement date and then I want to pay it off before the due date, so I don't have any fees, any late, any, that's too much. Simplify it.
Speaker 1:Simplify it so you just call your creditor and be like hey, listen.
Speaker 2:Credit card company Right.
Speaker 1:And okay, your credit card company Be like hey, my dues dates the 15th, but I get paid on the fourth. Can we move my payment date to the fifth? And they just adjust it for you, Right? So you do have control of that Nice.
Speaker 2:So that's nice to know. But here's the other key. Okay, on the statement that you want to have a small balance, because having a zero balance shows the credit bureaus that's inactive. Even though it was at $900 at one point during the month.
Speaker 1:Right, but then I've paid it all 100% off. Right which most people, and now they've got nothing to report, so they just bypass me, and I don't get that, yeah.
Speaker 2:It shows inactive. It shows the points, rewards, anything or the pad on the back, for you know, the only thing you get, the pad on the back, is paying on time.
Speaker 1:Okay, so we want to maintain a running balance.
Speaker 2:Yes A small balance.
Speaker 1:Okay, what kind of balance would that look like? Okay, 10%, 25% less than 30.
Speaker 2:This is where I'm like okay, I don't want to stress anybody out.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:But I also want to be truthful, yeah, so give it to us, the real, real. The biggest challenge is trying to get people that 50% of whatever the credit limit, or even sometimes just paying on time and making sure that they don't exceed their credit limit, because that also can drop your score drastically.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, that would make sense.
Speaker 2:So you have a balance of a thousand and 100, you know so, $1100 on a thousand dollar credit limit. Somehow your credit card allowed it to go through. That will drop your score equivalent to a collection.
Speaker 1:Oh, yeah, okay.
Speaker 2:So, like when I talk about this, I want to make sure that I'm speaking to the right audience. Pay your bills on time, make sure that you know you don't have any late fees and then, as far as balance, depending on where you are and where that client is, I'm going to try to coach them down.
Speaker 1:Okay, does that make sense? Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:Because if someone's living their lifestyle maxed out on all their credit, but they are doing good in their mind because they're paying on time, they're doing what they can, right, okay.
Speaker 1:So that's not how the credit company is going to look at it. They're going to be like you were giving it $1,000, you used 900 of it. You, you're, you're good. We want the people who are using 200 of it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so the rules applied everyone are the same.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:But coaching them. That's where it gets tricky. So yeah, so someone who might be living in the maxed out world, I'm going to try to get them lower. The other thing is, if we have three credit cards and all three of our maxed out, instead of maxing keeping one maxed out and two lower, we want to lower all three of them.
Speaker 1:Okay, so bring them down gradually together.
Speaker 2:So we might have one maxed out, two at 20%, but we want to do is rat, we would rather have all three at 40%.
Speaker 1:Okay, that makes sense, so that you know, but ideally so. Okay, so it's. I'm just going to clarify there because this is something I want to. There is a, let's say, debt to income ratio, right, and if I have 20% on two cards and then 80% on another card, but then I bring every thing to 40, in my mind the numbers are, oh, it's all the same, but why is it make a difference?
Speaker 2:Because you still have that one that's maxed out and that one account can literally drop your score. So so it is that intense? So it's okay. So we have 350 points total for credit. 30% of that is based on how you max out your revolving credit. Okay, 165 points of your credit profile is based on if you max out the revolving credit. So if you want a 780, FICO or higher, and that's excellent- credit.
Speaker 1:That's when you almost get money back and they're like we love you, we take extra.
Speaker 2:Yes, that's, you're getting reborded, you're getting paid to borrow money 780 or higher, which I absolutely love. That, oh yeah.
Speaker 1:No, when I'm doing, when I'm doing a buyer consult, and they're like my credit's at 780. I'm like hallelujah, thank you, yay, because not everybody's like that. Like we said in the beginning, usually it's a journey. It's not somebody showing up with like an 800 credit score and you know, $200,000 to buy a down payment.
Speaker 2:Right, life happens. So 780 or higher FICO. You want that at 10% or less on the statement date. Okay, not at all times, just the statement date. So if you have a little OCD or you're like, oh my gosh, I'm crazy, I need to make sure. Just check right before your statement date, make a payment maybe a day or two before to make sure it's low, but make sure you have that balance still.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and you keep saying on time, on time, on time.
Speaker 2:I am so sorry, but like we can't forget about that, we can't.
Speaker 1:So some credit card. Well, I've assumed most nowadays everyone I have. They just set it up like I can do an auto pay where it just happens. And that because if, if on time is so important and we don't want to have that lapse, wouldn't it make sense to have everything, just auto pay? Sure.
Speaker 2:And. But it's kind of tricky because you might spend more one month versus another month and we do want to pay it in full, so you don't have any fees, yeah depends.
Speaker 1:But you don't want to zero balance because that's not going to report on the statement but the due date.
Speaker 2:You want to zero balance so you don't pay fees. Okay, right, so it's like a big chess game.
Speaker 1:You're like we're mood. That's okay. That's why we have you here. You're going to help us maneuver those chess pieces because I'm going to tell you, I have so many people in the wings just waiting for prices I mean not prices for interest rates to come down and then they want to purchase. But in my real term mind that doesn't make any sense because then it's going to be a feeding frenzy and you're going to be fighting to get back into the market.
Speaker 2:There's going to be some competition.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so to position yourself, get the best credit score you can.
Speaker 2:You know, one late payment can take nine to 12 months to recover from and drop your score over 160 points.
Speaker 1:That's so harsh, so that's why I keep repeating that on time, on time. I'm so sorry. So on time, on time, on time, yes, okay.
Speaker 2:Because so many, so much of your credit profile? That's the biggest piece is do you pay your bills on time?
Speaker 1:Yeah, and what about diversifying that credit profile? How important is that?
Speaker 2:That is about 15%.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:So you know, diversifying. So if you only have just credit cards or like department store cards or gas cards, it doesn't score as high.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:So let me ask you a challenge, maybe a challenging question.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:What do you think is the highest rated credit card?
Speaker 1:Okay, would your debts be Okay? You said it what I thought it was, because I was always told that the gas card is the best card because they report twice a month. Is that real?
Speaker 2:Not always, but the key is to ask whatever credit card company that you apply for is do you report to all three credit bureaus every 30 days?
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:Because some credit bureau they don't, or credit cards they don't, okay. But of course if you're late, guess what they will do Ding. So you're not getting all the positive credit, but you're getting that negative credit the one time you're late. So you want to make sure they're reporting every 30 days to all three credit bureaus.
Speaker 1:Okay, so that's the one credit card that you should have, one that reports every 30 days.
Speaker 2:So the highest rating credit card, would you think like department store gas card?
Speaker 1:Well, I went with gas card.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so the highest rating credit card is American Express. Oh, okay, they're the hardest to get also.
Speaker 1:Right, okay, so yeah, and the most prestigious. Right and the black card. Everybody wants a black card in their wallet.
Speaker 2:I'll take two. I met somebody with a black card. Does that count? Yeah, you're like.
Speaker 1:I've seen one that's seven degrees. I've seen one in person. It's crazy.
Speaker 2:Oh my gosh, that is crazy. So that no major credit cards, the visas, the master card discovered. Those are going to score higher than the department store cards.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:And some of the credit repair cards out there. So like do you?
Speaker 1:like Zillow. Oh well, I usually won't even say the Z word. Listen, I'm not opposed to Zillow. I think it gives the consumer the ability to get excited about shopping or what. Okay, so let's be positive about Zillow.
Speaker 2:Yes, this is the one time I'm going to be positive here we go Okay, but my point is credit karma is Zillow to us.
Speaker 1:Okay, that's fair enough. Yes, so now I put credit karma in the whole other light.
Speaker 2:I'll be like, oh, yeah, so when you go to credit karma, it's free for a reason One, but two. When they're advertising and promoting different credit card companies, do you really feel they have your best interests?
Speaker 1:Yeah, fair enough. I never even thought about credit karma.
Speaker 2:They are promoting the credit card companies that are giving them money for advertising.
Speaker 1:Yeah, like Zillow, they're just capturing those leads and selling them back to realtors.
Speaker 2:So I really encourage you, if you're at any point, to make sure you're connecting with a good person who really understands credit, a credit management company, a realtor who can guide you. There's a reason why people, we need realtors. So 92% of people who buy a home, by the way, use a realtor.
Speaker 1:As they should.
Speaker 2:Not using a realtor. You're the quarterback in the whole transaction. You are so resourceful in getting them connected to the right sources that they need for credit for loan officers.
Speaker 1:so and it's everything. 10th and a 1 exchange is you need a financial advisor Everything we're buying from out of the country. What are the first rules? Yeah, we definitely have a toolbox full of options to help people.
Speaker 2:So who else and who better to have in your hip pocket than a really good realtor, because they're going to be connected to so many amazing resources for you.
Speaker 1:Like you, you're an amazing resource for people. That's one thing I do love about you, cindy. Thank you. If you don't know Cindy, you should know that she is a giving person like genuinely. She teaches sports to in soccer in Arizona. She teaches classes for real estate agents for our continuing education. You educate your clients when it comes to loans, credits, and what package or product would be best for them.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you know, I think, for whatever reason, you know, the information, that the right information, let's emphasize the right information is just not really mainstream.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:Why I don't get it.
Speaker 1:It's all just be available.
Speaker 2:And so you know, we get stuck following the wrong people that guide us down the wrong path. And then people are taken advantage of, especially like credit management.
Speaker 1:Now you're saying being taken advantage of wrong people down the wrong path. I may have been guilty of that in the past, with divorces and things that can really affect your credit. What about information on that? Like I've heard you say something on freezing, credit.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you know, I do teach a class it's probably the most popular class I have is on divorce and that really is teaching you as a realtor to be that resource and have so many different resources, attorneys, all these things and the first thing that's always compromised when people go through divorce is credit. Yeah, you know, unfortunately, there's a lot of emotion involved and people can get a little bit ugly with each other.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah and that's a weird thing for a realtor, because I've done divorce households before and you think like, okay, so we're going to sell their house and then we're going to put them each in another house. It's fine, but really most of that transaction is sort of mediating those emotions, because it's not personal. And here you are in this devastating part of your life just trying to navigate, yeah, and then it's. And then you get penalized Like not only are you going through hell, girl, but now your credit's going to be jacked up and you know your spouse has access to all of your information.
Speaker 2:So a really good, easy solution to prevent lots of problems on credit is to freeze your credit.
Speaker 1:All right.
Speaker 2:It's free.
Speaker 1:I love that there's not very much free in this economy. Folks Right, Take advantage of it. If you need it, use it.
Speaker 2:Freezing your credit still allows you to use your credit. That's open the creditors to continue to report your activity. But it doesn't allow anyone, including yourself, to open new accounts to pull credit again until you manually take and lift the freeze off.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:So if you have someone in your life, for whatever reason, you don't trust, going through a divorce is a big example of this. Freeze your credit. Don't worry about what your spouse is going to do while you're sleeping. Prevent it.
Speaker 1:Prevent it. Yeah, smart, and you have to be proactive to take care of yourself.
Speaker 2:You know we get caught with. Well, you know I'm just. I'm here this all the time. They opened up a new account. They charge so much and for principal purposes I'm not paying that card Right, you're like. I know oh my gosh and you see their credit drop 100, 120, 130 points because for principal purposes.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you can't let that ego get in the way. Pay the bill, right You're doing yourself.
Speaker 2:Damage Right and remember it takes over a year to recover.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Because of principal. So stop prevent it, freeze it, move on with your life. Sleep good at night, Sleep good.
Speaker 1:That's my favorite thing. I love sleeping good at night. Oh yeah, I like to know that everything is fine. I'm going to be fine in the morning. So, uh, if you are worried that things are happening on your credit score, can you check it yourself?
Speaker 2:I mean.
Speaker 1:I mean most people here. We are credit karma, but if that's like your Z word, then you're not sending people there. No, how would somebody effectively watch their credit?
Speaker 2:So I always recommend going straight to one of the three credit bureaus.
Speaker 1:Okay, so we have trans union, equal facts and a spurious Yep. You got it.
Speaker 2:You can create an online account with each of the credit bureaus and then, once you create it, you have the ability to freeze, lift the freeze and also check your credit. Okay, and when you check your own credit, it's not a hard inquiry, so it doesn't drop your score.
Speaker 1:Okay, that's good.
Speaker 2:Yep, and you have at least one free one every year with the credit bureaus, but you can check it as many times do you want, if you need. It still will not drop your score.
Speaker 1:Okay, Well, that's good. I found that real quick in case people who aren't familiar with having their credit pulled often there's a soft pull and a hard pull and they affect your credit in different ways really quickly go through that.
Speaker 2:So soft pull is just for us to look and make sure there's no new activity that's happening or it deans us and alerts and just kind of make sure that things are still on track. Right, we can see it, but we're not telling the credit bureaus that we're inquiring about them. So when we inquire, with a hard pull which we require because it's mortgage.
Speaker 1:It's pretty big, pretty big amount of money.
Speaker 2:You're asking for a half million plus right. We are going to do a hard pull.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:So we're going to notify the credit bureaus that we are looking at credit. You are curious about trying to get a loan of some sort of a mortgage. You know, and that's the biggest asset out there. So I always tell people, I promise you this for whatever points it drops. It might drop one or two points, but it's only a 30 day job. After 30 days it recovers, unless you continue to let mortgage companies or car companies or credit card companies.
Speaker 1:You don't want to constantly be applying for credit. What's?
Speaker 2:your score is the new loan, not the inquiry.
Speaker 1:Okay, so actually getting that credit gives you a ding. Is that short term or long term, that ding?
Speaker 2:So that it's short term and my kind of what I've seen is two to three on time payments after a new loan opens. You break even and then you start benefiting because the on time payments start now raising your credit score, and especially mortgage. That's the highest rating that you're going to have on your credit profile, so on time mortgage payments really start increasing your payments Again. Everything else still has to be on time.
Speaker 1:On time, on time. I guess that should be the title of this week's episode. Just be on time. If you want credit, don't mess it up. Be on time, yes.
Speaker 2:Well, do the autopay, Like you said, even if it's just the minimum payment right. Go ahead and do that. That protects your score. The credit balance ratio you can control that at any point you want, Right.
Speaker 1:You can make payments throughout the month to get rid of that, but just making sure that the minimal amount is paid on time each and every month is the best protector for you. That's awesome. And then we talked about diversifying those loans. And then what about if you do when you do go? So when you do go and you find something on your credit report, how do you dispute that? I know that we talked about companies some are good, some are bad but if you're being proactive and you're doing it, what are some of the steps you can take?
Speaker 2:So we do have. I have access to one of the credit management companies that I really like. You can go there and they can guide you. Yes, you'll have a fee for it, but it's not a monthly fee. They only actually charge for what they work on. Weird yeah, nice. I like that. It seems fair. Yeah, it's not fair, but you can actually do it yourself. So you can ask whatever credit card company or who the creditor is what the error is. Why is that showing up?
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:And then, once you get a letter from them correcting the error, saying, oh, we made an error, that 30-day late was not late. Here's the letter showing that we're going to remove that from the credit bureaus. The key is to get that letter from them.
Speaker 1:Right, and that makes do happen.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and relying on them to report it to the credit bureaus.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Have fun with that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, that's not my job.
Speaker 2:Yes, or you know, and if you're a fan of having control of your own credit, then getting that letter is going to give you that control. Then you can send it directly to the credit bureaus.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think I read somewhere that 25% of Americans credit have discrepancies and errors on them that need to be corrected. Oh yeah, you think that's fair.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:At least that. Yeah, that's a low wall. Yeah, okay, cool. So make sure you do that. And if you're trying to build credit and you're starting to get rid of some of these dings, if you want to build that credit up, what are the ways that people can do that? I know that there's like a secured card. If you're starting out on credit, what else can?
Speaker 2:Well secured is. If you don't have any credit at all, that's a good place to start. Okay, also, wherever you bank. Thank you, whatever bank you bank at, go in there and ask for a credit card from them and that's considered a major credit card. It's most likely a MasterCard or a Visa.
Speaker 1:Correct.
Speaker 2:So most banks will have access and they also have your activity. So if you have a lot of NSFs, those are bad words in our world they probably will not approve you or they'll start you off with a secured credit card. So that's a good place to start, because the credit card world out there can be really overwhelming hard to understand. Which ones have annual fees, what terms, what the APR is all that stuff.
Speaker 1:It's like ah so if that's so confusing because there's a lot and maybe in the beginning of time you're not used to figuring out what's the right card for you is going to be what about something like I've heard of self reporting? What do you think of that self reporting payments that you've made?
Speaker 2:Self reporting. You can do that with pretty much everything. Yeah, like Netflix, yes it will cost some money. So like utility companies is a great place to start. Okay, so your utilities, NV Energy. They might charge you 20 bucks a month, but they're also going to report it to all three credit bureaus for you.
Speaker 1:Okay, and so you contact your, let's say, netflix or Nevada Energy or whatever, and you ask them to report for you Yep, and then they'd put a fee on your account because you're paying for it.
Speaker 2:Yep. And so then when I see that on a credit report and I'm like, okay, you have enough credit, stop paying that fee now. You have enough of other credit. You don't have to pay that $20 fee with NV Energy anymore. You've got your mortgage, you've got your credit card and you've got an auto loan. So you do want to diversify your credit also. So some people are in that habit and then I'm like here, let me save you $20 a month.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I think.
Speaker 2:I'm one of those perpetual fee payers?
Speaker 1:Yeah, and the length of the credit line is important, right?
Speaker 2:It is so average credit length. What would your guess be? This is kind of a trick question, so I'm going to sorry to set you up.
Speaker 1:So for me I have some credit lines that are older than my children and then I have some that are five years old, but I would assume let's see the average credit. I don't know. I think that people, if they had a credit line for, say, six years, have been adulting pretty well. How close was I?
Speaker 2:You know and so, to be fair, your lens is you're looking at the credit lines, which is the longest potential credit, but overall credit, like auto loans, mortgages, student loans, all these loans typically are short term. Okay, think about an auto loan.
Speaker 1:Like three to five years Right.
Speaker 2:And God forbid we refinance. That ends that loan and then opens a new loan. So the average length of credit is only four years. Really yeah, but the credit cards actually serve a very good purpose for our longevity. The longer our credit is open, the better it is, and that's 10% of our credit profile and points.
Speaker 1:All right, there's a lot that goes into that credit profile, oh my gosh, all right. So, as we're wrapping this up, we just want to say pay your bill on time On time, in case you didn't hear it. Pay it on time On time. When should they pay it On time? Okay, that's a great idea. Let's pay it on time and then Pay that on time and then keeping your debt to income ratio. Don't max out those credit cards, because that's going to be an issue. Just for the statement. Date For the statement date.
Speaker 2:Yep, we can move our due date, okay.
Speaker 1:Yep, that was actually kind of cool.
Speaker 2:I didn't know you can move that I know, I know, I like that we actually have control, but it's like. This reminds me of like having a smart phone. Yeah, this phone can do so many things, but I'm not smart enough to use it.
Speaker 1:Do you know what I mean? Right, it only has the capability to go as far as the user can take it.
Speaker 2:So what we don't realize is we actually have more control than we know about, but we don't know what we don't know.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:That's why it takes an expert to come in and help you kind of navigate through that. I can tell you over and over and over these stories of clients that are like I would have known that and thank you, now I feel in control.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Just simple things like freeze your credit when you're going through a divorce.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, that's a thing, and you are a valuable resource that I think and a kind person willing to help people. If somebody did want to get a hold of you, Cindy, to talk about credit, because everybody's different what their journey is going to be. You'll have to actually look at each person. So how did they get a hold of you? If they want to talk to you, if they want you to help them get on track, how?
Speaker 2:they can call me. Here's my number. Okay, my number is 602-793-9061. It's been my number since I was 16.
Speaker 1:I know I've had my number for more years than I'd like to say.
Speaker 2:Oh, my gosh, and you know it's funny because I'm like it's a complicated number, my number, but I'm like I can't change it now.
Speaker 1:No, no, no, you're in the sauce Girl. Keep the number All right. So thank you very much, cindy Hollis from CMG Financial, for coming back and sharing that with us. And again, if you'd like to get a hold of her, make sure you shout out because she is so awesome. She will definitely sit down and help you. My name is Tiana Carroll here at Vegas Realty Check. If you have any questions anything real estate feel free to give me a call at 702-379-9948. And make sure that if you find value in any of this content and you're joining our tribe to download those podcasts, make sure you like, share and subscribe on our YouTube channel. We really appreciate you guys and we will see you next week. Until then, vegas have a good week. Bye you guys, bye.
Speaker 2:Thanks for showing up, cindy. Thank you for having me, okay.