DISQUS

Patrick · 2 years ago

Hi Flexo,

Getting your finances smoothed out is a great step toward buying a house, or making any major financial transaction. It will make everything a lot easier to track now, and especially at tax time (no more sorting through 15 different 1099s!)

Before you go through your financial papers to determine what you need to keep or throw away, check out my recent post titled How Long Should You Keep Financial Documents?: link

I just wrote about it yesterday :)

And don't forget to buy a shredder! It's one of the best $15 investments you can make! Or, you can spend a little more and get the deluxe version that shreds paper, credit cards, and compact disks. :)

Uhoh · 2 years ago

Why oh why would you close unused credit cards? Reducing your available lines of credit hurts your FICO scores. Especially if they're old cards---reducing the average age of your cards is not desirable.

If you're concerned about having too many cards to keep track of, why don't you ask your creditors to consolidate your lines of credit into just one card per issuer? Then you'll keep your total available amount of credit, you'll have the same low utilization, and there will be fewer cards for you to keep track of.

I should think that you would want to keep your FICO score as high as humanly possible with a mortgage around the corner.

Robin · 2 years ago

I agree--if you really don't think just shredding the extra credit cards is enough, wait till after you get your mortgage, okay? Credit score has everything to do with the rate you'll get. We always liked Sovereign Bank out of Yardley, PA -- all of our mortgages are through them. It's a small private office and they're honest people.

Also, once you digitize, toss copies of your important docs onto a USB flash drive for emergencies.

dong · 2 years ago

On the housing matter, I feel like the landlord is trying to gouge you for an extra $300. He should certainly charge extra for month to month, but $300 is alot. What you don't want to do obviously is rush into buying a place. Good luck with the decision - not an easy one ever.

Chris · 2 years ago

My former landlord charged around $250 a month for month-to-month leasing. It's not unheard of.

Don't forget that the WaMu savings account needs to be linked to a WaMu checking account to get the 5% rate.

I would keep those unused credit cards, as they do help your FICO score. Just lock them in a safe.

Blain Reinkensmeyer · 2 years ago

The $300 a month extra is pretty steep, but you have to think it is necessary. I means look at what happens if you decide to leave in like a horribly not opportune month? He may be stuck on that apartment un-rented for a while when he could have had another 1 year + term already signed earlier.

Flexo · 2 years ago

Blain (and dong): My landlord isn't a "he," it's a national corporation. Many apartments go unrented for several months at a time. I understand the risk and the need to discourage month-to-month habitation, but other apartment complexes in the area charge $50, not $300.

ib · 2 years ago

not that i have direct experience with it, but i understand buying a house/condo can take a long time (often unforseen) even if you know which one you might buy.

maybe take the year lease and IF you get a place, just the end/lease steep fee would apply? might be better than the sure bet of $300 addtl per month for a still mysterious situation....
just suggesting going with the 'known' vs the 'unknown' (known being you need to live somewhere now) and not pay more than you might have to hopefully.

my apt bldg has similar sucky rules and fees. but apt. has a nice view, *sigh.*

good luck!

Kimberly · 2 years ago

For reducing brokerage, bank, credit, and mortgage accounts, I managed to get everything tied through Bank of America -- you won't regret simplifying your life like you are; it is a lot harder to fall behind on my finances now.