When it comes to buying a home, having a good credit score is extremely important. Figuring out your credit score can be confusing if you’re not sure what causes your score to grow or drop over time. A Waltham Realtor put together a handful of reasons why your credit score might not be where you want it to be. Read through these reasons so that you can work to improve your score and be able to purchase the Waltham home you’ve always wanted! 

1. Late or Missed Payments

Your payment history has about a 40% impact on your score, which is huge! This means if you’re late or miss any payments, it’s going to greatly affect your credit score and not in a positive way. Waltham Real Estate Agents encourage you to make your payments on time so that you can build your score and be able to successfully receive a mortgage loan from the bank. 

2. Poor Debt to Income Ratio

Your debt-to-income ratio is the total amount of debt you have compared to your annual income. So in this case, your credit score will drop if the debt you owe is greater than your income. A Waltham Realtor's best advice for this issue is to focus on paying down your debt before acquiring new debt so that you can improve your debt-to-income ratio.

3. Too Many Credit Inquiries

Every time you apply for or open a new credit card the creditor pulls your score. When they do this, it actually lowers your score. If it’s only a couple inquiries it won’t lower your score too much, however, if there are too many inquiries you score will be negatively impacted. Waltham Real Estate Agents say to avoid credit inquiries for a period of time and be particular about how often your credit is being pulled in the future. 

4. Closing Credit Cards

Around 20% of your credit score is determined by the length of your credit accounts. If you close credit cards that you’ve had for a while, your score will drop. Keep your accounts open even if you’re not using them too often. Even just using them periodically will help your score. Waltham Realtors say to focus on keeping your credit usage below 30% and keeping your accounts active rather than paying the credit card off completely and then closing the account. 

Contact A Waltham Realtor

To learn more about your credit score and how it can impact your ability to purchase your Waltham home, contact a Waltham Real Estate Agent today! Waltham Realtor’s have years of experience working with clients who have a wide range of credit scores. We’ll assist you in every way possible so that you can purchase the Waltham home you’ve always wanted! Give us a call today at 617-968-0022 or fill out a contact form and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible.

 

Waltham home sellers often ask, “should I price my home higher to leave room for negotiations?” While we, Waltham Realtors, understand the thought process behind this, the short answer is no! For real estate sales, pricing your home higher does not work the same way overpricing a car or piece of furniture does. Let’s dig a little deeper as to why Waltham Real Estate Agents say that overpricing your home to leave room for negotiations is not the right move. 

 

Buyer’s Agents Will Ignore Overpriced Homes

The first step in the home selling process is getting people to come to see your home. If your home’s price is listed too high, that’ll do just the opposite. Buyer’s agents will likely advise their buyers that your home is overpriced. This will lead to the buyers not even wanting to look at your home at all. Keep in mind that Waltham Real Estate Agents have years of experience and know the market exceptionally well, if you’re overpricing your home they will not advise buyers to give attention to your property. 

Overpricing Eliminates Eligible Buyers

When selling your Waltham home you want as many people interested in your home as possible. If you list your home at a higher price, you might be eliminating many people who are eligible to buy your home at its correct price. A buyer might not qualify for that higher price or it may be out of their ideal budget. In this case, you once again won’t get people to even look at your home.

Waltham Realtors state that one thing you might do is succeed in getting buyers into your home who are looking in that price range. However, the problem is that they will be looking for more since the home is priced so high. They will be comparing your home to other homes in that price range and they will likely notice that your home does not compare to the others.
 

Overpricing Lengthens Time on the Market

Waltham Real Estate Agents say that overpricing your home can lead to it staying on the market longer because you’ll have trouble selling it. And did you know that the longer your home stays on the market the less money you’ll eventually get for it? If the average selling time is 60 days and your home has been on the market for 120 days, the buyers and buyer’s agents will think there is something wrong with the home. They will wonder what is wrong with the home and also believe that the seller must be desperate. If they believe you are desperate to sell (which you might be) they will start lowballing offers and you will get even less than your home is worth.

 

Contact a Waltham Real Estate Agent

If you’re looking for assistance in selling your Waltham real estate, contact a Waltham Realtor today! We have the knowledge and experience to help you properly price your home so that you can get as many people as possible interested in your property. This doesn’t mean we will underprice your home, we’ll make sure you get exactly what your home is worth if not more (as long as we initially list it correctly!) Contact Hans Brings today for all your Waltham real estate needs. Call 617-968-0022 or fill out a contact form.