Find the Best Credit Card Rate

 Millions of consumers jump from card to card trying to find a rate that’s better than the one they’re currently paying. Do yourself a favor and don’t play leap frog with the credit card companies. Here are some helpful tips for finding the best rate for you.

But He’s Got a Better Rate!

Upset that your neighbor has a better rate than you? Get over it. If you’re looking for the best rate, there’s something you need to understand…

Not all credit is created equal, and the best credit card rate for you might not be a great rate for someone else. If Mary Jane has never had a late payment or collection account in her life and Betty Sue has had a few, the girls are going to qualify for different rates.

Before you go in search of the best credit card rate out there, take a serious look at your credit situation. If there are some dings or dents, you’re going to have to settle for a higher rate than you may have anticipated.

Check Your Options

If you really want to get a feel for what the best credit card rate is, you need to know what’s out there. That means comparing your options. No, I’m not telling you to apply for every card in the world to see what terms they offer you. What you should do is check the terms and conditions of at least five or six different cards you may be interested in and see who’s offering the lowest fixed rate.

Don’t Let ‘Em Woo You

Most of us know that 0-percent interest rate is too good to last when searching for the best credit card rate. However, a 6.99 or 7.99 percent rate is probably just a teaser too.

If a rate seems to good to be true, it is. Make sure you chose a fixed rate, not a teaser rate. A teaser of 6.99 that jumps to 26.99 isn’t the best rate after all.

Know When To Hold ‘Em, Know When To Fold ‘Em, Know When To Walk Away…

There’s a great country song about knowing when to walk away (and knowing when to run). If you start out with a credit card that offers the best credit card rate, but then the terms change and the rate goes up again and again, it’s time to run.

Sure, the length of your creditor relationships has an impact on your credit rating. That doesn’t mean you should be taken for a ride. If you’re constantly seeing rate hikes, transfer your balance to a different credit card that is currently offering the best rate. Leave the other account open, just don’t use it.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Keep the above tips in mind when looking for the best credit card rate. Sure, 10 or 12-percent interest might not seem like such a great deal when you see offers for less than 10-percent all around you. Just remember, the best credit card rate for you is the best that you qualify for — not the best that the nonexistent perfect consumer with the highest credit score possible might get.

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 13th, 2007 and is filed under Capital One, Citi Bank, Credit Card Applications, Credit Card Debt, Credit Cards. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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How Credit Scores Affect Mortgage Applications

With a good credit score an applicant will receive prompt response from many lenders, all of them offering low interest rates and low down payment options. The loan amount offered also may be high. On the contrary a low credit score would result in a lot of rejection from various mortgage financers. Because creditors wouldn’t come forward easily to give credit to individuals that have a history of difficulty in repaying existing loans. After all, creditors take risk when they finance mortgages against the credit history of a debtor. Naturally, they will wish to remain on the safe side and pick up less risky ones that have good credit histories. A good credit score means less chance of missing on payments and therefore less risky.

But there are some real risk takers that will come forward to finance mortgages for individuals with bad credit scores. They would charge high down payments and always high interest rates though. They may also fix additional charges for every little paper work and may charge high closing rates. The loan amount offered will also be considerably less. The individual with poor credit scores will not have much choice but to accept the terms and conditions as there are no other alternatives. This is a tight situation and to avoid this you must have a good credit score.

People with bad credit may fall in to the trap of ’secured loans’. Secured loans are the ones where the loan applicant offers an asset as collateral security. The lender becomes secure about the repayment of the loan and not the borrower. Securing a loan with bad credit score becomes easy only when the applicant is willing to offer some asset as collateral security. This again is a very dangerous situation where an individual runs the risk of losing his entire collateral asset in case of failing to pay the loan installments in time. An individual should always avoid such type of a loan.

Resort properties normally require large amounts of finance which a person with bad credit may find it difficult to obtain. So it is always advisable to keep your credit score high. Incase the credit score becomes low due to unavoidable financial reasons it can be improved upon. There is no need to lose hope simply because a person has a low credit score. If the property that he intends to buy has good equity he should go out and try to obtain finances for it. There are many sub prime lenders willing to offer their services.

For a review of your credit report as it relates to a mortgage loan and a consultation on the best loans available to you, give us a confidential, no obligation and no cost call.