Isaac the Fair
Wednesday, August 2nd, 2023 12:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
snoozefestaudio83F and partly cloudy on this fine Wednesday morning. I managed to get my feet on the floor by 11AM, and when I looked out the window, the front lawn was nicely mowed.
Both cats joined me and Yvette outside, and we all sat in the back yard for about 30 minutes enjoying the slight breeze and cloudy sky. And now they're all in the kitchen eating together.
That may sound pretty familiar by now, but that routine hadn't been as common through June and July.
Now that full time is looming in the near future, I'm trying to get back to what I had been doing... being downstairs by 11AM, and having three full hours down here before leaving for Cloud.
--<>--
On my, To Do list today; get through to commerce bank about that flag (which I think is bogus), go around the yard with the clippers, and change the furnace filters.
I also have to call PNC and have them send me some physical checks. I need one to start my savings at PenFed.
It's unclear whether that's a requirement before I can use my card, but... it can't hurt to have a little money in a credit union anyway.
Either way, they'll only accept a check... and the only ones I have left, still show my address on the west side, before Mom died.
--<>--
I saw an interesting TikTok last night where a guy was saying that home values are only going to go up because of different factors that have lead to very few new homes being built.
One of those factors I know is true, is the huge spike in materials costs since Covid.
But there are a lot of other factors, such as banks buying up vacant houses to turn into rentals, and Air BNB keeping a lot of homes off the market, because they're investment properties now.
What it all means is that Discover may not have been crazy to value this house at 400K, rather than the 200K I thought it was worth... which already seemed too high.
It's possible that if I can just hang on to this place, no matter what kind of loan I take out against it... the value could still double again in the next decade.
This is bad news for people without homes, of course... but it could be good news for me, because it means I should actually have the rescources necessary to fix this old boat up and keep it afloat... and have equity to spare in it... to dip into if times are tough.
I guess we'll see, but... it does make me glad that I've already spent almost five years improving this old property.
------------{=0=}------------
9:09PM
Jeremy was working in the room right next to me upstairs today at Cloud, so I couldn't be calling banks. Had to actually do my job.
I mean... this whole summer's been busy work, but... teachers are coming back in two weeks so... it is time to pick up the pace a bit.
Chantele called to let me know that she had approved my PTO for the 9th, 10th, and 11th.
So I will have a five day weekend before going back to full time. And hopefully that'll soften the blow a bit with Yvette, who I'm sure will not be thrilled for me to go back to being gone until midnight.
--<>--
When things quieted down after 4PM, I found myself in the shop looking at an email from Credit Karma.
I'll tell you right now that... where, once upon a time I was very concerned with a number on a bathroom scale... checking it every week to make sure it wasn't too high...
These days the only number I care about is my FICO score... and that it doesn't get to low!
Credit Karma just kinda barged into my life as the result of doing my taxes with Turbo Tax the past twelve years... they're both owned by Intuit.
But this email was telling me that Equifax and TransUnion both had me in the high six hundreds... as, "fair!"
--<>--
Okay, so let's clarify terms here, before going further...
FICO first...
So, the FICO score is your one and only true credit score. But it's something nobody can know for certain until they query FICO themselves!.. which costs a fee, and... the act of doing the query affects the score.
Kind of like Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle, where you can't know both the position and speed of a particle at the same time, because if you check, you will affect one or the other!
But there are three, "credit bureaus," out there, who spend their time tracking everybody's credit and financial history... and who use that data to try and GUESS what your FICO score probably is!
Those three credit bureaus are; Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian.
--<>--
So, Credit Karma seems to only pay attention to Equifax and Transunion... which are the two bureaus who have me in the 600s, with a "fair" credit score.
But Experian... and I downloaded their app today, just to make sure... currently has me at 750!.. which is, "Very Good."
Now, when I've written in the past that, last year this time, my credit score was 810... that was coming straing from BMO, after having queried FICO directly!
They did that because Dad and I were trying to refinance his mortgage and I wanted to co-sign.
So it's true that my credit score really was 810 back around September of 2022.
--<>--
But it does make sense that, since I've gotten a bunch of credit cards, and taken out a large, unsecured loan with PNC... that true score probably has reacted by going down some.
But there's no way in hell that it dropped down into the 600s!.. because I haven't been late on anything, or missed any payments... and I'm keeping all my credit card balances at zero most of the time!
But what I'm getting at here, is that Experian is probably a lot closer to the truth than Equifax or TransUnion.
And I have a bit of evidence to back this up, because Credit Karma always seems to be months late in learning about anything new going on with me.
--<>--
The theory that Tim and I had, about my forgotten Discover card having been the reason for my 810 credit score... because I'd accidentally been paying the minimum exactly on time for over ten years... is probably true.
But I suspect that neither Equifax, nor Transunion, have access to that information, for whatever reason.
Credit Karma has suggested credit cards for me to apply for... which are mostly starter cards for people with low credit scores. They only have one Discover card on their list, but they say I have only a low chance of being approved for it.
Meanwhile, Experian's list of suggested credit cards has three different Discover cards, and a few other higher prestige cards... all of which it believes I have an easy shot at being approved for.
So clearly, Discover's only talking to Experian.
--<>--
So, I'm gonna say that Experian's 750 is closer to the truth than anybody.
But I also think that the true FICO score is higher than that.
Because I know it was 810... and I know I haven't done anything to warrant it dropping sixty whole points in the last year.
I think it's more like 780 or 790.
--<>--
Well, at any rate, I hope it's still up there closer to 800, because I'm gonna need that in order to get whatever mortgage loan is necessary to pay off BMO and get them out of my life.
And I am very new to all of this.
But yeah... I'm starting to pay more attention to that score, the way I used to obsess over my weight.
Back in the day, low weight was the key to landing the hottest date.
Nowadays, a high FICO score is the key to landing the hottest lender!.. and I could care less about a stupid date!
------------{=0=}------------
Finally, yes, I did go round with the clippers out there this evening, and I did change the furnace filters tonight.
They were the last two, so I'm gonna order more in a minute.
Next filter change will be November 1st.
°¦}
https://soundcloud.com/snoozefestaudio
Both cats joined me and Yvette outside, and we all sat in the back yard for about 30 minutes enjoying the slight breeze and cloudy sky. And now they're all in the kitchen eating together.
That may sound pretty familiar by now, but that routine hadn't been as common through June and July.
Now that full time is looming in the near future, I'm trying to get back to what I had been doing... being downstairs by 11AM, and having three full hours down here before leaving for Cloud.
On my, To Do list today; get through to commerce bank about that flag (which I think is bogus), go around the yard with the clippers, and change the furnace filters.
I also have to call PNC and have them send me some physical checks. I need one to start my savings at PenFed.
It's unclear whether that's a requirement before I can use my card, but... it can't hurt to have a little money in a credit union anyway.
Either way, they'll only accept a check... and the only ones I have left, still show my address on the west side, before Mom died.
I saw an interesting TikTok last night where a guy was saying that home values are only going to go up because of different factors that have lead to very few new homes being built.
One of those factors I know is true, is the huge spike in materials costs since Covid.
But there are a lot of other factors, such as banks buying up vacant houses to turn into rentals, and Air BNB keeping a lot of homes off the market, because they're investment properties now.
What it all means is that Discover may not have been crazy to value this house at 400K, rather than the 200K I thought it was worth... which already seemed too high.
It's possible that if I can just hang on to this place, no matter what kind of loan I take out against it... the value could still double again in the next decade.
This is bad news for people without homes, of course... but it could be good news for me, because it means I should actually have the rescources necessary to fix this old boat up and keep it afloat... and have equity to spare in it... to dip into if times are tough.
I guess we'll see, but... it does make me glad that I've already spent almost five years improving this old property.
Jeremy was working in the room right next to me upstairs today at Cloud, so I couldn't be calling banks. Had to actually do my job.
I mean... this whole summer's been busy work, but... teachers are coming back in two weeks so... it is time to pick up the pace a bit.
Chantele called to let me know that she had approved my PTO for the 9th, 10th, and 11th.
So I will have a five day weekend before going back to full time. And hopefully that'll soften the blow a bit with Yvette, who I'm sure will not be thrilled for me to go back to being gone until midnight.
When things quieted down after 4PM, I found myself in the shop looking at an email from Credit Karma.
I'll tell you right now that... where, once upon a time I was very concerned with a number on a bathroom scale... checking it every week to make sure it wasn't too high...
These days the only number I care about is my FICO score... and that it doesn't get to low!
Credit Karma just kinda barged into my life as the result of doing my taxes with Turbo Tax the past twelve years... they're both owned by Intuit.
But this email was telling me that Equifax and TransUnion both had me in the high six hundreds... as, "fair!"
Okay, so let's clarify terms here, before going further...
FICO first...
"FICO, originally Fair, Isaac and Company, is a data analytics company based in Bozeman, Montana, focused on credit scoring services. It was founded by Bill Fair and Earl Isaac in 1956. Its FICO score, a measure of consumer credit risk, has become a fixture of consumer lending in the United States."
So, the FICO score is your one and only true credit score. But it's something nobody can know for certain until they query FICO themselves!.. which costs a fee, and... the act of doing the query affects the score.
Kind of like Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle, where you can't know both the position and speed of a particle at the same time, because if you check, you will affect one or the other!
But there are three, "credit bureaus," out there, who spend their time tracking everybody's credit and financial history... and who use that data to try and GUESS what your FICO score probably is!
Those three credit bureaus are; Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian.
So, Credit Karma seems to only pay attention to Equifax and Transunion... which are the two bureaus who have me in the 600s, with a "fair" credit score.
But Experian... and I downloaded their app today, just to make sure... currently has me at 750!.. which is, "Very Good."
Now, when I've written in the past that, last year this time, my credit score was 810... that was coming straing from BMO, after having queried FICO directly!
They did that because Dad and I were trying to refinance his mortgage and I wanted to co-sign.
So it's true that my credit score really was 810 back around September of 2022.
But it does make sense that, since I've gotten a bunch of credit cards, and taken out a large, unsecured loan with PNC... that true score probably has reacted by going down some.
But there's no way in hell that it dropped down into the 600s!.. because I haven't been late on anything, or missed any payments... and I'm keeping all my credit card balances at zero most of the time!
But what I'm getting at here, is that Experian is probably a lot closer to the truth than Equifax or TransUnion.
And I have a bit of evidence to back this up, because Credit Karma always seems to be months late in learning about anything new going on with me.
The theory that Tim and I had, about my forgotten Discover card having been the reason for my 810 credit score... because I'd accidentally been paying the minimum exactly on time for over ten years... is probably true.
But I suspect that neither Equifax, nor Transunion, have access to that information, for whatever reason.
Credit Karma has suggested credit cards for me to apply for... which are mostly starter cards for people with low credit scores. They only have one Discover card on their list, but they say I have only a low chance of being approved for it.
Meanwhile, Experian's list of suggested credit cards has three different Discover cards, and a few other higher prestige cards... all of which it believes I have an easy shot at being approved for.
So clearly, Discover's only talking to Experian.
So, I'm gonna say that Experian's 750 is closer to the truth than anybody.
But I also think that the true FICO score is higher than that.
Because I know it was 810... and I know I haven't done anything to warrant it dropping sixty whole points in the last year.
I think it's more like 780 or 790.
Well, at any rate, I hope it's still up there closer to 800, because I'm gonna need that in order to get whatever mortgage loan is necessary to pay off BMO and get them out of my life.
And I am very new to all of this.
But yeah... I'm starting to pay more attention to that score, the way I used to obsess over my weight.
Back in the day, low weight was the key to landing the hottest date.
Nowadays, a high FICO score is the key to landing the hottest lender!.. and I could care less about a stupid date!
Finally, yes, I did go round with the clippers out there this evening, and I did change the furnace filters tonight.
They were the last two, so I'm gonna order more in a minute.
Next filter change will be November 1st.
°¦}
