You've heard it before: List your home early in the year. That way, you'll be ready to close the deal when home sales peak in June. But what exactly does "early in the year" mean?

Based on an analysis of supply, demand and sellers' outcomes in "Zillow Talk: The New Rules of Real Estate," co-authors Spencer Rascoff and Stan Humphries have revealed the magic window to list your home: mid-March to mid-April. (For those who like sports analogies, think March Madness to The Masters.)

We also went one step further to determine the exact weeks you should list in different parts of the country. Turns out, the best time to list follows weather patterns. In markets with warm climates like Miami, the magic window starts now. But in places with harsh winters like Boston, waiting until mid- to late April is your best bet.

What's so magical about the magic window? It's when you'll sell your home faster and for more money. The data shows homes sold from mid-March to mid-April sell around 15 percent faster and for 2 percent more than the average listing. That's a national premium worth more than $4,000. And in hot markets like San Francisco, that could mean an extra $22,000 in your pocket!

Out with the old, in with the new

Because the majority of home shoppers now start their search on Zillow or another site refreshed multiple times a day, listings can become old news fast.

Because the majority of home shoppers now start their search on Zillow or another site refreshed multiple times a day, listings can become old news fast.

As a home seller, your biggest competition is a surge in new homes for sale, pushing yours lower in search results. The largest surge nationally occurs in the last weeks of February and into early March, so if you list your home before then you may quickly become outranked.

Listing your home in late March or early April, however, means you'll likely bypass this surge.

You want a marriage, not a fling

When you're looking to sell, you don't want to attract people who are just looking. You want someone who's serious about buying.

How do you know if a buyer is serious? One way is to see if they've contacted a real estate agent or mortgage broker, signaling they're ready to take the next step in the home buying process.

Data shows agent and lender contacts build in early April, so this is a good time to put your home on the market if you want to attract serious buyers.

Time is money

In addition to attracting a serious buyer, you likely care about two things: how quickly and how much you sell your home for. Turns out, the two go hand-in-hand.

After Jan. 1, the first significant drop in the time listings typically spend on the market is in late March. This is also when the difference between final sale prices and list prices is highest.

Ah, the credit score. This almost-mythical three-digit manifestation of financial responsibility is among the most important numbers in a person's life. Unfortunately, many of us are confused about how credit scores are formulated, what they affect and where we stand. That's a big problem, especially for potential home buyers.

Both consumer credit scores and the real estate market have improved in recent years from the doldrums of the housing collapse and ensuing recession. Not only are there fewer distressed homeowners these days, but we're also on pace for a 9 percent increase in annual home sales during 2014 as well as an until-further-notice continuation of Federal Reserve policies designed to keep interest rates low and stimulate economic growth.

"Current mortgage rates remain very attractive by historical standards, though they have climbed just over half a percent from the levels in 2012," Michael L. Bognanno, chairman of the economics department at Temple University, told WalletHub in a recent interview. "Because current inflation and expected future inflation are at low levels and unemployment, while gradually falling, remains high, I expect the Federal Reserve to continue the course of depressing interest to promote growth, employment and the recovery of the housing market."

In other words, even though home prices are on track to rise 11 to 12 percent in 2014, the current landscape is very appealing for consumers who have solid credit and the ability to place a sizable down payment on a home. Why are those factors so important? Because the higher your credit standing and down payment are, the better your odds of mortgage approval will be and the less you will pay when all is said and done.
 

Ah, the credit score. This almost-mythical three-digit manifestation of financial responsibility is among the most important numbers in a person's life. Unfortunately, many of us are confused about how credit scores are formulated, what they affect and where we stand. That's a big problem, especially for potential home buyers.

Both consumer credit scores and the real estate market have improved in recent years from the doldrums of the housing collapse and ensuing recession. Not only are there fewer distressed homeowners these days, but we're also on pace for a 9 percent increase in annual home sales during 2014 as well as an until-further-notice continuation of Federal Reserve policies designed to keep interest rates low and stimulate economic growth.

"Current mortgage rates remain very attractive by historical standards, though they have climbed just over half a percent from the levels in 2012," Michael L. Bognanno, chairman of the economics department at Temple University, told WalletHub in a recent interview. "Because current inflation and expected future inflation are at low levels and unemployment, while gradually falling, remains high, I expect the Federal Reserve to continue the course of depressing interest to promote growth, employment and the recovery of the housing market."

In other words, even though home prices are on track to rise 11 to 12 percent in 2014, the current landscape is very appealing for consumers who have solid credit and the ability to place a sizable down payment on a home. Why are those factors so important? Because the higher your credit standing and down payment are, the better your odds of mortgage approval will be and the less you will pay when all is said and done.
 

• Determine where you stand. There are a number of free ways to estimate your credit standing, and doing so will enable you to evaluate your starting point as well as develop a plan to improve your applicant profile if necessary.

• Check your credit reports for errors and fraud. The National Consumer Law Center reports that research by consumer groups shows that up to 25 percent of consumer credit reports contain errors significant enough to cause a denial of credit. Finding unauthorized financial accounts listed on your credit report is also one of the easiest ways to spot fraud. And since we are all entitled to a free copy of each of our major credit reports once every 12 months, there's no reason not to make sure everything is in order before getting too deep into the home buying process.

• Pay bills on time and minimize credit utilization. Payment history and amounts owed together account for roughly 65 percent of your credit score. Given that potential lenders are likely to be most concerned about recent performance, it's important that you pay all credit card and loan bills by the due date and use only a fraction of the credit made available to you in the months leading up to a home purchase.

• Maximize savings. The bigger your down payment, the more you will save on a home purchase. That's obvious, since you'll be borrowing less, paying less in interest over the life of your mortgage and assuming full ownership of your home sooner. Making a budget that eliminates unnecessary expenses and maximizes savings should therefore be a no-brainer for anyone seriously contemplating buying a home, especially considering the added cost of moving and furnishing a new home.

• Be strategic about opening a new credit card. Credit cards are the most efficient credit building tools available to consumers, as they report account information to the major credit bureaus monthly without necessitating that you get into debt (unlike a loan). As long as this information reflects timely payments and low credit utilization, it will lead to credit score improvement over time. But opening a new credit card account can diminish your credit score for a few months. That means it's wise to get a new card only when you have the better part of a year before your planned home purchase.

by: Daily Finance

I want to talk about the five biggest moments in my personal finance journey. I was never destitute, but growing up with a single mom, we didn't have anything resembling financial security. When it was time for me to go off on my own, I promptly did a financial faceplant and amassed a bunch of debts that are frankly embarrassing to think about today. It has been more than a decade since I started turning things around, and half that time since I really started to gain ground. Lots of people can replicate in these milestones in their own lives.

1. I hit rock bottom. When I look at pictures of myself at 21 and 22, I want to slap my stupid face. That kid spent and partied his way to five figures of debt with very little money coming in. I hope you enjoy that sports car, because you certainly can't afford it! I didn't really know better yet, but I quickly learned when I couldn't afford to make payments and I found out that I would be paying off my debts for more than a decade at the rate I was going. It took awhile for the reality of this to sink in. I will be poor -- this poor -- for many years to come. So I changed things up. I sold my car. I worked 70-80 hours a week at two jobs for almost two full years. I stopped wasting money and time, and I threw every extra dollar at my debts until ...
2. I paid off my debt. In less than two years, no less! This was a huge eye opener for me. Not only had I killed off debt that was set to haunt me for a big chunk of the rest of my life, I had done it quickly. I've got to credit my mom for inspiration on this one. I had seen her turn her life around by buying a business a couple of years before. Seeing that another life was possible gave me the energy to work stupid long hours until my head was above water. It was a great feeling, but it didn't stop there.
3. I started saving. For over a year, I was putting upwards of $1,000 into debt balances, every single month. Now I had no more debt. I kept working at the same rate for about half a year, still saving that much every month. But I started saving it in several key areas: 1) a six-month emergency fund, 2) a fund for the down payment of a house, 3) monthly contributions into my fresh new individual retirement account, 4) a fund for travel and 5) a fund to help start my business. Once the emergency fund was filled up, I could contribute even more to these other areas. At some point, I burned out laboring like a workaholic (not my natural mode of existence), so I quit my other job and took a breather. I can't tell you how much my mindset at this time differed from that of two years before. I felt like I could breathe. I didn't feel anxious. I felt good.
4. I started my business. This takes us to about 2010, when I started getting the Modest Money blog off the ground. MM didn't become my full time gig for a couple more years, but I had learned the basics of web marketing through one of my jobs, and I knew I could do this thing myself. I spent thousands of hours learning how to really do this thing. I went to conferences, learned coding and talked to anybody who knew something I didn't about blogging. I also started a couple of side web ventures, a couple of which are still going strong today. Today, my work life is pretty fluid. Some days I work for other people, many days just for myself. I have a lot of residual income streaming in from many sources. If one business goes belly up, I know there are different revenue streams that will survive. The same goes for my investments.
5. I bought my house. I don't know if I just missed the memo on home ownership when I was growing up, but it has turned out to be an awesome way to build wealth. My home has appreciated about 7 percent every year I've owned it. Because my taxes and interest payments are written off on my taxes, that's a 28 percent return on my investment since I bought my house. Add to this the steadily building wealth I've gained through equity, and my home might be the single best investment I have made in life thus far. It makes me want to buy more real estate.

The Hero in Your Future

I don't know if you saw Matthew McConaughey's crazy-eyed Oscar acceptance speech from last year, but he said something I'll always remember. He said that his hero in life was himself 10 years from now. That might sound a little conceited if you don't frame it right. Basically, he said he wanted to always be pushing himself to be better, to become someone that his past self could respect and admire. I want to do the same. I think my little debt-ridden self from a decade-plus ago would like the guy I've become. I want the same to go for the guy I am 10 years from now. Here are a couple bonus milestones I'd like to see in my future.

1. More houses. I'd like to own a few houses. I've seen the way my current place has appreciated, and I'd like to rent to others. Growing up in a string of rental places, I know how vulnerable being a renter can be. I remember good landlords and bad ones. If I'm going to invest in properties, I want to provide quality housing to people without pushing for the highest dollar tenants. Just a personal project, but it's something close to my heart. The way I look at it, it's a way I can grow my money while providing a service that people actually need.              
2. Investments for my children. I don't have kids, and my girlfriend and I have no specific plans. But I want them someday. Before I start reproducing, I want to have investments in place for them to at least be able to go to college, to get a level of education somewhat better than the one I had.

These future investments will only be possible because I made the changes I mentioned in the first milestone. Without changing my life and paying off my debt, I never would have been able to achieve any level of wealth. Many people never get past that first step. I want to encourage you to make the change. Those two years or so were the hardest step on this journey. I guess that's why more people don't get past that stage. If I can do it, you can. Feel free to reach out to me or check out my writing for tips on how. But it's not rocket science. You can get there just like I did.