Inside This Newsletter – January Edition
- Important Dates to Remember
- 2019 Food Drive Results
- How To: Improve Your Credit Score This Year
- Selling your Condo? Use Hales Realtors
- Q&A: What approval do I need to remodel my unit?
- Maintenance Tip: Smart Storage Ideas for Small Spaces
Important Dates to Remember
January 9 -19: Chicago Sketch Comedy Festival
January 19 – 20: MLK Tribute Concert
January 20: MLK Free Museum Day
January 24 – February 9: Chicago Restaurant Week
January 25: Polar Bear Plunge
2019 Food Drive Results
Thanks to our clients, vendors and colleagues who donated to our Food Drive, we were able to exceed our 2019 goal! We provided over 21,000 meals to those in need this holiday season and landed second on the GCFD’s 2019 Food Drive list. We greatly appreciate the support and look forward to continuing the momentum in 2020.
How To: Improve Your Credit Score This Year
If you’re trying to buy a home, a car, or open a new line of credit, your credit score determines the terms you are eligible for. Many people are interested in improving their credit history for this reason, but may not know how to go about it.
Here are the three main factors in your credit score, and what you can do to improve them:
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Timeliness of payments — make sure you pay all your bills on time, as this is the single biggest factor in your credit score. You’ll need a run of at least 12 months of timely payments to achieve the best score possible.
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Credit utilization rate — of the credit you have available, how much do you use on a monthly basis? Ideally, you want to keep this number as low as possible, and definitely lower than 10%. So, if you have $20,000 of credit available, try to stay under $2,000 on your combined statement balance at the end of the month. Another thing you can do is to request a credit line increase, which means you can increase your spending without negatively affecting your credit utilization rate.
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Length of credit history — there’s not much you can do about this one, as it’s based on the average length of time you’ve had a line of credit. If you have friends or loved ones who have never established a credit history, encourage them to open up a card, even if they don’t use it, so they can improve the length of their credit history.
Q & A
Q: What approval do I need to remodel my unit?
A:Some Associations require Board approval before starting the work. Most Associations require proof of the contractor’s insurance. Before starting anything, it’s best to review your Association’s governing documents or ask your property manager.
Maintenance Tip: Smart Storage Ideas for Small Spaces
Those of us with smaller condo units are always struggling to fit all of our stuff in without having the space look too cluttered. Here are some really smart solutions for tight spaces.
