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Federal Consumer Information Center
The FCIC
is a gold mine of helpful info, with topics including How to Qualify
for a Low Down Payment, Shopping for Mortgages, Closing Costs, Mortgage
Insurance, Home Maintenance, Refinancing, How to Sell a Home, and much
more.
Is it better to Rent or Buy?
Find out with the calculators on Yahoo and E-Loan.
Take the Rich off Welfare
Book Take the Rich off Welfare explains how things like
the mortgage interest deduction are just a form of welfare for the rich.
Current Mortgage Rates
Check them at Yahoo.
How much can you borrow for a
mortgage?
Use the calculators from E-Loan and Yahoo.
Mortgage Brokers
E-Loan helps you find a bank to give you a mortgage.
Private Mortgage Insurance
PMI Rescue explains what it is, and how to cancel
yours when you don't need it any more.
Refinancing a Mortgage
See the Motley
Fool's article on refinancing, and a calculator to tell you how much refinancing will
save or cost you.
Socially Responsible Stocks.
Invest in companies specializing in solar power, bicycles, sustainable
agriculture, etc. See my guide to Socially
Responsible Stocks.
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Three-in-One Credit Reports
You can get a copy of your report from each of
the three main Credit Reporting Agencies (CRA's) for $9 or so
(sometimes free, if you've recently been denied credit). But many
credit card issuers will sell you a single report that combines the
information in your file from all three CRA's (3-in-1 report). For
example, Discover Card sells a service called ProfileProtect for $8 a month. When you sign up
they send you the 3-in-1 report, and then they monitor your credit file
at each of the three CRA's and let you know if bad info gets added to
your file. You can cancel at any time. If you don't have a Discover
card, call the customer service number of any card you DO have and see
if they offer this service. If not, you can order a 3-in-1 report
online from QSpace,
but it's more expensive ($30).
Credit Reporting Agencies
(CRA's)
If you were unable to get a 3-in-1 report (or
didn't want to, for some reason), you can order an individual report
from each CRA: Trans
Union, Equifax,
and Experian.
Your Rights concerning Credit
Reports
Useful info on the Federal Trade Commission's Credit pages
My other guides. If
you liked this site, here are some other consumer-oriented sites I've
put together:
How to
Get Cheap Airfare on the Internet.
Easy Vegas.
Whether you're gambling in Vegas or online, these tips will keep you
from losing a bundle..
Tips for Webmasters. Takes one to know one.
All my consumer
guides. Here's a list of all my consumer guides in one place,
including the highly popular How to Save
Electricity.
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