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Halloween Falls on a Saturday. Searching for a Fun Day Event?

Pleasanton’s Fall Fest May Be Your Answer. I came across this event while researching Tri-Valley events for October.  This is a new event, and it seems like a lot of fun. 

You and your family can visit downtown Pleasanton to see many scarecrows that are on display at local businesses and vote for your favorite.  You will receive a raffle ticket to bring back on Halloween to possibly win your favorite scarecrow! 

During the Farmer’s Market on Halloween, all scarecrows are on display at The Museum on Main from 10AM-2PM.  You can also purchase additional raffle tickets to win a scarecrow.  There’s more!  You can enter the Carved Pumpkin Contest from 9-10AM or just judge your favorite from 10-2PM.  Also, there’s a Fall Dessert Contest, for $5 per ballot you can taste and vote on your favorite dessert from downtown locations.  And at 12PM, there will be a scavenger hunt where kids (costumes encouraged) draw a starting point card to figure out clues through downtown locations. 

Check online at pleasantondowntown.net or call 925.484.2199 for all the event details.

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Focus on Credit. Enough Said.

How many of you can’t get that jingle out of your head from the commercial on television touting “free credit report dot com”.  I am now seeing a therapist about it.  Despite joking about my current mental state, credit has been making headlines recently both nationally and in the Tri-Valley area and is quite a serious subject.  With many homes turning to short sales and foreclosures, some homeowners don’t realize the huge impact that a short sale or foreclosure can have on their credit and subsequently their future buying power.

In a recent article by Strategic Equity, Dave Muti, author of “Mortgages:  What You Need to Know,” was asked how a credit score is calculated and tips for increasing it. The Fair Isaac Corporation created the most common credit score used today - the FICO score.  It ranges between 350 and 850.  The higher the score, the better the interest rate you can secure.  720 is the credit score threshold that you don’t want to drop below in order to secure the best rates.  If you drop below 500, you may not even be able to secure a mortgage.

The following are five critical credit criteria reported in the article:

1. Payment History - This pertains to your track record for paying your bills. It makes up 35% of your score. Essentially, this means paying your bills on time. A mortgage “late” is much more serious than a credit card “late”
2. Credit Ratio - How much you owe is 30% of your score. Just because you owe less does not translate to having a better score.  This score is determined between the various types of credit you have opened (see #3 below). There needs to be a balance between how much you owe and how much you have available to you.  Having too many credit cards can be a negative and having only one could be as well. The goal is to have a lot of credit available to you, and to then use that credit, while at the same time not maintaining a high balance.
3. Credit Type - The type of accounts you have makes up Read more
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   Written by Adam Golden · Filed Under Featured, Tri-Valley Real Estate Update | Leave a Comment