Getting into a debt consolidation program

My views have been expressed in the thread below. Please have a look.

http://forums.debtcc.com/forums/settlement-views.html

You have a very good credit score,and would get the best rates on buying a home with that score.If you enter a consolidation program your score may lower until everything is paid off.I dont know alot about mortgages,but if your planning on buying a house soon,you may want to talk to someone about including the payoff of you credits cards with the home loan,I know it can be done,but Im not sure how high amount of debt they will accept.Its something to look into.There is a link at the top to this page,Community,they may be able to give you some advice on this.Hope this helps and good luck.

Willcarino, your income is quite good enough and you are able to pay your bills without too much problems. Only thing that is worrying you is that you are not able to save anything at the end of the month. Try to get a second job and raise your savings.

debt consolidation program will be shown in your file and the lenders will view your file in a positive way. But if you can make the payments on your own, this will be even better.

Basically, this program is chosen by those people only who are unable to pay their creditors. Aside, the rates of interest charged by your creditors will go down once you have included the debts in this plan.

With such a credit file at present, don't look towards bankruptcy. This negative stain will ruin your credit completely for the next 10 years.

Also, if you can pay slightly more than the minimum each month, then you will be becoming debt free quicker. You might reduce the total duration of 5-6 years depending upon your payment efforts.

During this period, do not look for new credit. You will be increasing your overall expenses and your credit scores will also decline.

Twokidtwocat: I think I know what you're talking about. I believe it's called 103% or 107% home loans. The loans take 7% of the purchase price and apply that to your debt. Say I buy a house for $200K and use the 107% home loan, I can add $14K to the mortgage. I've seen it, but I'll still end up with another $16K in credit card debt. Although....that $14K could get rid of the higher interest rate cards and keep the lower ones. I have a mortgage broker in mind that I can ask however to make sure.

David: I have about $400 left over after all the bills. I used to be able to pay an extra $150 over the minimums but that basically destroyed that venture when one of my credit cards raised their minimum payment due from 1% to close to 2%. It's technically not 2%. BofA basically kept the 1%, but added the finance charges on top of that. My strategy was to pay minimums on the lower interest cards while paying as much as I can on the higher interest card. So instead of paying $150 over the minimum, I'm now paying about $50 over the minimum.

Also, I will have to re-look into getting a second job. I've searched before, but never really did much into it. I just need to get my priorities straight for once.

On another note, I have 2 more credit cards with ZERO balances. Will it affect my credit score negatively, if I close those lines? I haven't used these lines for close to 5 years now. The combined credit line is about $8K. I also have 3 gas cards with non-revolving balances. I pay those off monthly.

Thanks for the encouragement however. It's difficult getting a handle of this on my own.

Don't close this account since it will give a boost to your credit scores. I picked this paragraph from the thread put below

Unused accounts to be kept active - While you are applying for a loan, it is suggested not to close any unused account. At the same time, it is suggested not to open a new account also during that time. It is said because if you are having a short credit history or less number of accounts, the credit score gets lowered when a new account is opened as there is no proven track record of it.