If you’re not paying less than sticker price for these and other goods and services, you’re leaving money — and often lots of it — on the table. “Everything is negotiable,” says Stuart Diamond, adjunct professor of law at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business and author of “Getting More: How to Negotiate to Achieve Your Goals in the Real World.” “All you have to do is ask.”

With that philosophy in mind, follow these tips to negotiate the best possible deal on common fees and expenses:

Credit Card Rates

• Why they are negotiable: Now that most of the dust has settled following the big credit card reform act, card companies are competing fiercely again for new customers. Issuers sent out 1.2 billion credit card offers in the third quarter of 2010 — more than three times the number sent during the same period in 2009.   Don’t jump at the first offer. You should argue for the best rate.

• Who to talk to: Call the 800 number associated with a new card offer (or the number on the back of a current card) and talk to the customer service rep. If the rep can’t — or won’t — adjust the rate, ask to speak with a manager.

• What to say: “I’ve gotten several credit card offers with lower rates. Tell me what you can do to beat those offers.”

• Possible savings: How much you’re able to lower your interest rate will depend on your credit and payment history, as well as your credit score. In a study conducted by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group several years ago, more than half of consumers who asked for lower rates got them, with their average APR dropping from 16 percent to 10.47 percent.

Mortgage and Refinancing Rates and Fees

• Why they are negotiable: “Mortgage lending has gotten difficult, which means that a lender will work hard to make a deal,” says Rheingold. And that’s particularly true for consumers with credit scores of at least 750.

• Who to talk to: Mortgage brokers or lenders at banks and credit unions.

• What to say: Get several estimates in writing and ask, “Here’s the best deal I can get. Can you beat it?”

• Possible savings: In addition to offering better rates, lenders might reduce certain fees or even waive them altogether. To negotiate the lowest out-of-pocket costs, ask for discounts on all upfront fees, including application and origination fees. According to the Federal Trade Commission’s website, comparing and negotiating mortgage fees can result in thousands of dollars of savings.

Home Improvements

• Why they are negotiable: “Business is slow and that means contractors are willing to haggle over their prices,” says Greg Daugherty, executive editor of Consumer Reports. Plus, the prices of many common home building materials are down as much as 35 percent from their peak in the mid-2000s.

• Who to talk to: The contractor.

• What to say: “What are the options for less expensive materials? And what discounts can you offer me on labor?”

• Possible savings: Up to 20 percent of the cost of the project. Of the home improvement contractors who were surveyed in 2010, 80 percent were willing to drop their prices to get a job (compared with 43 percent in 2008). And more than half of the contractors surveyed said they were willing to lower prices by 10 percent, with nearly 25 percent willing to drop their fees up to 20 percent.

Home Appliances and Electronics

• Why they are negotiable: Store managers understand that a discounted deal done today is often better than a potential deal in the future (and definitely better than no deal at all). One trick is to go first thing in the morning or just before the store closes when there are fewer customers. “A manager will hesitate to offer a discount if he thinks he’ll have to make the same deal with all of the customers who overhear the negotiation,” says Consumer Reports’ Daugherty.

• Who to talk to: A store’s manager or assistant manager.

• What to say: “I like this model. If you can give me a discount and free delivery, I’ll buy it today.”

• Possible savings: Profit margins are generally fairly thin on appliances and electronics, so getting 10 percent off is a reasonable goal, particularly if you can also get them to throw in free delivery and installation. Consumer Reports found that three-quarters of shoppers were able to negotiate a better deal on major appliances, with an average savings of $100 per appliance.

Cars

• Why it’s negotiable: Car dealerships are one of the few places where price negotiations are not only acceptable, they’re expected, notes Philip Reed, senior consumer advice editor for car-buying site Edmunds.com.

But instead of trying to negotiate your purchase price down from the MSRP (the sticker price), as you might for other items, ask to see the invoice price (the price the dealer paid for the car) and work your way up from there.

• Who to talk to: Sales staff.

• What to say: “Another dealership has given me a better price on the same model. Tell me how you can beat their offer.”

• Possible savings: It’s possible to save more than $1,000 on a new car by negotiating smartly, according to Reed. And you’ll net even higher savings by also negotiating the value of your trade-in, as well as financing terms and the cost of extended warranties.

Medical Bills

• Why they’re negotiable: Patients usually assume that the cost for various medical procedures and tests are set in stone, but often they’re not. And with health care companies shifting more out-of-pocket costs onto consumers, asking for potential discounts is essential, particularly since there’s often a huge variance in costs among providers, says Angie’s List spokeswoman Cheryl Reed. In Washington D.C., for example, the price for an MRI of the right knee ranges from $400 to $1,501, according to a recent report.

• Who to talk to: The billing administrator.

• What to say: “This is a significant expense for me. Is there a discount for paying upfront or in cash? What other kinds of discounts might be available?”

• Possible savings: Fifty percent or more. An Angie’s List poll found that 74 percent of respondents who negotiated their medical bills were successful, often paying less than half of the original cost.

Like other cities in Florida, the Orlando market saw tremendous demand from investors during the first half of the previous decade. Some were looking to cash in on the appreciating market through short-term property flipping, while others were buying properties for vacation homes.

Although the market attracted interest from buyers in the Midwest and Northeast, condo developers also marketed developments specifically to foreign buyers, particularly in the United Kingdom, says Jack McCabe, CEO of McCabe Research & Consulting.

“It’s almost like [the British] were setting up another colony in the United States,” McCabe says. Abetted by easy credit, such demand helped send home prices surging by more than 102 percent from 2002 to the market’s peak in 2006. But the subsequent crash has been painful.

The nearly 48 percent drop from the peak through the third quarter of 2009 has pulled 58 percent of single-family home mortgages in Orlando underwater, according to Zillow. And McCabe isn’t optimistic about a quick rebound. “For the condo or condo conversion owner, literally they may carry them out feet first before they ever see that property reach 2006 values,” he says.

Greeley, Colo.

With 45 percent of single-family mortgages underwater, the Greeley, Colo., market has among the higher concentrations of negative equity in the nation. The predicament is rooted in an increase in smaller homes built during the first half of the previous decade that were purchased with risky, subprime mortgages, says Randy Moser, the president of the Greeley Area Realtor Association.

“If you had a 550 credit score, you could maybe even get 110 percent financing [and] roll in your closing costs,” he says. But after many of these buyers began falling behind on their payments, area foreclosures surged, and home prices fell about 15 percent through the third quarter of 2009. “We were probably one of the first counties in the United States that went into the foreclosure mess,” Moser says.

Bend, Ore.

From 2002 to early 2007, home prices in Bend, Ore., jumped by 99 percent, as second-home buyers and retirees were drawn to this community. But after the housing bubble popped and economy eroded, home prices have slumped some 32 percent through the third quarter of 2009. “We are seeing homes that people bought for $2.5 million now selling for under $1 million,” says Kathy Ragsdale, the CEO of the Central Oregon Association of Realtors.

Ragsdale says the initial phase of the downturn was triggered by evaporating demand from second-home buyers. But more recently, as unemployment has surged, many residents have found themselves unable to make their mortgage payments. Today, more than half of the residential property transactions in Bend are distressed sales, Ragsdale says.

“It’s huge when somebody stands up in a meeting and says, ‘I have a home for sale, and by the way, it’s not a short sale,’ ” she says. As of the fourth quarter of last year, roughly 41 percent of single-family home mortgages were underwater, according to Zillow.

Minneapolis-St. Paul

Although this area is far removed from the cities most closely associated with the housing bubble, home prices in Minneapolis-St. Paul inflated significantly in the early part of the previous decade. Real estate values increased nearly 34 percent from 2002 to 2006. Brad Fisher, the president of the Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors, says subprime lending played a key role.

“Outside of the coasts, the Minneapolis-St. Paul area was one of the higher areas [of] subprime loans,” Fisher says. “We have paid a price because of that.” The subsequent 29 percent price decline through the third quarter of 2009 pulled nearly 39 percent of single-family home mortgages underwater by the fourth quarter of 2009, according to Zillow.

Memphis

Home prices in Memphis didn’t surge as aggressively as other markets during the boom. But pockets of subprime mortgages–coupled with a modest slump in prices over the past three years–have created a notable concentration of negative equity. Real estate values increased about 12 percent from 2002 to 2006, but prices then fell nearly 18 percent through the third quarter of 2009.

And as of the fourth quarter of last year, roughly a third of all single-family home mortgages were underwater, according to Zillow. Glenn Moore, the president of the Memphis Area Association of Realtors, argues that the negative equity is concentrated in a small part of the overall market. “It is limited to mostly suburban areas and maybe some areas where there was maybe some predatory lending going on,” Moore says.

Cleveland

Home prices in Cleveland increased 13 percent from 2002 to 2006 but then fell nearly 16 percent through the third quarter of 2009. “There was a little bit of overinvestment in housing, and the economy started weakening,” says Celia Chen of Moody’s Economy.com. “[Cleveland] entered recession before the rest of the U.S., and I think weak economic conditions have pulled down home prices.”

Exposure to subprime lending has also played a role in the real estate market’s decline. Roughly 32 percent of single-family home mortgages were underwater as of the fourth quarter of last year, according to Zillow.

Grand Rapids, Mich.

Real estate values in Grand Rapids, Mich., increased 15 percent from 2002 to 2005 and then fell about 13 percent through the third quarter of last year. As of the fourth quarter of 2009, roughly 29 percent of single-family home mortgages were underwater, according to Zillow. The weakness in the housing market is linked to the area’s deteriorating economy, Chen says.

Keep in mind that from mortgages to car loans, your credit history and score matter more than they did prior to the crunch. Rates are at rock-bottom levels for borrowers with top-tier credit — generally credit scores above 720. Before you shop rates, get your credit reports at and check for errors. And buy your credit score from Equifax for $7.95 . That way you can see where you stand before you apply for a loan

Mortgages: Stricter Rules

Mortgage lenders want to make loans now, and they may even bid against one another for your business. But lending standards remain tight, and you must be prepared to produce a mound of paperwork to document your income and assets.

Rates are as low as they were in the 1950s, so going through the motions could pay off. In mid September, the average interest rate for a 30-year, fixed-rate conforming loan — a mortgage of $417,000 or less — was 4.5%, according to HSH Associates, a mortgage-tracking firm. The initial rate for a 5/1 adjustable-rate mortgage (a fixed rate for five years, followed by annual adjustments) was 3.6%.

Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Housing Administration continue to dominate the mortgage market, setting the standards for the loans that lenders make and sell to investors. So lenders strive to dot every i and cross every t when they qualify you.

If you’re buying or refinancing the mortgage on your primary home, you’ll need a minimum down payment of 5% to 10% for a conforming loan or 10% to 15% for a conforming jumbo loan (125% of a metro area’s median home price, up to $729,750). With 20% or more down, you avoid private mortgage insurance, which typically costs 0.5% to 1.5% of your loan amount per year.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac allow a minimum credit score of 620 if you have at least 25% equity in the property or a score of 660 with equity of less than 25%; you’ll get the best rate if your score exceeds 720. The FHA will soon require a minimum credit score of 580 to qualify with a down payment of 3.5%, but FHA lenders often impose a higher minimum score of 670.

In addition to your credit, lenders will also scrutinize your ability to pay, starting with your ratio of debt to income. Monthly housing expenses (principal, interest, taxes, hazard insurance, private mortgage insurance and association fees) shouldn’t account for more than 28% of gross monthly income. Total debt shouldn’t exceed 36% of gross income, but in some cases lenders stretch the maximum to 45%.

Chris Bennett, a loan officer with HomeServices Lending, in Charlotte, N.C., says that he surprises borrowers “all the time” with preapproval of their loan when they aren’t expecting it. Even people with lower credit scores may qualify if they have stable employment, a history of paying rent and credit lines on time, and money in the bank or in a retirement account.

However, Bennett also counsels some borrowers to delay their home purchase long enough to improve their credit score, eliminate debt, get a raise and save more money. They might earn a better interest rate, improving their buying power. Plus, he says, “it’s not good to lay out every bit of cash you have if you won’t have money for a rainy day.”

Prove it. At a minimum, you must supply your pay stubs for the past 30 days and W-2 forms for the past two years. Lenders will want to see bank, retirement-account and investment statements for the past 60 days. Bennett says three types of borrowers will face additional requirements:

If you’re self-employed or if 25% or more of your income is from commissions or bonuses, you must provide two years of tax returns. Lenders will average your income over the past two years to figure your debt-to-income ratio.

If you have pursued opportunities to reduce your taxable income, you may not have sufficient income to qualify even though you may have a lot of money in the bank. Community banks, credit unions and other lenders that typically keep their loans on their own books are the best bet for borrowers with low incomes and high assets, says Bennett.

If you want to rent out your home and buy a new one, you must provide a signed lease for a minimum of 12 months. You can use only 75% of rental income to help qualify for the mortgage, and you must have at least 30% equity in your former home.

If you and your spouse are relocating for work and your spouse doesn’t have a job yet, you must qualify for the loan based on one income unless your spouse has a signed agreement with an employer to begin work within 45 days of closing the loan.

Even if you qualify, you can throw a monkey wrench into the final loan approval if you take on new debt that could affect your credit score or your debt-to-income ratio. Some lenders pull another credit report just before closing. Another possible sticking point is the appraisal. Overly generous appraisals helped to fuel the housing bubble.

Now, miserly ones may thwart your closing, says Guy Cecala, publisher of the newsletter Inside Mortgage Finance. Lenders will estimate the value of your home conservatively, and appraisers are generally following suit, especially if the local market is in flux.

Credit ratings agency Fitch Ratings projects that about two-thirds of borrowers with permanent modifications under the Obama plan will default again within a year after getting their loans modified.

Obama administration officials contend that borrowers are still getting help — even if they fail to qualify. The administration published statistics showing that nearly half of borrowers who fell out of the program as of April received an alternative loan modification from their lender. About 7 percent fell into foreclosure.

Another option is a short sale — one in which banks agree to let borrowers sell their homes for less than they owe on their mortgage.

A short sale results in a less severe hit to a borrower’s credit score, and is better for communities because homes are less likely to be vandalized or fall into disrepair. To encourage more of those sales, the Obama administration is giving $3,000 for moving expenses to homeowners who complete such a sale or agree to turn over the deed of the property to the lender.

Administration officials said their work on several fronts has helped stabilize the housing market. Besides the foreclosure-prevention plan, they cited government efforts to provide money for home loans, push down mortgage rates and provide a federal tax credit for buyers.

“There’s no question that today’s housing market is in significantly better shape than anyone predicted 18 months ago,” said Shaun Donovan, President Barack Obama’s housing secretary.

The mortgage modification plan was announced with great fanfare a month after Obama took office.

It is designed to lower borrowers’ monthly payments — reducing their mortgage rates to as low as 2 percent for five years and extending loan terms to as long as 40 years. Borrowers who complete the program are saving a median of $514 a month. Mortgage companies get taxpayer incentives to reduce borrowers’ monthly payments.

Consumer advocates had high hopes for Obama’s program when it began. But they have since grown disenchanted.

“The foreclosure-prevention program has had minimal impact,” said John Taylor, chief executive of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, a consumer group. “It’s sad that they didn’t put the same amount of resources into helping families avoid foreclosure as they did helping banks.”

Whether you’re obsessing over your FICO score or your Beacon score, you’re likely shopping for credit. The FICO score was developed by Fair Isaac & Co., which began credit scoring in the late 1950s.

The point of the score is consolidate your credit profile into a single number. The Beacon score is a brand name used by Equifax, the largest credit-reporting agency. While Fair, Isaac & Co. and the credit bureaus do not reveal how these scores are computed, whether you get a loan or not is a numbers game: The morapplye points you score on your credit app, the better you do.

There’s a reason you have to fill out so much information when you’re applying for credit. Everything counts. Your age, your address, and even your telephone number all have a role to play in whether or not you’ll get credit.

Young ‘uns and old folk are at a disadvantage since under 21 and over 65 likely means you aren’t working; no points for you. If you’re married, you’ll get a point for being “stable.” And while you might think that being divorced would work against you (all that spousal and child support), most creditors don’t give a whit.

No dependents? Zero points. You’re probably still gallivanting like a teenager since you haven’t yet “settled down.” One to three dependents? Score one point. You’re a solid citizen. More than three dependents? Score zero. Have you no self control! And don’t you know you that with all those mouths to feed you could get in debt over your head?

Your home address counts too. Live in a trailer park or with your parents? Bad risk, score zero points. You could skip town with nary a look over your shoulder. Rent an apartment? Give yourself one point.

Own a home with a big fat mortgage and you’ll score major points since someone has already done some checking and you qualified for a mortgage. Own your home free and clear? Even better. You’ve proven you can pay off a sizable debt and now you have a pile of equity that the card company would love to help you spend.

Previous Residence? Zero to five years (some applications only go to three years), score zero points since you move around too much. No land-line: zero points. How the Dickens are they gonna find you when you fall behind in payments. Since they can’t use your cell phone to actually locate you physically, it doesn’t count.

Less then one year at your present employer earns you no points. Again, it’s a stability and earning continuity thing. The longer you’re on the job, the more likely you are to be bored out of your mind but you’ll score more points. And, not to overstate the obvious, the more you make the better.

The more willing you are to make your lender rich, the higher your score will be. Since the FICO score was originally designed to measure customer profitability, if you pay off your balance in full every month, you’re going to score lower than the guy who only makes the minimum payment and pays huge amounts of interest.

Scores range from 300 to 900 and if you manage to hit 750 or above you’ll qualify for the best rates and terms. Score 620 or lower and you’ll pay premium interest if you even qualify; 620 is the absolute minimum credit score for insured mortgages.

Your credit score can change quickly. Payment history accounts for about 35% of your credit score and just one negative report can drop your pristine score into the doldrums. Since scores are updated monthly, your bad behaviour won’t go unpunished for long.

The type of credit you have counts for about 10% of your score. And your current level of indebtedness accounts for about 30% so going too close to your credit limit is another way to deflate your score. One rule of thumb is to keep your balances below the 65% mark. So if you have a limit of $1,000, you won’t ever carry a balance that’s more than $650.

Having too much credit available can also hurt your ability to borrow since the more credit you have, the more trouble you can get yourself into. If you’ve got a walletful of cards, canceling credit you’re not using can be a good thing – for both you and your credit score – over the long haul.

Careful though. If the card you’re eliminating is one with a long, positive history, you’ll eliminate what could be a very good record of your repayment when you cancel the card. You’d be better off cutting up the card so you aren’t tempted to use it, while you establish a track record (six months or more) before you actually cancel the account.

Credit shopping can also cost you points. Since about 10% of your credit score relates to the number and frequency of new credit enquiries, applying willy nilly for new credit will end up costing you.

However, it’s only when a lender checks your score that this registers on your score. Checking your own credit report/score is considered a “soft” inquiry and does not go against your score.

After stocks and the euro took a tumble this week on the announcement that credit rating agency Standard and Poor’s was downgrading Greece’s credit rating to junk status, new calls have gone out for ratings agencies to act “responsibly” and for the creation of an independent European rating agency.

But responsibility is not a word that has been associated with credit ratings agencies much in the wake of the global financial crisis, especially after it emerged that the business practices of the big three US ratings firms – Standard and Poor’s, Moody’s and Fitch – played a central role in helping bring about the economic meltdown.

“We should not make the welfare of Europe dependent on ratings agencies,” Peter Bofinger, a member of the German government’s independent economic advisory panel, told the newspaper Die Welt.

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, who called for a European credit rating agency, said rating agencies must not develop, sell and rate financial products at the same time.

“Conflicts of interest are guaranteed,” he said.

A top International Monetary Fund official questioned the agencies’ accuracy, arguing that that their assessments reflect mainly investors’ perceptions of a nation’s financial health.

“That’s why you shouldn’t believe too much in what they say,” IMF managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said last week.

But according to Manfred Jäger-Ambrozewicz of the Cologne Institute of Business Research, government regulators and governments themselves, who also depend on ratings agencies analysis, have played a role in the increase of the agencies’ influence.

“It’s kind of ridiculous that they’ve turned on them now,” he told Deutsche Welle. “They are the ones who have largely given them so much power.”

He added that the creation of a new European ratings agency would be possible, but that agencies are built on their reputations, and it would take some time for a brand-new ratings entity to become credible.

“But if in addition to the private rating we had something from a semi-state agency or a rating by a body like the IMF or the European Central Bank, that could be helpful,” Jäger-Ambrozewicz said.

Later this year, new EU rules which were hammered out last year will apply some regulation on already-existing agencies that operate in Europe.

The rules, which go into effect in December, will oblige the agencies to disclose information about the models and methods on which their ratings are based and require adherence to new corporate governance standards meant to guard against potential conflicts of interest.

• Paying bills on time and minimizing debt.
• Clearing incurred debt as soon as possible, and refrain from acquiring fresh debt.
• Avoidance to transferring debt balances.Keeping low or no balances on credit cards.
• Keeping old bank accounts operative.
• Interceding for an immediate intervention of a payment plan and outside help, if the debt incurred is more than you can handle.

It is very important to assess the situation from a third person perspective and work in tandem with a lender. It helps to earn goodwill via regular payments, to improve your credit rating.

The credit rating vouches for your credibility. You should focus on ironing out your previous history of borrowing and repayment and repair the liabilities-assets ratio, to feature more assets than debts.

It is critical to tally facts within the credit report and take remedial action to eliminate errors and omissions.

You can use factors such as transparency in the stock market and public investment enhancement patterns to your advantage. You need to apply all your energy to meet impromptu expenses and train yourself to optimize credit-in-hand.

Monitoring and reviewing past credits and identifying wanton expenses also help to maintain a good credit rating. The regularity with which you address repayment of incurred debt greatly reflects your financial stability. A credit rating addressed and repaired in time attracts smaller rates of interest and easily manageable credit balances.

Designing your own finance management strategy will help you to enjoy a stronger credit rating in the near future. Paying back high interest rate credit card debt and not spending more than 30% of your total credit limit are both highly beneficial to a sore credit rating.

Calculations include averages summed up from the financial history of the individual or entity, and the available current assets and liabilities. A credit rating is a very important evaluation that tells an investor or lender whether or not a fiscal avenue being explored or the borrower is financially healthy enough to pay back the desired line of credit. Credit ratings are also sought to calculate and adjust insurance premiums and interest rates.

The readings, and sometimes the final score, help to determine employment eligibility. A poor credit rating simply attracts high interest rates and/or loan refusal. The factors that commonly influence credit rating include the amount of credit availed of, saving and spending patterns, incurred debt and current ability to repair the impaired history.

How to Improve Credit Rating:

Credit rating is usually compiled and maintained by the Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion credit bureaus. A person or business entity’s credit worthiness is usually determined via statistical analysis of the evaluated credit data. The records reveal a 3-digit credit score, also referred to as the FICO or Fair Isaac Corporation score.

The credit rating agencies calculate debt obligations and debt instruments that can be traded within a secondary market. Credit ratings are commonly accessed by investors, banks, issuers, broker-dealers and the government. The rating helps evaluate the current credit risk associated with the person or business.