Paying on time...always.Besides paying down debt?
The only FAST way to improve score is paying off debt and making 100% sure all payments on time
What brought your score down? If you have any collections pay them off, and try to pay in full. "Settled less than full" on a credit report is still a negative because the lender didn't get paid back everything owed. Late payments are a killer to a score. As ford91explorer said scores go down fast and up slow. If you are a member of a credit union check and see if they partner with a credit counseling service(the small credit union I work for offers one for our members). DO NOT pay anyone to "fix" your credit, time and good habits are the only way to do it.
Pull your credit reports and see if anything is wrong. Get it fixed.
Reduce your utilization rate. Two ways to do this. You either get more credit cards to increase your available credit or you pay down your existing debt.
Minimize the number of hard inquiries you do each year.
Don't move. Time at residence matters.
Don't change jobs. Time at employer matters.
Don't pay late.
Understand that your credit score is seasonal. Most people buy a lot of stuff over the holidays, so their utilization goes up in November and December. Their score also goes down. Folks tend to pay down or off this debt in February and March with tax refunds, so their score tends to rebound back.
Time at residence does not matter nor does anything having to do with employment. I haven't worked in 17 years and have an 835 credit score. I have also moved several times in the last 20 years.
I’ve built models for a living. They do matter. Financial companies use in house custom models. No one relies on off the shelf FICO models anymore to make decisions.
Here’s an extreme example. SoFi uses your social media profile to come up with part of your score. One piece of data they use is where your friends live. How many live in the same state as you? They can use this to figure out your propensity to move. It’s more difficult to skip trace someone that moves a lot. If you have more out of state than in state friends it also speaks to how stable you are. Another piece of data they use is how many laundromats are close to where you live. This has gotten them into trouble recently.
If you are going to be purchasing a house soon, do not apply for any new cards or credit of any kind.It’s actually pretty good. I I don’t really have a low score. But, it could be higher, and I’m about to buy a house, so I’d like to just maximize it as best I can.
If you are going to be purchasing a house soon, do not apply for any new cards or credit of any kind.
You can ask your currant credit card issuers to increase your limit but make sure that they only do a soft pull and NOT a hard pull.
what percentage of your car loan has been paid? If it’s a low percentage and you have the cash for a few extra payments this could boost your score a bit.
As others have said, check your reports to make sure everything on there is accurate.
Everything is accurate. I just bought the car 9 months ago so I am 9 months in and always on time. How much of a difference would it make if I put an extra few payments down? I understand the hard pull and I will be talking to the bank this week.
there is no magical number I can give you. If there was a magic formula out there that we could all follow, we would all have 850 scores.Everything is accurate. I just bought the car 9 months ago so I am 9 months in and always on time. How much of a difference would it make if I put an extra few payments down? I understand the hard pull and I will be talking to the bank this week.
I’ve built models for a living. They do matter. Financial companies use in house custom models. No one relies on off the shelf FICO models anymore to make decisions.
Here’s an extreme example. SoFi uses your social media profile to come up with part of your score. One piece of data they use is where your friends live. How many live in the same state as you? They can use this to figure out your propensity to move. It’s more difficult to skip trace someone that moves a lot. If you have more out of state than in state friends it also speaks to how stable you are. Another piece of data they use is how many laundromats are close to where you live. This has gotten them into trouble recently.
I’ve built models for a living. They do matter. Financial companies use in house custom models. No one relies on off the shelf FICO models anymore to make decisions.