Building a credit score
Date: Fri, 10/16/2009 - 18:38
My situation:
I had an $11k auto loan, 9k personal loan, and various cc accounts that were maxed out to the tune of 8k.
I was able to pay them all due to an inheritance. This was done last month.
My goal:
To raise my credit score in the next 6 months, and refinance a 75k mortgage. This loan is 100% LTV right now, due to decreased property value. I hope to have 10k saved by then for a down payment.
After paying off the Wells Fargo auto loan, they called, wanting to talk about refinance. Due to the nightmare I had trying to get that car loan paid off, they are on my list as a last resort lender. They did tell me my score was at 660.
I had a BK that was discharged in 2002. Since then I have not been one minute late on payments to all these accounts. I had applied for credit 3-4 times in the last year, and rejected because I owed too much of the total credit line.
My question:
Is it realistic to see my score raise to 760 in the next 6 months? I plan to use 10% or less of available credit, and keep the balances paid. Is 6 months of this behavior enough to get to 760?
I use 760 because that seems to be the cut off point to the most favorable interest rates. Is this correct, or is it lower or higher?
Also, is it better to save the 10k (or perhaps less) to use as a down payment, or would it be better used applying it to my present principal amount?
I had an $11k auto loan, 9k personal loan, and various cc accounts that were maxed out to the tune of 8k.
I was able to pay them all due to an inheritance. This was done last month.
My goal:
To raise my credit score in the next 6 months, and refinance a 75k mortgage. This loan is 100% LTV right now, due to decreased property value. I hope to have 10k saved by then for a down payment.
After paying off the Wells Fargo auto loan, they called, wanting to talk about refinance. Due to the nightmare I had trying to get that car loan paid off, they are on my list as a last resort lender. They did tell me my score was at 660.
I had a BK that was discharged in 2002. Since then I have not been one minute late on payments to all these accounts. I had applied for credit 3-4 times in the last year, and rejected because I owed too much of the total credit line.
My question:
Is it realistic to see my score raise to 760 in the next 6 months? I plan to use 10% or less of available credit, and keep the balances paid. Is 6 months of this behavior enough to get to 760?
I use 760 because that seems to be the cut off point to the most favorable interest rates. Is this correct, or is it lower or higher?
Also, is it better to save the 10k (or perhaps less) to use as a down payment, or would it be better used applying it to my present principal amount?
There is a program called Credit Xpert used by alot of companies
There is a program called Credit Xpert used by alot of companies to evaluate how ones credit score can be raised. I dont know if it is available to consumers but you just plug in where you want to be and it tells you what you need to do. When a family member was trying to get a mortgage this is what the mortage agent used to get their score up.
