How Your Credit Score can Affect Apartment Renting

You have worked your whole life maintaining your perfect credit, then all of a sudden you lose your job.  No matter how you try and what things you sell, you just could not save your credit.  Before long they are repossessing your home and your car and you have absolutely no where to call home.  The only choice that remains is to rent an apartment, but even there you have nothing but shut doors and no one wants to help you due to your credit rating or FICO score.

It never dawned on you that you would ever lose your job much less your credit,  so now what can be done?  Is there a way to rent a home with bad credit and if so do you have to live in the "dumps?"

Looking for a new home:

Before you even go out the door to look for a new home, get all your ducks in a row.  It is absolutely fruitless to begin a home search until you have a few things done and prepared.  First it is imperative that you get a credit report and have it ready.  There are many places on the Internet that offer a free credit report once a year.  Here is a link for Trans Union:

Free Credit Report

Now that you have your credit report you can search and see where the main points of discrepancy lie.  Try to alleviate as much as you can before house searching.  Many collection agencies will agree to negotiate the amount owed and in exchange will wipe the debt off your credit report.  If they will not agree to that then have them make an immediate report that the account has been rectified.  You can also put letters on file with the credit bureau explaining exactly what happen.

Once you have corrected your credit report as much as possible, take the credit report with you when you begin house hunting.  It is important to be honest and upfront with the people who are considering renting to you.  Stay away from the big complexes and look for a smaller unit or home that is owned by an individual.  Many management companies have set policies on credit and ratios.
Some apartment and home managers will also go by the LTV (loan to debt  ratio).  This is the debt to rental ratio.  So they will consider your monthly rental compared to your income.  The normal ratios will be 30-36% of your income after debts are deducted.  So when considering a home for rent keep these ratios in mind. 

Credit Report and 7 Years of Misery:
Keep in mind that the bad marks will be on your credit for seven years and ten years if you file bankruptcy.  During this period you will not be able to buy a home or a car.  What you can do is try to reestablish some good credit to show potential landlords that you are a good risk such as taking out a fully secured loan through a savings and loan.  This is a normal procedures to begin establishing credit.  Look for a secured credit card also as a second choice or a account with a small department store, such as Mervyns.

Do not give up as there are many places that will work with you if you are honest, sociable and are dressed well.  Funny how people judge you by your appearance.  A manager would much rather you be upfront with them, then to find out you lied after the new credit report comes in.  Sometimes they will not pull a new credit report if your report is recent.

How to naturally get rid of ants in the home

Living with ants is as much as a problem as living with killer bees. They are annoying and bothersome and just plain outright nasty. To see their long trail of nonsensical travel is so "Yuk." As the environment goes green and everyone is trying to cut down on electric consumption, plastic water bottles and buying electric cars, does it not make sense to kills ants the "green way."

Sometimes you feel as you just want to leave those little critters alone as they do look helpless, until one of those real nasty red ones comes your way and bites you right on the bottom of your foot. As you limp around for days on end trying to balance, you have an evil thought come into your head about how you can possibly annihilate the whole tribe.

We all can tell you of stories of ants and how they have played an important part in history. The story of King Solomon is unique as he died standing up supported by a wooden cane. He was never known to have died until the ants gnawed away at his cane and he fell. Even ants have a purpose in this life.
As to keep everything sensible and clean, here are some of the best natural remedies.

1. One of the best ways to get rid of ants is to lay talcum powder wherever you see the ants and any place you expect them to show up. It is best to use scented talcum powder. As long as they see the powder, they will disappear. But surely as there will be a sun tomorrow, they will return when they sense there is no talcum powder. So be armed with extra bottles.

2. The second best thing to use is straight vinegar. You can use raw which is better for everything, but I think that ants are not on a health diet. So being raw is more expensive, you may want to go with a generic one. You can use either apple or plain. Just place the vinegar in a squirt bottle and squirt the vinegar everywhere. On the sidewalks, doors and even the kitchen counters.

3. The third way is plain ole cinnamon. Just sprinkle it everywhere. I suggest you put some cinnamon oil in the vinegar bottle. Why not have two shots for the same squirt?

4. The fourth way is black pepper and you can sprinkle it just like the cinnamon, but if you really want to make those pesky creatures angry, mix it with some turmeric powder. Ouch, that burns!

5. There are many suggested sprays from some liquid soap and water to hydrogen peroxide and lemon. They all work, just pick the one that works best for you.

There are more that don't work as well, but why should they be listed here? These are some of the best and they work. As with all pest that invade your home and your lives, doing what is necessary for the safety of your children should be your top priority.