Page 12 - October 2021 Issue.indd

DOLLARS AND SENSE by Tolbert Rowe

Housing Shortage Leads Soaring Prices

If you are homeless or otherwise in would be, especially with current sub Th e fi rst thing you must do is establish
search of a place to live, Caroline County 3% interest rates. No need for landlords good credit. Whether renting or buying,
is not the greatest place to be looking. to put ads in the local paper or advertise your credit report, more specifically

Heck, the entire Mid-Shore area has a online. The network of rental companies your credit scores, will be critical. You
shortage of decent aff ordable housing, and landlords receive calls every day cannot purchase, nor can you rent,
either to rent or purchase, especially regarding units available. without a satisfactory credit report that
for younger people just trying to start shows you are prudent in managing your

The pandemic has made many tenants
out in life. use of credit.
squatters in that landlords have been
Mom and Dad, or other family prohibited from moving for eviction. If you are just starting out and need to
members, have become the source of Rental assistance moneys for those establish credit you need to get a secured

shelter for many people, young and old. tenants who have fallen behind has credit card. These are major credit cards,

The challenges of the Covid pandemic saved many landlords from their own usually VISA or Mastercard where your
and limited inventory of homes for sale economic disaster. credit limit is determined by the amount
has served as a catalyst for developers you put on deposit with the issuer. You
So, with all this gloom and doom
to build homes on the few building send the issuer $300, and they will issue
about housing and the prospects for
lots that had been sitting dormant for a you a credit card with a $300 limit. If
the situation to improve in the near
period of time. Currently, the high cost you default on the card they keep your
future looking fairly grim, why would
of lumber and other building materials money, hence the term “secured.”
anyone consider purchasing a home?
and compliance with ever tightening
For the simple reason that you need to When just starting out, it is imperative
building requirements has stopped any
live somewhere, and you might as well that you set yourself up properly to get
serious investor from moving forward
be an owner instead of a tenant. This a good credit score. First, make your
on any new housing projects.
market, with exorbitantly higher rents payments well before the due date. Do
With a shortage of housing units reaching levels close to what it costs to not be late in making your payment! If
available for sale or rent, prices for be an owner, is a prime reason to buy you are late, that reflects negatively on

purchasing as well as monthly rents have instead of rent. Even with today’s higher your account and lowers your credit
soared to levels that seem unsustainable. prices. score.
There is a feeling that at some point

There are things you can do now to be Keep in mind the goal is to establish
prices will come down, or at the very
considered a serious buyer, and doing good credit so when a credit score is
least stabilize. But the $64,000 question
these things will also make you look reported it is a good score, and not a
is “when will that happen?”
better to a potential landlord if renting bad one. Late on your payment-BAD.

Rental units, if you can find one, have will be your first step getting out on Charge amounts over your credit limit-
monthly rental payments that could be your own. BAD. Getting a credit card and not using
higher than what a mortgage payment it-BAD. It does no good to have a credit
card for the purposes of establishing
credit and leaving it in the desk drawer
collecting dust.
“Your Mortgage Consultant Since 1985”

Purchase or Refinance Think of your credit score like a water
pump. Using the card is like priming the
pump and getting water fl owing. Every
time you make a payment is one more
handle stroke on the pump bringing up
more water.
115 E Dover St. Ste 3 - Easton, MD Get the card, use it every month and
tolbert@baycapitalmortgage.com C. Tolbert Rowe, make payments before the due date,
www.baycapitalmortgage.com NMLS Vice President/Lending another pumping stroke. more water.
182844
Keep the balance on the card at, or
410-819-3005 / cell 410-310-3520 below 40% of what your available credit

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