Home buyers who met the April 30 deadline should have extra time to close in order to obtain the tax credit. Congress passed a bill to extend the closing date to by or before September 30. This extension only applies to those who had a property in escrow (ratified contract) before April 30.

With the federal first-time buyer credit expiring for those who haven't yet locked in an offer on a property, the state of California has a $10,000 buyer credit program starting May 1. This is a limited funds program, so it's a first-come, first-served offer. For more information click here.

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.