IT’S EASIER THAN EVER TO SEE YOUR CREDIT SCORE FOR FREE

Free Credit Scores Abound. A handful of credit card issuers are betting that you'd like to see your credit score every month. Discover, Barclaycard US and First Bankcard's have started offering their 35 million cardholders free access to their credit scores. The score they're sharing called FICO is used by credit card issuers to decide whether to give you a charge account and what interest rate to charge you. Discover is putting your credit score on your monthly statement. Barclaycard and First Bankcard customers will have to visit their credit card company's website to see their score. You don't have to open a new credit card account to see your credit score. Credit.com, CreditSesame.com and CreditKarma.com will give you a credit score (without making you pay for credit monitoring services as some other sites do). The score you get on those sites can be different from your FICO score and from the credit scores used by mortgage companies, auto dealers and other types of lenders. All credit scores are calculated using information from your credit report, but each type of credit score is based on a proprietary formula devised by the company that sells the score. While different scores have different number ranges they all predict how likely you are to repay. So if you have good credit based on one scale, you should have good credit based on another credit score's scale, even though the two numbers might be different.

Which LED Light Bulbs Work Best?

The incandescent bulb's days are numbered; by Jan. 1, 2014, most will have been phased out. You sure won't miss their influence on your utility bill since a typical 60-watt bulb costs more than three times as much per year to run as a similar LED bulb. But you might cringe when you see how much it costs to replace an incandescent with an LED. You can save money by looking for a utility rebate coupon before you head to the store. When shopping for LED bulbs, keep in mind: Lumens indicate brightness Kelvin number tells you what color light the bulb gives off. The Best LED Bulbs for Different Fixtures Don't assume the most expensive LED bulb is the best. Consumer Reports says these less expensive, LED options shined brightly compared to the competition: For lamps and ceiling fixtures: For 60-watt replacements, Wal-Mart's Great Value Soft White LED ($10),the least expensive of the new bulbs in Consumer Reports' preliminary tests gives off a warm yellow light similar to an incandescent bulb. They also liked Cree's 9.5-Watt (60W) Warm White ($13) and the Philips 11W 60W Soft White 424382 ($14). The fully-tested, top-rated Samsung 60-Watt Warm White LED ($30) provides a bright, warm yellow light. For light that's warm but brighter, and is meant to replace 75-watt bulbs, the Eco-Smart 14-Watt (75W) Soft White 726558 ($35) is an alternate choice. For recessed and track lights: In preliminary tests, Wal-Mart's Great Value Soft White BR30 is bright and dimmable, and is the least expensive ($160. The fully-tested Feit Electric BR30 Dimmable LED ($18) replaces a 65-watt bulb and casts a warm yellow light. For outdoor lights: The Max-Lite 20Watt PAR38 100W ($40) offers bright white light in Consumer Reports' preliminary tests and can be used with some electronic timers, photocells and motion sensors. The fully-tested TCP 17W PAR38 Flood LED ($40) claims to last about 46 years when used 3 hours a day. The full report on LED light bulbs, including additional recommendations, is in Consumer Reports' January 2014 issue.

PRICES HOMES UP BY DOUBLE DIGITS IN MANY METRO AREAS

The national median home price showed its strongest annual growth in nearly eight years during the third quarter of this year, according to data collected by the National Association of Realtors. A whopping 144 of the 163 metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) tracked by NAR showed gains between the third quarter of this year and the third quarter of last year. In 54 of those MSAs, the increases were in the double digits. The national median existing single-family home price was $207,300 in the third quarter, up 12.5 percent from $184,300 in the third quarter of last year. That's the strongest year-over-year increase since the fourth quarter of 2005 when the median home price jumped 13.6 percent. Condominium and cooperative prices rose 15.1 percent to a median $205,400 in the third quarter. One reason home prices are rising is that foreclosures and short sales are falling. Short sales are homes sold for less than what the owners owed on their mortgage. Foreclosures and short-sale homes typically sell at a discount. That can lower the value of nearby homes because appraisers look at all recent sales when they determine a home's current value. In the third quarter, only 14 percent of home sales were foreclosures or short sales. That's down from 24 percent a year ago. Across the country, about 2.21 million homeowners had their properties for sale, modestly higher than the third quarter of 2012, when 2.17 million homes were on the market. That's a 5-month supply of homes for sale, down from a 5.9-month supply in the third quarter of 2012.

SOLAR ELECTRIC SYSTEMS HELP HOMES SELL FASTER

Solar photovoltaic (PV) systems typically increased market value and almost always decreased the length of time it took to sell a sample of 30 single-family homes in Denver studied by the Appraisal Institute. Homeowners in the Denver metro area over time increasingly have sought residential homes with PV systems, Appraisal Institute officials pointed out. And because the study looked only at homes in Denver, you shouldn't assume it automatically applies to homes in your area. How much any one home feature, including a PV system, adds to home value is always a moving target, said Appraisal Institute President Richard Borges. Good appraisers monitor the local market for changes in demand for PV systems, just as they do for other property features. One big factor in the value of a PV system is the local cost for electricity. Where electricity costs are high, a PV system will likely have a better return on investment than in an area where electricity is relatively cheap. The age and size of the PV system also influence its value. The Appraisal Institute study found value was most commonly related to the size of the property's PV system, followed by its age. Larger systems typically sell for more than the smaller systems. Overall, the value added per kilowatt (kW) ranged from $1,450 to $2,570.