Quit your cell company

There are very few ways to get out of today’s cell phone contracts without paying a hefty penalty – even for bad service.

But here’s one way: go to www.celltradeusa.com, post your information, and wait for someone to take over your contract. When that someone calls, they’ll give you their cell number, and then you call your company to tell them you got someone to take over your contract. You don’t have to give any personal information, and your service should send you back $20. So, if you’re looking to assume the remainder of someone else’s contract or want out of yours, now you have a place to go.

A way out of that house

If you no longer can make your mortgage payments and your home is now worth less than you owe on it, foreclosure may not be your only option.

You can sell your home for less than the mortgage after getting the lender to share the loss. The process is called a “short sale.” Think of it as the lender agreeing to be shortchanged, just to get rid of a loan that has gone south.

The beauty of the short sale is that they can be a win-win-win situation for the seller, buyer and lender. Here’s how:

• The seller gets out of the mortgage liability without facing bankruptcy.

• The buyer gets the home at a reduced price.

• The lender agrees to a loss it considers minimal without going through a foreclosure and being saddled with an unsalable property

If you want to unload your house and avoid foreclosure and credit problems, call me.

Mike Phillips is a Realtor with Remax Team/2000. You can reach him at (313) 460-9171.

How can I raise my credit score?

There are a number of ways you can raise your credit score.

First, make sure the information on your credit report is correct and up to date.

The single most important thing you can do is the simplest: Pay your bills on time. More than a third of your FICO score is based on your payment history.

The next biggest chunk of your score is based on how much you owe. The simplest solution: Pay down your credit cards and other installment loans.

The length of your credit history is 15 percent of your score. Lenders want to see a track record of timely payments.

New credit accounts for about 10 percent of your FICO score. Opening up a lot of accounts at once can hurt your score.

And finally, lenders want to see how you balance different types of credit – credit cards, mortgage, car loan, etc.

Call Credit Repair Consultants at (313) 289-4444, or email Andy at: elderfincon@gmail.com.