Welcome

 Hey everyone. Do you want seven tips to maximize your credit score?  Well, my name's Laurie Hodges and  I'm with Homes by Hodges and we're  going to go over those. So let's get going.

  Number one. Pay your bills on time. Pay them on time. Pay your credit  cards on time and pay your bills on time.  

Number two. Keep your balances low. That doesn't mean they have to be at  zero at all times, but you keep them low compared to the available  credit.  

Number three. Get rid of debt faster. So if you took out a six year loan  to pay a car, try to pay that down ahead of schedule. That will  definitely help.  

Number four. If you have a balance on an account, don't say I'm just  going to close it and open a new one. No, that's bad! That will hurt  your credit score. Don't just keep opening accounts when you have more  and more balances.  

Number five. Order a free credit report every year on  annualcreditreport.com. Look at it. And if there are discrepancies,  dispute those discrepancies. Get them off your credit reports. That's  super important.  

Number six. Know your FICO score. Banks make it super easy nowadays. I  have it on my app, I can check it all the time. It's actually a little  addictive when you first realize you're looking every day to see if it  goes up a point or down a point. But get to know it ...that way if there  is a change, you are aware of it. There could be fraud on your account,  or there could be a balance that was not reported accurately. You want  to make sure that you dispute those and get those cleared up as quickly  as possible.  

Keep your balances at 30% or less of your debt to income ratio, so if  you have a $10,000 limit on your credit card, keep that balance below  $3000, which is your 30% mark. And if you're not sure how to pay off  debt quickly, look up the snowball effect... Where you pay the lowest  one first, then the next one, next one, and roll those payments in  together. It's wonderful. Look at daveramsey.com. He has so many great  tools for paying dead off and it's a great resource right there.  So if you have any questions about your FICO score, improving it, buying  or selling real estate, we'd love to help you here. Again, this is  Laurie Hodges at Homes by Hodges. We are making realty dreams a  reality,! So have a great day, friends. Bye-bye. 

      Homes for sale in jupiter  luxury homes in jupiter real estate jupiter  florida waterfront homes jupiter florida what is the inspection what is  an appraisal mortgage new homes jupiter new homes palm beach gardens  homes for sale in palm beach gardens luxury homes palm beach gardens  waterfront palm beach gardens real estate for sale in palm beach gardens 

 Hi friends, it's Laurie Hodges with Keller Williams and Homes by Hodges.  We're here doing  our real estate tip of the week. We're doing 30 and 30, 30 tips in 30  days to get your house ready to get on the market.    If you spend one hour a day doing this list, you'll be so far ahead of  the game and not in panic mode when the photographer is about to show  up, okay. 

So we've already done one through 14, today number 15, is your  kitchen counter.    I know we love to pile things on here. We have a coffee maker, and a  blender, and a toaster, and a toaster oven, which literally do the same  thing and a canister of utensils that we never use. Let's go ahead and  box 'em up. If it's something that you use every day, then keep it out  and just be prepared to put it in the cabinet when the photographer  comes or when you have a showing. But if it's not something you use  every day, let's go ahead and get rid of it. We want clean surfaces for  these pictures, okay.    

Number 17, is your dining room table. Let's make it a place that someone  would wanna come and eat, okay, so clear off the stuff, give it a dust  with some Pledge and put a pretty vase of flowers in the middle.  Something like that that's warm and inviting.    

Number 18 is all of your other surfaces in the house. So if you've got  family photo albums, if you've got little Hummels on the mantle, things  like that. Jewelry boxes, let's get rid of it all. Off your dressers,  off the consoles, all of that, just keep it simple and clean.    

Number 19 is your refrigerator. Let's take down the report cards, and  the magnets and all of that stuff, and then open up the refrigerator and  give it a wipe. And if you see a jar of ragu with mold in the lid,  that's been living there for like six months. Let's go ahead and throw  that out too, okay.    

Number 20 is look at your bathroom tiles, your showers and your tubs. If  you need a regrouting or a recaulking around the edges if you see some  mold that you just can't get rid of, which I know I've had that too.  Let's have someone coming in, come in you can do it yourself, you can  hire a handyman to come in. They'll take that grout and that caulking  out and you do a nice clean grouting, okay. 

Number 21 is, get an extra  set of keys next time you go to home depot, your realtors gonna want  them, and you might also need another set for a lock box. So that takes  us to number 21. I hope that helps. Have a wonderful week guys, if you  have any questions about getting your house ready or the market, or  anything like that, feel free to give me a buzz anytime or a text. Have a  great week. Bye.        

Homes for sale in jupiter  luxury homes in jupiter real estate jupiter  florida waterfront homes jupiter florida what is the inspection what is  an appraisal mortgage new homes jupiter new homes palm beach gardens  homes for sale in palm beach gardens luxury homes palm beach gardens  waterfront palm beach gardens real estate for sale in palm beach gardens 

What's the difference between an inspection and an appraisal?

   Hi!  This is Laurie Hodges with Homes by Hodges. Whether you’re a buyer  or a seller, it’s good to know the difference between an inspection and  an appraisal. 

The home inspection is performed by a home inspector and  is paid for by the buyer.  The inspector determines the CONDITION of the  home. A home inspector can tell a buyer things like the age of the  furnace , condition or the roof, quality of the foundation and the  safety of the electrical system.    Typically, a buyer and the buyer’s  agent are present for the home inspection, but the seller is typically  not home during the inspection. 

An appraisal is performed by an  appraiser  hired by the lender…although the cost of the appraisal is  usually passed on to the buyer at the closing table or sometimes before.  The appraiser determines the VALUE of the home.The appraiser measures  the home to determine the square footage, and will valuates the upgrades  and updates. The appraiser takes into consideration value of other  similar homes that have recently sold nearby. Typically, the buyer is  not present for the appraisal, but often the seller and the seller’s  agent are at the home to meet the appraiser  ________________________________________ ________________________________________ Remember, If you have any questions about this topic or others in real  estate, feel free to reach out. We are always ready to answer them.   Again this is Laurie Hodges with Homes by Hodges…and we are turning  Realty Dreams into Reality.    Make it a beautiful day friends! 

 Homes for sale in jupiter  luxury homes in jupiter real estate jupiter  florida waterfront homes jupiter florida what is the inspection what is  an appraisal mortgage new homes jupiter new homes palm beach gardens  homes for sale in palm beach gardens luxury homes palm beach gardens  waterfront palm beach gardens real estate for sale in palm beach gardens  

 Take a tour through this beautiful 3/3/2.5 pool home in the exclusive  Ballenisles Country Club. This Palm Beach Gardens home features a huge  patio for entertaining and spacious bedrooms. The walk in closets and  en-suite bathrooms provide peace for you and your guests. You will be  minutes from the Atlantic Ocean and Worth Avenue! The full golf  membership allows you first access to everything this community has to  offer. Enjoy it year round or just for the winters!