Trying to build or improve your credit score so you can qualify for a mortgage? If so, count the credit cards in your wallet: Too many or too few can negatively affect your score, but there is a sweet spot.

The ideal number of credit cards, according to Philip Tirone of 720CreditScore.com, is three to five.

More than five, and the credit bureaus will worry that you could get yourself into a financial bind if you use them all at once. It doesn't matter to the bureaus whether or not you actually use them. It's the potential that raises a red flag.

Less than three cards, on the other hand, and the bureaus aren't presented with enough information about your spending behavior. Hence, they score you lower.

Here are some other things to keep in mind when applying for credit:

-- Make sure your creditors report to all three credit bureaus: Equifax, TransUnion and Experian.

-- If you need to apply for more than one card to reach the three-to-five goal, do so all at once. Part of your credit score is based on the age of your accounts, says Tirone. If you open one now, and then wait six months to open another, you will lower the average age of your accounts.

-- If you already have more than five cards, don't close the "extras" -- doing so could hurt, not help, your score. Yes, it's counterintuitive, but closing an account could lower the average age of your accounts. Instead, simply stop using the unnecessary cards and allow them to become inactive.

-- Never apply for credit jointly with your spouse. Rather, each of you should apply separately so that you both build individual credit identities.

Tirone says this is important in case you ever find yourself in a financial bind and unable to pay all of your bills. "If you have joint credit cards, both of your credit scores will take a hit, but if you build separate credit profiles, only one spouse's credit score will suffer," he says. "The other can be preserved and then leveraged for loans."

Hurricane season came and went with only one major storm hitting our shores. But a new report from Trulia suggests many of those in Matthew's path are paying for the damages out of their own pockets.

According to a Trulia analysis of government data, households in the Southeast are not as heavily insured as they were just eight years ago. Because the cost of hurricane coverage is an add-on to homeowners' policies, many people are not covered at all.

But it's not just a trend in the Southeast -- it's also a national trend, Trulia discovered. Nationwide, the number of insured homes fell from 94.1 percent eight years ago to 89.2 percent in 2014. That means more folks are choosing to go it alone.

There are numerous reasons why an owner would drop insurance coverage on perhaps their most valuable assets, but to Trulia, one stands out: Insurance is required to keep a mortgage in good standing. When people pay off their loans, they forgo insurance to save even more money.

Another reason? During the last eight years, Trulia says, premiums have climbed more than 28 percent nationally.

Landlords are legally allowed to check your criminal history, whether would-be tenants give them permission or not. So if you have a checkered history or previous housing court actions, gather together any paperwork you have showing how the legal actions were resolved.

But if a landlord tells you not to bother applying because you have a criminal record, that could be considered discrimination, according to Lisa Weintraub Schifferle, an attorney in the Federal Trade Commission's Bureau of Consumer and Business Education.

In that case, you should lodge a complaint. You also have rights when a landlord or property manager uses any kind of background check to deny your application.

Says Schifferle: The landlord must give you notice of the action -- orally, in writing or electronically. The notice must provide the contact information for the company that supplied the report. The notice must tell you about your rights to correct inaccurate information, and to get a free copy of the report if you ask for it within 60 days of the landlord's decision.

You should obtain your free report, fix any errors, and have the company that supplied the report give the corrected info to the landlord. Tell the landlord about the mistake, too.

It's no secret than lending standards have been tighter since the Great Recession, which started at the hands of loose underwriting rules. But what's the true economic impact of those stricter standards?

A new paper from the Urban Institute, a bipartisan think tank, quantifies the impact as 6.3 million loans that failed to launch between 2009 and 2015. For example: If borrowers of all credit levels had had the same access to financing in 2015 that they had in 2001, the report says, lenders would have made 1.1 million more loans that year alone than they actually did.

Between 2001 and 2015, the decline in home loans was particularly acute for borrowers with credit scores below 660, which is considered decent these days. For those folks, the number of purchase loans dropped 65 percent, compared to a 20 percent decline in borrowers with scores from 660 to 700 and just 1.4 percent for those with scores above 700.

The "missing mortgages" don't just mean that millions of people were deprived of sharing in the wealth-building that usually comes with ownership, the institute says. It also means there were fewer construction jobs and fewer sales of the goods new owners typically purchase shortly after they move in.

Regulators are taking steps to expand access to credit. Although the rules won't stretch all the way back to how they were 15 years ago, the Urban Institute says that there is still much to be done. Otherwise, the impact of tight credit will reverberate throughout the economy for years to come.

Faucets are no longer simple plumbing fixtures that release hot and cold water in sinks, tubs and showers. These days, they have evolved into decorative centerpieces with innovative features and eco-friendly functionality.

At the big International Builders' Show set for early 2017 in Orlando, for example, Pfister will unveil the newest generations of faucet technology with features and designs that the world has never seen before.

Among the more than 100 new products the 100-year-old company will exhibit include a voice-controlled fixture for hands-free functionality, clear hand-crafted Italian glass faucets and fixtures, and new faucet technology that delivers both tap and filtered water from a single faucet.

Grohe will debut a hands-free faucet operated by a foot control to reduce the spread of germs. And in the bathroom, American Standard will show a self-cleaning toilet. Simply press a button and walk away, the company promises.

Back in the kitchen, Whirlpool's innovations department, WLabs, will introduce a small food recycler called the Zera. The device can turn a week's worth of food waste into compost for your plants within a 24-hour period.

According to Whirlpool, the typical family produces some 400 pounds of food waste per year. That stuff comprises roughly 20 percent of space in our landfills, and produces methane, a gas that contributes to global warning.

The new Trump administration should "incentivize" people to sell their homes, rather than fixate on timeworn policies to boost demand, says housing economist Ralph McLaughlin.

The market doesn't need buyers right now, the chief economist at Trulia explains. There are plenty of those to go around. But there aren't enough houses for sale to satisfy demand, so we'd be better to focus on boosting inventory.

Programs aimed at increasing the pool of buyers will simply lead to price increases, exasperating buyers on a budget, unless there are enough houses on the market to go around, he argues.

To encourage existing owners to sell and homebuilders to build, McLaughlin would reduce capital gains taxes on investors who snapped up single-family houses during the housing recession and increase tax rates on rental income.

"While home sales slowly recover to their pre-recession average, tight inventory continues to plague buyers and hold back growth," McLaughlin says, noting that there was a year-over-year 4.3 percent drop in the number of houses for sale in October. "If home sales are to drive up to their pre-recession levels, we'll need to see inventory continue to pick up, not fall."

The huge jump in telecommuting suggests that homebuilders should show at least one room in their floor plans as a private office.

According to Adam Artunian of John Burns Real Estate Consulting, 2 out of 5 new-home shoppers work at home at least one day a week, and 1 out of 4 who were born in the '60s and '70s work at home at least three days a week.

Most existing homes were not designed with this trend in mind, though some sellers have turned a bedroom or a living-room corner into a home office. But builders are uniquely able to do so, and that gives them a distinct advantage over resale houses.

The Burns company survey of more than 22,000 new-home shoppers found that a third want a formal office. Surprisingly, more younger buyers prefer a formal office than older ones. Alternatively, 1 in 4 homebuyers prefer an informal office connected to the family living area.

Either way, the majority of buyers said they will pay "a nice premium" for an additional small office area.

Says Artunian: At-home workers "need to escape their noisy children and barking dogs during the day. The opportunity to close the door when on a business call makes a big difference."

WASHINGTON -- Zoning has often been described as a necessary evil. While it is meant to promote order, the strict application of ordinances can render a property practically useless.

Consequently, the need arose for variances: exceptions that allow property owners to use their land or build on it in a way that is otherwise prohibited. Most jurisdictions allow doctors to see patients in their home offices, for example, or permit additions that come close to property lines.

Getting a variance -- essentially, approval to violate local law -- isn't automatic. But generally, as long as you meet a few conditions, you shouldn't have too much difficulty.

No two jurisdictions do things exactly alike. Some places will be tough to work with; others, downright easy. Still, there is enough similarity among the thousands of local rules to give you a fairly good idea of what hoops you can expect to jump through.

Prior to starting construction on any remodeling or home improvement project, no matter how small, you should first determine whether or not you will need a building permit. Surprisingly, a permit is required for practically everything you might want to do around the house -- even replacing a garage door.

Depending on where you live, your permit application may have to be approved by more than one local or state agency. At the same time, many enlightened jurisdictions offer one-stop "walk-through" systems in which a permit for most alterations and additions to a single-family residence can be obtained within a few hours.

That still doesn't relieve the applicant of all the legwork: Among other things, you'll probably have to provide your land/tax number, lot and block number, subdivision name, estimated construction cost, estimated starting and completion dates, and the license number of your contractor. Depending on your project, you may also need several complete sets of building plans, as well as numerous copies or your site and/or landscaping plan. And that's on top of the required filing fee, which may or may not be refundable if you are turned down.

The zoning office will review your plans to be certain your project conforms to specific restrictions regarding setback, height, frontage, lot size, lot coverage, density, parking and use. If you fail to meet any requirement, your application will be rejected and you will have to appeal -- for another fee -- to a higher authority for a variance.

Generally, dimensional variances are granted if the parcel meets several conditions: It is unusually narrow, shallow, oddly shaped, or has exceptional topographic conditions; a strict application of the law will result in undue hardship; or the variance will not substantially impair the integrity of the general plan for your area.

When applying for an exception, you'll have to provide a list of the names and addresses of adjoining property owners so they can be notified that you want to change your property in way that could affect theirs. In some cases, you might even be required to identify local citizens' groups so they can be contacted, too.

It makes no sense to try to hide what you plan to do from your neighbors, especially if there is a possibility someone will object. It's far better to clue them in early and win their support. Perhaps you even can persuade one or two to be with you at the hearing so they can voice their approval.

Similarly, if you misrepresent what you intend to do to zoning officials, you could be denied a use-and-occupancy permit when a final inspection reveals that, say, the oversized garage you want to build is really for servicing other cars, not just your own. Even if you manage to pass that hurdle, the government will find out what's going on when your neighbors start to complain about traffic and parking difficulties. And when that happens, which it will, you can be ordered to tear down your addition.

There are any number of uses for which a special exception may be granted. Generally, home-based livelihoods are allowed if they are performed entirely within the dwelling, incidental to the home's primary use, do not change the character or appearance of the dwelling and do not include the storage of merchandise to be sold.

It's when the proposed use will alter the residential character of the neighborhood -- by generating unwanted traffic, taking scarce parking spaces or creating objectionable noise, odors or sights -- that you are likely to encounter tough sledding. That's why many people within the ever-growing work-at-home movement, as well as increasing numbers of land use experts, believe zoning laws should focus more on the impact of a home-based business on its neighborhood, and less on compiling a list of "acceptable" occupations.

Until that debate is settled, it is again in your best interest to be open and above-board when applying for a use variance. You'll need all the support you can get, and going behind your neighbors' backs is not the way to gain it. It's also a good idea to try to anticipate the building department's questions and possible objections, and have your responses ready.

If you think you might run into trouble, you may want to hire a zoning attorney, who will not only prepare and present your case but also help you determine whether you need such expert witnesses as engineers, planners and real estate brokers.

Whether you have counsel or not, it will help your case to use maps, photographs and other visuals. And while zoning cases are supposed to heard on their merits -- no one case should set a precedent for another -- it won't hurt to show examples of similar exceptions that have already been granted in your neighborhood.