Posts tagged "Quicken Loans"
Quizzle is thankful for all of YOU!
Happy (belated) Thanksgiving! It’s no-doubt been a crazy year in the financial industry with a large heap of uncertainty and a bounty of unforeseen changes. But it’s Thanksgiving time - a time to put worries aside, count your blessings and feast on the most important things in life: family, friends, health, job, etc.
Here are a few things that Quizzle is thankful for today:
- YOU! And the other 96,913 people who have decided to settle in the land of Quizzle!
- The unbelievable word-of-mouth from you, Clark Howard (radio), Dave Ramsey (radio), Wall Street Journal, and many others who have helped gather and educate new Quizzlers!
- Those of you who are using Quizzle to harvest your good credit, make smarter decisions, and realize the American Dream of home ownership.
Here are a few things that you early Quizzle settlers have told us you were thankful for this year:
- Your site is really awesome. It has come in handy during these really hard times. Thank you Quizzle.
- Very user friendly and flexible. You will receive consideration for my future mortgage needs.
- This is the kind of service internet users should expect - great information. Now I know where I stand and what steps are needed to upgrade my fico score. Thanks!
- Thanks Quizzle. I will work harder to pay off my credit cards early.
- You provide a great service. I’m glad I heard about you on the Clark Howard radio program.
- This site is super awesome! My new favorite everything site. WOW!
- Everything was right on the money….I Love Quizzle….it’s the Best!
- I heard about you on the Dave Ramsey show…Thank you so much…I am trying to buy a home and this was a very helpful site.
- Great website! Fun to use too. Thanks!
- This is a very cool tool! I am very much looking forward to using it going forward to assess my standing and purchase a new home in the next year and a half. Thanks.
- Quizzle is ridiculously amazing!
- This was so easy and FRIENDLY. I have put off looking at my “bad credit report” for so long. You helped me get started and encouraged me to raise my score. THANK YOU!
We are thankful to each of you who’ve provided feedback this year! We use these daily “conversations” with you to make important changes and improve you Quizzle experience - please keep the feedback coming!
Enjoy the holiday season and remember to be smart and stay in-the-know with Quizzle!
Free credit report from Quizzle alerts Quizzler of identity theft
Financially-reformed Cap from StopBuyingCrap.com (love the domain name) found one unpleasant surprise when he signed up for Quizzle: an unauthorized balance for $20,000 on his free credit report. Not fun.
After some investigation, Cap realized the debt had been opened a family member. Lucky enough to pinpoint the source, Cap can make sure the debt gets paid and off his report as soon as possible. For some people not lucky enough to find offenders, fixing identity fraud can be a long and harrowing road with little recourse available.
Paraphrasing here from the Federal Trade Commission, here are the steps to take if you’ve been the victim of identity theft:
1. Get copies of your credit report from every bureau and place a fraud alert. You only need to contact one of the bureaus – that company is required to alert the other two. Here is the contact info for each bureau:
- TransUnion: 1-800-680-7289; www.transunion.com; Fraud Victim Assistance Division, P.O. Box 6790, Fullerton, CA 92834-6790
- Equifax: 1-800-525-6285; www.equifax.com; P.O. Box 740241, Atlanta, GA 30374-0241
- Experian: 1-888- 397-3742; www.experian.com; P.O. Box 9532, Allen, TX 75013
2. Close the accounts that have been tampered with or opened fraudulently. Speak with the fraud departments and send them any documentation they need via certified mail. Many companies may have their own dispute forms available. If not, the FTC has an ID Theft Affidavit you can download and fill out and should cover everything the company needs to know. Get documentation from that company stating the account has been closed for proof.
3. File a complaint with the FTC. Couldn’t be easier. The whole complaint process can be completed online. When you do this, you help them catch identity thieves all other the country. This is a war best waged by many people, not just a few.
4. File a police report. Even if your local police office is reluctant, insist on a police report. It’s your identity! Make sure you bring all your documentation from the FTC and disputed accounts as support.
And, like Cap, always be aware. The best way to not have your identity stolen is to constantly be on top of things. Quizzle loves you enough to give you a free credit report and free credit score every 6 months.
Also, thanks to Cap for his lovely review of Quizzle. He’s got a pretty sweet finance blog too and we promise not to be jealous if you go check it out. Just come back, k? We’ll miss you.
SCARY-good buzz and SPOOKY-big numbers for Quizzle
Happy Halloween from Quizzle!
BOO brave Quizzlers…
WARNING!… Read on only if you think you can handle the SCARY-buzz that is surrounding Quizzle.
The numbers are FRIGHTENING. Yesterday ~500 new people created Quizzle accounts, on Wednesday ~1,000 new Quizzle accounts, and on Tuesday ~2,000 new accounts were created!
Today, on this TERRIFYING day of ghosts, ghouls and goblins, Quizzle will amass a BONE-CHILLING total of 90,000 Quizzlers (in less than nine months) with an ALARMING advertising budget of (WATCH OUT, you might have to cover your eyes) … ZERO DOLLARS! So thank you to all of you blog readers for spreading the word and being a part of this HORRIFYINGLY-great buzz!
You have also contributed to another SPOOKY-big number. Exactly 316 of you have chosen to improve your mortgage with Quicken Loans (our mortgage partner) after Quizzle showed you a better solution!
So go forth FEARLESS Quizzlers. Have a WICKED-fun Halloween tonight. And please don’t be AFRAID to Quizzle today!
Happy Trick-or-Treating and Quizzling!
Fed lowers fed funds rate to historically low 1%
The 10 brilliant minds who make up the Federal Reserve met yesterday to once again discuss the state of the economy and determine the action needed by them to aid a struggling American economy. In an aggressive move, they lowered another 1/2 percent, resulting in a historically low 1% Fed funds rate. The Fed funds rate is one way the Fed uses to regulate the supply of money to the US Economy.
The following is an official press release from the Fed regarding its decision today, and a translation (for the rest of us) of all the financial jargon by Bob Walters, Chief Economist for Quicken Loans:
Release Date: October 29, 2008
For immediate release
Now
The Federal Open Market Committee decided today to lower its target for the federal funds rate 50 basis points to 1 percent.
The 10 folks who get to decide what short term rates will be (the Open Market Committee) decided to slash short term rates from 1.5% to 1.0%. They did this to hopefully drop short term rates to encourage banks to lend and people to borrow (so they will hopefully make more stuff, buy more stuff and create more jobs) to help the economy start growing again.
The pace of economic activity appears to have slowed markedly, owing importantly to a decline in consumer expenditures. Business equipment spending and industrial production have weakened in recent months, and slowing economic activity in many foreign economies is damping the prospects for U.S. exports. Moreover, the intensification of financial market turmoil is likely to exert additional restraint on spending, partly by further reducing the ability of households and businesses to obtain credit.
You and I aren’t hitting the malls as much as we were before, and the result of that is the economy is slowing down. Businesses around the world are buying less of stuff like heavy machinery and slushy machines, and that is contributing to the slowdown as well. Lastly, all the craziness on Wall Street means it’s becoming tougher for people to get a loan. Without loans – there is less $ to spend and the slowdown continues…
In light of the declines in the prices of energy and other commodities and the weaker prospects for economic activity, the Committee expects inflation to moderate in coming quarters to levels consistent with price stability.
If people don’t buy any stuff, because they lose their jobs or worry about losing their jobs, companies that sell stuff have to lower the price of that stuff to get people to buy it. The Fed likes it when the price of stuff is like Goldilocks – not too high or too low.
Recent policy actions, including today’s rate reduction, coordinated interest rate cuts by central banks, extraordinary liquidity measures, and official steps to strengthen financial systems, should help over time to improve credit conditions and promote a return to moderate economic growth. Nevertheless, downside risks to growth remain. The Committee will monitor economic and financial developments carefully and will act as needed to promote sustainable economic growth and price stability.
The Fed is saying that they are doing everything in their power to try and keep the economy moving. Today’s cut in short term rates is only one of those things. They have also been giving money to struggling banks and taking loans in trade – in hopes that the banks will lend that money to each other and to consumers to get the party started again.
Buying your first home: one renter’s experience
Believe it or not, there are plenty of reasons people favor renting over buying. I loved renting for the simple fact that it was worry-free–no yard work, no expensive maintenance, no property taxes, no water bill, no commitment!
Yet it seemed everyone had a reason why it’s better to buy–investing your money instead of “throwing it away,” living in a home that reflects your personal style, having your own garden and throwing backyard barbecues were a few that stood out. Ultimately, I was convinced (by my husband and everyone else I knew) that owning was the way to go.
With our lease ending in a few months, we started the process. We knew the important things that needed to get done. We determined what we could afford, set an overall budget, came up with a down payment and got pre-approved for a loan, among other things (some of the stuff we can help you with Quizzle right now!).
With that settled, I began my house hunting on my own, with the help of the internet, without the intention to hire a real estate agent. Keep in mind this was well before I worked at In-House Realty and knew better!
Due to my over-confidence and inexperience, situations came into play that I didn’t anticipate. My husband and I worked long hours, which left only the weekends to look for homes. Searching through property listings was fun in the beginning, but calling on them to set up a showing, or worse, to find that the house had already been sold turned out to be very frustrating.
I’m also a lackluster bargainer. I can only last so long playing the stone-faced, tough-sell before giving up. It’s not that I would want to pay more than I should; it’s just that I don’t have it in me to keep that game going.
Finally, in regards to the process as a whole, I was intimidated. Not only by the pure anxiety of making the largest purchase of my life, but by all of the other things that go along with it–the endless paperwork, the inspections, research into the areas I liked and the sincerity of the seller, just to name a few. All of this together was yet another why I loved my life as a care-free renter. I was scared.
In the end, I decided to work with an agent. It just made me feel more at ease. My agent had gone through this process so many times before–she was a professional. She knew what all the acronyms meant–CMA, FSBO, PV, PW, OBO, PUD and the rest. I knew a few, but there were plenty of acronyms and other vital specifics that I didn’t know when looking for a home. It’s like they have their own language!
The home-buying process isn’t necessarily scary for everyone. There are a ton of resources online to walk you through it - you can even find a simple 7-step process right now from Quicken Loans.
They key is to make sure you’re armed with the knowledge you need to make the best decisions, get the best deal and avoid costly mistakes. For me, that required bringing someone in for reinforcement. Finding an expert you really feel you can trust will take all the worries out of big financial decisions like buying a home. If you decide to go with an agent or not, do your research and surround yourself with seasoned experts. In-House Realty is a great place to start to find out if buying a home is right for you.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is a great place to mention that we’re working on some wonderful new bits for buyers in Quizzle. Stay tuned and we’ll let the cat out of the bag as soon as we put the finishing touches on!
Top 10 Home Staging Tips for Selling Your Home
With a financial crisis hitting our nation, home sellers are facing more and more difficulties every day. Just take a good look at your own community. Chances are, you’ll see more “for sale” homes lining your street than ever before, and a few of them could be bank-owned (which means they’re most likely priced low). Sellers need to determine how they can make their own home standout without having to invest too much, or worse, by dropping their asking price considerably lower than it’s worth.
The good news? There’s something you can do. Justify your asking price! So, how do you do that? It’s called home staging; sprucing up your home in small, inexpensive ways.
Staging is getting more and more popular as an effective marketing tool as sellers try to set their homes apart from the rest of the neighborhood. As opposed to functional improvements and repairs that may be costly, staging a home normally involves acts of an aesthetic nature, such as design, organization and overall appearance.
Start by looking at your home and thinking from the perspective of a buyer. Obviously, your home is a very personal possession. You may have spent years decorating your home the way it is today and love every corner of it, but that doesn’t mean potential buyers will look at it in the same way.
Basic principles of home staging can involve simple tasks like cleaning, removing clutter, rearranging furniture and even packing up some of your personal items. This allows buyers the ability to imagine their possessions in the home. Focus on lighting, color and enhancing crucial areas of the home on which buyers focus, such as the kitchen.
Here’s our full list of the Top 10 Home Staging Tips from In-House Realty:
- Consider curb appeal - If you can’t landscape make sure your lawn is mowed, leaves are raked, or snow is shoveled. Also consider hanging a plant, hiding all garbage and recycling bins, and cleaning the entryway.
- Get rid of clutter - Remember that how you live in your home and how you sell your house are two entirely different things. You’re going for a “show home” look! Go room by room, closet by closet, and look at every item. Then decide whether or not you will keep it or donate/sell it!
- Turn excess inventory into cash or tax deductions - Consider returning or donating all unused items (light bulbs, canned goods, paper products, etc.) to get some extra cash or tax deductions*. This will obviously help to remove some clutter as well!
- Watch where the eye goes - Walk throughout your home and check where your eye is drawn. If you notice chipped paint, nail holes, or peeling wallpaper, take the necessary steps to remedy them.
- Find a fix-it person - Ensure cupboards open and shut and that no taps are dripping. Look in all rooms for things you never got around to fixing and decide which ones might be distracting to potential buyers. No, it’s not OK for door handles to fall off, even if you have learned to ignore it!
- Clean, clean, and clean again - Even though it may be tough to live in a spotless home ALL the time, this is a necessary change when selling your house. Consider hiring a cleaning service who might clean in places you wouldn’t think of. Spend 30 minutes each day to maintain it yourself.
- Let in some air- Open some windows for at least 10 minutes. There’s nothing worse than walking into a stuffy house or one that smells of smoke and pet odors.
- Let in some light- If you’re trying to sell your home, keep it bright! Dimly lit rooms tend to look small and dingy— especially during the day. If your wall colors are too dark, paint them or add floor lamps!
- Don’t forget fresh flowers - You don’t need to spend a fortune. Even a daisy in a bud vase brightens a bathroom counter. You can also use potted flowering plants that are in season for a low-cost solution.
- Carefully consider music - Soft background music can help create a soothing environment and camouflage neighbor and traffic noise. But make sure the volume is very low. Blaring TVs are definitely a no-no, but you’d be surprised how many people leave them on for showings!
If you find the project too daunting to pull off by yourself, there are many professionals available to assist you. You can find Accredited Staging Professionals in your state at www.StagedHomes.com.
Also, if you’re selling in the fall (like right now) check out some of our seasonal selling tips from Quicken Loans.
What does the $700 billion bailout mean for you?
Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, AIG, Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers - it’s all adding up to become one of the most historical financial times America has ever witnessed. And with what feels to be a huge, festering financial wound, America will need the equivalent of a Wall-Street-sized-Band-Aid. And some antiseptic – the kind that burns. Because only when it burns do we know it’s working.
The Bush Administration has proposed a whopper of a plan – a $700 billion injection of cash straight to the source of pain – the banking industry. Though it was rejected yesterday by the House (225 to 208 vote), something close to the original proposal will still likely be passed soon. The bulk of the money is earmarked to buy the debts of battered banks. Why take on their debt, you might ask? One of the popular theories here is that some of that debt will be bought at such a low price that it could return a profit in the future.
The next plausible question is – where is this new money coming from? Who’s got the $700 billion? Taxpayers do. According to the New York Times, “Divided across the population, it would amount to more than $2,000 for every man, woman and child in the United States.” Burns a little, doesn’t it? It gets better.
If the government (read: we) chooses not to step in, the disease could continue to spread. Right to where it will start to hurt said taxpayers individually, instead of big insurance companies. It could begin to affect retirement funds (your 401K), more banks could fail (mattresses are for sleeping, not cash) and many, many American jobs. At a news conference on last week, President Bush spoke succinctly: “I will tell our citizens and continue to remind them that the risk of doing nothing far outweighs the risk of the package, and that, over time, we’re going to get a lot of the money back.”
In becoming a bank to the banks, the government may institute some new regulations as a sort of preventative measure to ward off future problems. New regulations will be key to thwart any chance of more financial crises.
The overall hope is that this bailout/bandage for the financial industry will begin to put the housing industry back on the right track. Not doing anything could make things worse. If you’re still mad about paying for this as a taxpayer, think about the dominoes falling this way: the government is providing stability by doing this. The stability will increase liquidity in the market place, making money move around as it should be in a healthy economy. The liquidity will eventually turn into more affordability in the housing market. Programs will be created for people to buy homes and the housing market will eventually get back on it’s feet. At least, that’s the hope for this big Band-Aid. Keep in mind this will not happen fast. It took a while to get here, it will take a while to get out.
Congress is scheduled to meet again on Thursday. Doing something is still a top priority and they’ll likely find a happy medium soon. Though it appears the newly proposed “economic stimulus” does not yet directly assess struggling homeowners, that might change as they continue to work on it. Congress is talking it over and potentially adding new provisions. Some expect an agreement could be by the end of the week. Time heals all wounds, right?
So, as Congress puts in the long hours this week to refine the package, check back here for updates. Or, take two of these and call me in the morning.
Fed holds rate at 2%; Fed statement translated
The 10 brilliant minds who make up the Federal Reserve met yesterday to once again discuss the state of the economy and determine the action needed by them to aid a struggling American economy. For the 2nd time in a row, they chose to keep the Fed funds rate steady at 2%.
The following is an official press release from the Fed regarding its decision today, and a translation (for the rest of us) of all the financial jargon by Bob Walters, Chief Economist for Quicken Loans:
Release Date: September 16, 2008
For immediate release
Bob: Now
The Federal Open Market Committee decided today to keep its target for the federal funds rate at 2 percent.
Bob: The 10 people who determine the direction of short term rates (Federal Open Market Committee or FOMC) decided to keep the short term rate that banks lend money to each other at 2%.
Strains in financial markets have increased significantly and labor markets have weakened further. Economic growth appears to have slowed recently, partly reflecting a softening of household spending. Tight credit conditions, the ongoing housing contraction, and some slowing in export growth are likely to weigh on economic growth over the next few quarters. Over time, the substantial easing of monetary policy, combined with ongoing measures to foster market liquidity, should help to promote moderate economic growth.
Bob: The Fed is acknowledging that the financial markets (banks and Wall Street firms and others) are struggling. The Fed is also indicating here that they are seeing the economy slow down – because people like you and I are spending less money. They also are predicting that the next six months or so will probably be a little rough from an economic standpoint – as loans become tougher to get and as the housing market continues to struggle. But, the Fed believes the things they’ve done (lower rates and lots of money for troubled companies) will help turn things around.
Inflation has been high, spurred by the earlier increases in the prices of energy and some other commodities. The Committee expects inflation to moderate later this year and next year, but the inflation outlook remains highly uncertain.
Bob: The Fed is saying they have seen prices rising a lot – mostly because gasoline and food prices have been rising so much. However, the Fed thinks prices will start to fall in the next six months or so (although, they aren’t 100% sure).
The downside risks to growth and the upside risks to inflation are both of significant concern to the Committee. The Committee will monitor economic and financial developments carefully and will act as needed to promote sustainable economic growth and price stability.
Bob: The Fed is saying they are worrying about inflation AND recession (they’ve got a lot on their minds!) And, they say that they will keep watching their reports and will do what they need to do.
Me: So there you have it! At this point, with all the news and changing in the mortgage market, mortgage rates are near historic lows. If you are in the market for a home loan, you can get in touch with us at Quizzle and we’ll hook you up with an experienced Quicken Loans mortgage banker. E-mail me at klavaute@quizzle.com or you can even find Quizzle on Twitter.
Happy Belated (6-month) Birthday, Quizzle!
In the craziness of the month of August at Quicken Loans, we forgot to wish Quizzle a happy birthday! At the 6-month mark, the Quizzle community had swiftly grown to 56,132 strong!
In the last few weeks we’ve expanded to a whopping 70,000 living in Quizzland - getting Quizzle scores, credit reports, credit scores, home values, new mortgages from Quicken Loans, retirement and college saving advice. Also, congratulations, many of you early Quizzle adopters are now eligible for a new free credit report and free credit score inside Quizzle!
Oh, and I want to take a quick minute to thank you for all the great feedback you’re sending in. Daily we receive dozens of really amazing ideas for improving Quizzle – all generated by YOU. We are having some great conversations with many you and (based on the most popular ideas) we’ll make and announcement in the next week or two about some exciting new additions that are coming soon to your friendly neighborhood Quizzle!
So Happy Belated Birthday to Quizzle. We can’t wait to see what you grow up to be. And Quizzlers, we’d tell you to have a piece of cake on us, but Bill Gates, Jerry Seinfeld and Microsoft have not yet made “computers moist and chewy like cake…” yet, so we’ll just say happy Quizzling!
Clark Howard says Quizzle is the “real deal!”
Yesterday, Clark Howard, host of the nationally syndicated Clark Howard financial advice radio show, ran a story with Action 2 News Atlanta about free credit reports calling Quizzle the “real deal.” Within minutes of the story airing, Quizzle was flooded with thousands of people creating personal Quizzle accounts and learning about important things like their credit scores, home values, mortgages, budgets and more.
Check it out: Clark Howard Shows You How To Get Your Free Credit Score
We built Quizzle with the belief that people do things based on “word of mouth.” We believe that “if you build something” useful… and really cool, people will talk about it and - “they will come!” Word-of-mouth marketing works because of TRUST and people really TRUST Clark Howard. Last night, a Quizzle Client told us that, “If Clark Howard says Quizzle is great, then it’s great!”
After experiencing the massive traffic blitz from Clark Howard’s loyal fan base, it’s obvious that he is the “real deal.” When Clark talks, people listen… and now, people Quizzle!
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