A loan officer directed me to this site years ago, as an easy way to eliminate annoying and unsolicited credit card offers and stabilize my credit score. Apparently these companies hit up your credit to "prequal" you for their unsolicited product. They don't count as a "hard" hit, but after 15 or 20 it will affect your score by a few points.

It's like the do not call registry and works for 5 years before renewal is required (if you do an online registration). For more info:

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/alerts/alt063.shtm

And a link to the site:
https://www.optoutprescreen.com/?rf=t

Why is this important? Not only will it help your credit score stabilize, but if helps reduce the risk of credit/identity theft. How many of these offers do we throw in the garbage? It's definitely beneficial to eliminate a possible problem at the source.

Per a news bulletin, it appears Congress passed the first-time home buyer's credit extension and it's going to the President for signature.

The changes include:

- $8000 credit extended through April 30
- COE of applicable home extended through end of June
- Income limit increased to $225,000
- New clause offering $6500 credit to FTB who lived in their home (worth $800K or less) for five out of prior eight years

In short, January 1 is expected to bring with it some environmental requirements that will affect owners installing water heaters, air conditioning, and new roofs. The refrigerant requirements change for cooling systems, so the cost to install new or recharge old will increase significantly. The low knox requirement of gas heaters has raised materials cost there also.

Rumored building code changes for new roof installations may or may not go in to effect. I've not received a confirmation this is going into effect January 1, but it's anticiapted. Per local company, Affordable Roofing:

Iif the roof system is changed next year, they will have to get reflective, Title 24-compliant shingle roofing and/or attic installation upgraded to meet new building codes. The Title-24 compliant shingle will add about $1,000.00 to the overall cost of the roof while upgrading the insulation could be as much as $2,500 or so. This assumes that Title 24 compliance won't be pushed back another year due to economic hardship in the state's economy, of course.

An REO Buyer can select thier own escrow/title company: Effective October 11, 2009, the Buyer's Choice Act prohibits an REO lender to require a buyer to purchase escrow or title insurance from a particular company. This law expires on January 1, 2015. Assembly Bill 957.

For more info, click here.

Sources report that at this time, it's not clear if the first-time buyer program will end on December 1, 2009, or be extended further. It seems the focus will shift away from home purchasing with the impending health "reform" plans. We encourage buyers and agents to write their contracts with this in mind — closing escrow prior to December 1 — to take advantage of the $8000K rebate!