April's "Top 11 Tips" for Rebuilding or Imporving your credit.

1. Pull your credit reports and Fico scores 1-2 years before applying for a loan.  www.myfico.com 
2. Build four or more primary accounts of credit as young as possible but at least 2-4 years prior to applying for a loan.
3. Do not open or close any credit within a year before applying for a loan (unless you don't have enough credit to be approved for that loan)
4. Don't close credit just because you may not think you will use it.  The older active credit will increase your scores.
5. Use open credit at least 2-3 months a year to keep it active.
6. Have a variety of credit since that adds to increasing your scores.
7. Keep your balances on revolving credit at 7-10% of the limits, at least 2-3 months prior to applying for a loan.
8. Limit third party reviews of credit profiles.
9. Make timely payments on all credit and resolve any open bad debt before it affects the credit scores.
10. If you have open collections don't pay them until you speak with us directly.
11. Call us early and get the help you need to increase your scores and understand how they work.

Being a Commercial Real Estate Broker is as American As Apple Pie

This is re-posted from Brad Umansky:

Being a Commercial Real Estate Broker is as American As Apple Pie

Submitted by Brad on December 22, 2010 - 9:20 am

I just finished reading Sarah Palin’s newest book, America by Heart. Whether you agree or disagree with her politics is irrelevant to many of the ideas addressed in the book. So much of her book is simply about what it means to be an American. Whether you are reading this blog as a U.S. citizen or a citizen of another nation (yes, we have non U.S. readers), there is little doubt in my mind that as a member of the commercial real estate brokerage community, you share many of these common values. As I read the book, I realized that commercial real estate brokerage is the type of work that would make our nation’s founding fathers proud. Here’s why:

Self Reliance: You don’t eat, if you don’t hunt. And sometimes even if you hunt, you don’t eat. CRE Brokers are a unique breed in today’s economy. We rely on ourselves to create opportunity. We don’t depend upon big government or big corporations. We are individual entrepreneurs taking advantage of the opportunity created by this nation.  

Independence: CRE brokers are independent people. Most are self employed and have tremendous flexibility in their lives. With this independence comes a lot of responsibility to manage yourself according to your own set of values.

Community Oriented: Most CRE brokers make their living within a fairly small geographic area. They are either industrial or office brokers that specialize in a certain trade area. Or they might be hotel specialists who work within the hotel community. Regardless, most successful brokers (I actually would like to say all) are focused upon a certain community and need to contribute to this community in order to be successful. Our founding fathers believed that individuals looking after the best interest of their community, would lead their communities in a positive direction.

Service to Others:One of my favorite quotes is by Zig Ziglar, “You can achieve anything you want in life, if you help enough other people achieve what they want in life.” CRE Brokers are the middlemen who help buyers and sellers, landlords and tenants, achieve their goals. Although this is not altruistic service since you are expecting compensation. It is nonetheless service that is designed to help many people achieve or continue their “American Dream”.

The Quest for Freedom: Ultimately, if you asked most CRE brokers what their ultimate goal is, just about every one of them would say that they are trying to create enough wealth for themselves and their family to have the freedom to do what they want, when they want. They won’t answer that their goal is to serve enough years so that they can collect their pension. Furthermore, one of the reasons why they are CRE brokers is because their is an ongoing sense of freedom in being able to choose your working hours, your clients, the firm you associate with, and how you conduct your business. CRE brokers experience freedom every day of their career.

So as you try to enjoy some time with friends and family over this holiday season and prepare for what will hopefully be a great 2011, appreciate that for all of the challenges of being a broker, you are in pursuit of life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness and the American Dream!

Crains reports " Immigrants drive small Business in NYC!

48% of New York entrepreneurs are foreign-born, analysis of census data shows; city considers how to assist those with imported expertise who help keep the local economy rolling.

Read more: http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20111002/SMALLBIZ/310029975#ixzz1ZqRE6Tca