How to buy a house: Check your Credit - Helpful information for First Time Home Buyers
Consumer information
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.
Mortgage Information
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.
Credit Reporting Information
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)
Trans Union, Equifax, and Experian.
Your Rights concerning Credit Reports
Useful info on the Federal Trade Commission's Credit pages
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