Do you think debt consolidation is a good idea?
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Answer:
If you are planning on buying a house, then DO NOT do it... I went thru a debt consolidation about 3 years ago... I was able to make my credit card payments, and the only reason I did this was to get my APR lower. I specifically told the counselor that I was planning on buying a house in about few months... The counselor said that I have nothing to worry about, and that it wouldnt effect my credit at all...
When the time came for me to buy a house, my lender told me that the debt consolidation is holding my credit back... Its almost like a bankruptcy...
I was able to get a house, but because of the debt consolidation, I got really bad interest rate on my house, and a bad headache going over the whole process.
My lender told me that the only reason people go thru the debt consolidation is if they cant afford to make payments... Thats how the finance companies look at it..
When you consolidate your bills, then part of the agreement is that you would have to close your accounts. Now anytime you close your credit cards, its a major negative impact on your credit...
My advice is if you can afford to make the payments, then dont do it. You can also talk to any finance company, by whom you are planning on buying a house, and get more info on this. Good luck, and I hope my bad experience with the debt consolidation helped you in some way.
If you are talking about the debt consolidation where a credit company takes your bills and makes the payments for you, that's OK. That will not hurt your credit at all. But if you are talking about the debt consolidation that is like a bankrupcy, then you may as well file for bankruptcy. with the banruptcy type of consolidation, it shows as a bankruptcy on your credit report and you still have to pay a percentage of your debts. Hope this helps.
It is only a good idea if you get things under control and stop spending. It won;t help if you use it to pay off credit cards then just run them up again. I'd rather see you pay them off then roll them up.
Check out these web sites:
http://www.crown.org/
http://www.daveramsey.com/
it depends on lot of factors
Its a really bad idea, but there are simple, sensible ways to clear the debt. This method really worked for me
http://www.quazen.com/home/personal-fina...
Debt consolidation is not for everyone. You need to get yourself educated about the whole process.
My resource box includes two articles that might help your questions. Take a look and Good Luck!!
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