Protect Your Credit

Protect Your Credit When Buying or Selling a Home

If you are listing your home for sale, and/or preparing to buy a home, it’s important not only to protect your credit, but to guard against credit or identity theft as well as the theft of valuables

• Prepare for lookers - When selling your home, pack up small, valuable belongings before strangers begin to walk through the house. Additionally, all bills or financial papers should be put into a locked box or drawer. Protecting your finances and account numbers should be your number-one priority because identity and credit theft can happen.
  
• Protect your documents: When buying a new home, only potential mortgage lenders need to see all of your personal information. Agents and sellers only need to know how much you can afford. When dealing with a lender, stick to the same representative to minimize the number of people who have access to your documents.
• Stay on top of your finances: Even if you are on top of paying bills on a monthly basis, you may want to consider checking into your accounts weekly. By logging into your credit card accounts regularly, you can make sure that all of the charges are legitimately yours.