Dan

The statement closing date for my personal Amex Gold card is the 22nd of the month. What date would they report my charge balance to the three credit reporting agencies?

I run up a large balance each month because I travel on business but I pay it off in full each month. I'm getting ready to refi my mortgage and I want the latest card balance to show as close to zero as possible when they run my FICO score.

My mother-in-law's situation:

1) 72 years old. Single. 40 year old deadbeat son living in her spare bedroom.

2) Owns home with $120K loan balance on a realistic value of $85K. No other debt.

3) Her total income(social security + small pension) is about equal to her fixed costs (mortgage, tax, insurance, utilities)

4) She has been draining her small savings to pay for food, emergency repairs, uncovered medical expenses. That balance is approaching zero.

5) No assets other than household goods and an old car.

Desired outcome:

1) Get out of house and rent small apt with no room for son, lower rent, vs mortgage payment, close to daughter.

2) Get rid of car.

3) No need for decent credit other than to get apartment lease started. She's never going to buy anything that would require credit.

Bottom line is she needs to lower her monthly fixed costs, get rid of parasitic son and move closer to my wife and I for logistical and financial help.

So my question is does she really need to declare Chapter 7 or can she just do a foreclosure and walk away? I believe a simple foreclosure is the best thing for her; simpler and less stress. Any other thoughts and things she needs to consider?

I'm looking at this as a simple process: 1) Rent apartment and start utilities. 2) Move. 3) Stop paying mortgage. 4) Deal with bank on foreclosure but I don't really know what she has to lose by just ignoring them.

Thanks.

I'm replacing my exterior door with a new Douglas Fir slab. I'm concerned that If I hang it perfectly now it will be too tight of a fit once the summer comes. How much clearance should I allow between the door and the finished opening if I want to make sure it still closes smoothly come the hot humid summer we get here in Georgia.

Thanks.

I'm trying to establish the true value of a home. I want the price that I could actually sell it for, in today's market in the condition it's currently in. In my experience certified appraisers don't spend much time inside a house at all let alone the comps. I talked to one appraiser who said a lot of time he never goes inside. How is he supposed to notice that the kitchen in the subject house is from 1958, the wood floors are water damaged, the carpet is worn to the backing, the hot water heater is leaking rusty water,the ceiling stains are due to a leaky roof and it reeks of cat urine? I know the Appraiser is not a Home Inspector but it seems to me an appraisal by itself is not that accurate a measure of market value.

I'm guessing the best way to establish true market value is have an appriasal and then a home inspection and adjust the appraised price based on major findings during the inspection. That of course is open to interpretation. I have a legal situation where I need to establish true market value in a way that is very cut and dry and is not open to second guessing.

Thanks.

I'm looking at a new 2010 Ford Edge. I can't seem to find any difference between the Edge SE with the 202A package and the Edge Limited with no options. The Limited MSRP is $600 more so there must be some difference. The sales people are clueless.

I have an old house that is wired with two wires through flexible metal conduit. I have metal boxes. There is no ground wire in the conduit. My understanding is the conduit serves as the ground. I am changing some of the outlets from two prong to three prong. Do I need to run a ground wire from the new outlet to the box or will the metal to metal connection of the outlet to box itself suffice?

I purchased a surplus laptop from my company that runs XP. Now I want to reinstall XP and set it up the way I want. I have the XP Professional CD but the install won't take the product key that is on the "official" Microsoft hologram sticker on the bottom of the laptop. What can I do short of buying a new copy of XP?