Celebrating Over 20 Years. Design – Finance – Build.

From the Desk of the Founder

Hello from all of us at Owner Builder Network.

We hope this finds you and yours well. We could start with the bad news and then the good. I would like to start with the good hoping it out ways the bad.

Lumber prices are going down. They are predicted to continue on this path.

In Texas people are selling their existing homes at almost a record rate. People are having new needs for their housing that is driving this.

Interest rates are at record lows both construction and Mortgage and are predicted to stay down to support the economy.

In the Houston area values are staying good. We are not having a burst in Foreclosures because of job loss. This help.

The banks are still lending if you are credit worthy. And they have not set tougher guidelines on people and it is not predicted at this time to do so.

In 30 years of being in and around the Custom home building business I have seen the ups, downs, good and bad times in the industry. That means not only the consumer - customer in good and bad times. It effects contractors and suppliers. It effect title companies, Realtors, banks, and many more. Just think how many people are affected and employed in building just one home. Thinking about that there is a lot to taking care and pride in coordinating this to make sure that everything goes smooth and proper for the homeowner and everybody involved. I think that is what we at Owner Builder Network strive to do the most. If you, the homeowner can be credit worthy enough to pay your bills, keep your Credit in good standing, talk to people and know what you like and do not like you should be able to build your home with guidance. That is what we do at Owner Builder Network. We do the hard stuff. We have helped build thousands of homes for people. We want you to be in control of what goes into your home and who is doing the work. We want you to be in control of the money for your home. After all, isn't it your home? Your land? And it will be your mortgage. Thus we want you to take advantage of the savings. The builder would put this into their pocket. Through us if you save 300.00 on the front door from the supplier what do you want to do with that 300.00 dollars? Upgrade something else? Cut your mortgage? Save it and any other saving to add a fence, pool, shed or landscaping later. The control is amazing. Of course you will have Texas codes to follow, homeowners associations to follow, city entities codes to follow, and if financing bank and title company guidelines to follow. Guess what if you don't know these this is what we help guide you through. And all of the necessary paperwork. We at Owner Builder Network have a whole team that you work with besides just us in our office that guide you through the entire process. From step one to 100 till you end up moving into your new home.

The bad news. Well for some there is no bad news. For others it could be the virus, stress at work and the list can go on and on. It boils down to we as true American just need to remember that we all are here and in this together. Drop the hate and anger. Drop the tread and let's just look out for each other and not ourselves. We need to get back to that balance of good and bad in our lives.

If you got a chance to read this we all from the bottom of our hearts say Thank you. Thank you for everyone's support in the years we have grown since 1997. Thank you for the repeat customers and referrals. Yes some days are rough for us. We put our heart in what we do. But like everything. Working together we are stronger.

How is my credit score created?

Understanding what information goes into the calculation for the credit score will help you to understand what you need to do to improve your score. The score is a mathematical calculation based on all the information within these five categories and the percentage represents the importance of the information in that category. No one piece of information will determine your score.

• Payment History 35%
• Amounts Owed 30%
• Length of credit history 15%
• New Credit 10%
• Types of credit use 10%

Payment History Reviews

• Account payments on credit cards, retail accounts, finance companies, mortgage, etc.
• Public records, bankruptcy, judgments, suits, liens, wage earner plan
• Severity of late payments, how long past due and how many times past due
• Amount past due
• How recent the late payments or collection items
• Number of past due accounts on file
• Number of accounts paid as agreed

Amount owed includes

• Amount owing on accounts
• Public records, bankruptcy, judgments, suits, liens, wage earner plan
• Amount owing on specific types of accounts
• Lack of specific types of accounts with or without balance
• Number of accounts with balances
• Proportion of balances to total credit limits on certain types of accounts
• Proportion of balances to original loan on installment loans

Length of credit History

• How long have the accounts been opened
• How long have accounts been opened, on specific types of accounts
• How long since account was active

New Credit

• Number of recently opened accounts, and proportion of new accounts to existing accounts
• Number of recent inquiries
• Recently opened account by type of account
• How long since credit inquiry(s)
• Re-establishment of positive credit history following past payment problems

Types of credit used

• Presence of recent information on various types of accounts, loans, mortgage, finance companies

What can I do to improve my credit score?

There is no quick fix for improving your credit scores.

• Develop good paying habits. Late payments and collections have a major impact on your credit score.
• If you have missed payments, bring them current. A current late payment can cause your credit score to drop 100 points. The longer you pay your bills on time the better your score will be.
• Derogatory information stays on your credit file for seven years from date of last activity. The older the information, the less importance it will have on your score.
• Keep balances low on credit cards. High balances in proportion to the credit limits can affect your score.
• Don't close all unused credit cards. The score will look at available credit to credit used. If you close all unused credit cards, the less available credit you have and them the proportion of credit used to available credit will be high and can affect your score.
• Don't open up several new cards at once. This could lower your score. If you want more available credit, spread out applying for new credit over a period of time

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Houston OBN
7102 FM 1488
Magnolia, TX 77354
(281) 356-9050