Consumers who make late credit payments have no idea how badly their credit scores can be affected or how long it takes to repair the damage.  According to Nerdwallet.com, a late payment of 30 days or more can knock as many as 100 points off your credit score and stay on your credit report for up to seven and a half years.

FICO scores, the credit-scoring system used by the Fair Isaac Corporation, help banks and other lenders determine a borrower’s creditworthiness. Your scores can change with every new report from a creditor, but nothing impacts credit scores like a missed payment. Your payment history accounts for 35 percent of your FICO score, advises credit bureau Experian.com. Other factors include the amounts owed (30%) credit history length (15%), types of credit (10%) and new credit (10%.)

If you’re late making a payment on an account, don’t despair. Equifax.com, another credit bureau, explains that the payment due date on your statement or bill is the last day you can pay on your account without incurring late fees. Lenders routinely report accounts to credit bureaus at least 30 days after the payment due date, and they often don’t report late payments until they’re 60 days past due.

Even if your payment is late, go ahead and make it. If you can pay the amount due in full, some lenders won’t report the late payment. You’ll have to pay whatever late fees are levied, but your credit score will remain intact.

When you buy a home, plan on staying there for approximately five years. Why? You’ll need equity in order to sell the home without losing money.

Equity is your percentage of ownership VS how much the bank owns. With any mortgage loan, the first few years of payments go more toward paying interest than reducing your principal. To build enough equity to sell at break-even or a profit, you’ll have to recoup closing costs and fees as high as 14% in some areas. To build equity over time, do the following:

Put more money down. If you put 20 percent down, you’re in good shape, but if you put down 3.5%, 5% or 10%, it will take longer to build equity, so be patient.

Pay your mortgage on time and in full. Paying principal builds equity. The more months you pay, the more equity you’ll build.

Make additional mortgage payments. You can add an extra $50, $100, or any amount per mortgage payment. This will also help you get rid of private mortgage insurance or allow you to refinance to a PMI-free loan once you reach 22% equity.

Let time and the housing market work for you. The housing market typically rises one to two percentage points above inflation annually, but if you’re lucky, your home may gain much more value than that.

Building equity takes time, money and luck, which is why following the five-year equity rule will help you plan when to sell your home.

The financial reasons for owning your own home are to build equity and take advantage of tax breaks that do not exist with other assets.  However, the greatest advantage is that owning a home is a terrific hedge against inflation.

Since the early 1900’s, the annual inflation rate in the U.S. has averaged 3.10%. As the cost of goods and services rises, so do the costs of buying a home.  Mortgage interest rates have recently risen slightly, but are still at record lows. If you purchase a home this spring, you will acquire a financial asset that promises to rise in value while you enjoy using it.

That means that while others pay rising rents and home prices increase year after year, your monthly payments become less expensive by comparison. This allows you the financial freedom to reinvest in your home or other worthy goals such as higher education and retirement.

A home can be your inflation hedge.  Once the pandemic is under control, the economy will improve to the point that the government needs to control inflation by raising borrowing rates to banks. When this happens, you can expect mortgage rates to rise, making the purchase of a home more expensive.