Possessing and using a credit card can be an advantage for our financial health. Many of us look at a credit card as something that can get us into trouble, as free cash or a trap. Let us look at this piece of plastic as a tool to be used to benefit our financial well being.

There are not many families that operate on a pure cash basis. Most of us have loans on homes, cars and student loans. Debt is part of our society. Being financially responsible with our payments is our goal. We make these payments on long term loans and credit is established. According to the credit reporting agencies, Experian, Transunion and Equifax, we need fresh debt to keep our good score and make it increase.

Using a credit card for monthly budgeted items will satisfy this need. A card used for gas or groceries will certainly meet this criteria. Paying the balance at the end of the month will avoid interest charges and late fees.

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A foreclosure will greatly affect one’s credit standing. It is believed by many that a short sale will lead to a shorter credit recovery period. Does this mean that a foreclosure damages one’s credit more than a short sale? The truth is that a short sale offers very little advantage over a foreclosure when it comes to preserving your credit standing.

Let’s be clear about it. Although there may not be an advantage in using a short sale instead of entering foreclosure when it comes to preserving credit standing or recovering FICO points sooner, using a short sale does have its advantages.

As of May 31st 2008, Fannie Mae will not allow loans for five long years to those who entered foreclosure. Fannie Mae’s current rules state that it will take two years for you to re-establish credit once you use a short sale to dispose of your property. Two years is not really that long compared to the length of time it will require to get credit once you enter foreclosure. That is a definite advantage of using a short sale instead of entering foreclosure.

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There are several things that you will have to provide proof to any lender before you will be approved for any home mortgage loan that you apply for. The 5 things that can shoot you down are: Inadequate Income, Too Many Outstanding Debts, Poor Credit, Improper Documentation and Lack of Information.

Inadequate Income

Your income, or lack of enough of it, is one of the determining factors that a lender will use when approving any home mortgage loan. From the lender’s standpoint, if you are barely making enough to make ends meet currently, you will not be able to afford the mortgage payments and they are likely to end up having to foreclose on the property.

Too Many Outstanding Debts

This can also cause you to be turned down for a mortgage. When a lender sees that you have a lot of credit card debt, too many open lines of credit or owe too much on current loans, they might turn you down based on this. If you cannot afford to pay your current debts, you are going to be considered a bad credit risk.

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