So, given my current debt paydown rate, I should be debt free within the next few months. This had led to me beginning to look into buying a home, especially one near my current abode. To that end, I spent some time today (while various tests were running) looking at Realtor.com and the similar Yahoo sites. Based on my analysis, it looked like there were quite a few places near me in the $250k-$350k range which is probably what I can afford. Hopefully prices will continue to decline while I build up a savings to use as a down payment.

This line of thought also led me to actually buy a copy of my full credit report (with score) from Equifax. It turns out that my credit rating is currently 737 (they range from 310 to 850) which is much better than I expected. The only "negative" parts of my score are the "total length" of my history and the "average account age" which are (for obvious reasons) not up to the 8-12 year desired range.

It amazes me how little it takes for me to pull a copy of my entire financial history from a company that I never before today had a relationship with. It seems crazy that, given my name, SSN and a single challenge questions, I can get a full listing of my account history from so many places. It may be a necessary evil, but it still seems troubling.

Published by XPost