Give yourself some credit, or at least make sure it’s in good shape before embarking on the loan process if buying a house is on your wish list. More than ever, having a healthy credit score is important and could mean the difference between securing a home loan or not. Interest rates are at historic lows and expected to stay that way for at least another year, so don’t let old habits or debts prevent you from taking advantage of this market.

That’s something HouseHunt agent Wanda Hardee has seen happening in northwest South Carolina where she and her husband have an office in Anderson.

“The biggest obstacle recently is people having trouble getting financing,” she said. “People want to buy, but many have minor blemishes on their credit preventing them from even getting the process started. That’s a big problem for us right now.”

The first thing to do when checking on your credit is to get the facts. You can visit annualcreditreport.com three times a year for free to view your credit report, but you must pay a fee to see your score. Once you’ve seen your report, scour it for errors and contact each of the three major credit reporting bureaus to have your report updated if something is wrong. If identity theft was discovered, there are programs available to protect against it in the future. Some banks monitor account and card activity for that reason. If unusual spending is detected, they’ll halt any purchases and contact you to see if you’re the person making them. Continue Reading

A leading real estate specialist is predicting that U.S. home prices will gradually start to increase in 2012.

National Association of Realtors chief economist Lawrence Yun is forecasting that the small uptick next year will be part of a gradual improvement that will continue through 2014. Although he believes the U.S. economy would “be teetering on a recession” if the Euro debt crisis expands, he said he doubts that will happen and predicted that the crisis will be contained in Italy.

“The market has been tough, but there are some developing positive signs,” Yun said. “As a result, there will be a recovery occurring next year, and it will continue in 2013 and 2014. It is not a great robust expansion. … But it is a moderate recovery.”

Yun, who also forecast that rents will rise for the next five years, said existing home sales will increase 4 percent to 5 percent in 2012. This year’s sales are projected to be up 1 percent, he said.