By Jim Thorpe


In a perfect world, we would learn to properly maintain every potential fire hazard in the house. Our heaters would always be in perfect working order. We would never leave a flammable object close to the open flame of a stove.

Candles would be properly blown out before going to bed at night. Unfortunately, we don't live in a perfect world, and we often forget to take care of one small detail. The resulting fire damage is enough to change our lives forever. Accidents happen and there will always be a need to put these flames out.

I was sitting at the kitchen table getting some work done and the kids were in the other room playing quietly when a loud knock rapped on the door. I got up and walked to the door expecting a neighbor's child asking to play with the 4 year old. Instead, when I opened the door, I was immediately overwhelmed by the smell of natural gas.

2. Just Before Your Search Spend a few hours and research mortgage jargon. This will make you more knowledgeable and help you understand exactly what you are purchasing. It will also catch lenders off guard and dissuade them from trying to tack on extra expenses. Determine your budget and stick to it. This is a big decision and needs to be made before you speak with lenders. If you go with no budget you may end up taking a loan much too large for you needs.

3. Call Around You should be calling around and finding your loan before you have begun looking at houses. This gives you more time to negotiate with banks and reduce the pressure you may feel. Now that you are actively seeking a deal you need to 4-5 different lenders. Call these different lenders and act for different quotes. In order to get the most accurate quotes from lenders you need to give them the most accurate information.

Go online first and find your credit score. Many companies can give you a general feel for your score, but you need to know what it is exactly. Visit myfico.com. For around fifty dollars you can get your score from the three bureaus as well as your credit history. Don't worry, this is a soft pull and will not negatively affect your score. On that same note, do not let lenders pull your credit score till you have chosen one. This hard pull will affect your score. Check with local banks and credit unions apart from your own bank. Also throw in a mortgage broker or two. Collect information from these different banks. Gather up the rates the offer along with closing costs and other associated terms. The more detail you collect the more bargaining power you have against the different lenders.

They call their campaign Install. Inspect. Protect. They want everyone in the house to have proper warning of impending danger. If residents are awoken at the first sign of danger, the chance of them getting out of the building safely increase dramatically. For this reason, the USFA wants you to install smoke alarms inside and outside of sleeping areas and on every floor of your home.

You are much more likely to hear the alarm if it's blaring in your ear, not when it quietly enters your dreams from down the hall. Test these alarms monthly. They also recommend installing ionization and photoelectric smoke alarms (or dual sensor smoke alarms).

Two fire trucks, three ambulances, a police truck, the original animal control officer's truck and the truck of another animal control officer (who was bored and in the area) were all parked in front of my house.

It will seem that you are the only one who is bothering them this much looking for a better rate. Do not budge! This is a business arrangement and not a friendly conversation. Negotiate for the price you want. Make sure the price is within your budget. If you were thinking of building a new house talk to a few general contractors to get a feel for what you want and can afford.

6. Authorize and Sign After having looked at all of the details you are ready to make your decision. If the details have changed be ready to walk away unless they give you what you agreed upon. Authorize the pull on your credit. Let the bank write up the agreement and make sure to read it in depth.

Check that what you discussed and agreed to is inside the agreement. Once you are sure, sign the agreement and begin looking for houses in your budget, best of luck!




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