Wednesday, 16 October 2013

Living With A Low Credit Score!

By Bessie D. Burton


If you ever want to refinance your home, buy a car or make a large purchase on credit you need to be concerned about FICO scores. The higher the FICO score the better chance you have of getting an excellent rate from the bank you will be using. Most people never pay attention to their FICO scores until they go to the bank to make a loan. This score is the first thing the creditor looks at before starting any paperwork on a loan. To get an excellent loan rate your score should be higher than 650. Anything over 700 is considered adequate and will usually work on getting you an excellent rate.
[Wealthy Men]


Payment history is reviewed to make sure that you don't have any late payments that are more than 30 days past the due date. If you do, and they're recent ones, then your score will drop. If you keep your payment history on time and pay when bills are due, then the number one category will be a major factor in your final score.The second category, available credit, is based upon a percentage of credit available to you compared to current loan balances. For example, if you have a credit card with a $10,000 credit limit and you have a $3,000 balance, you will be rewarded in your credit score. The algorithms seem to indicate that keeping an approximate balance of one-third of your available credit at all times boosts your score. However, if you approach, or worse go above, your credit limit, your scores will fall.

10% for New Credit: If you are constantly opening new credit lines with department stores, this will lower your credit score. These credit cards have low limits and when you use the maximum amount of credit it will make large decreases in your credit score.10% for the type of credit you have: Credit with high risk lenders, loan sharks, and possess many credit cards, will have a lowering effect on your credit score.

What Exactly is a Credit Score? A credit score is a number of 3 digits that lenders use as an indicator of your capacity to meet financial obligations such as mortgage payments, car payments, credit card bills, loan repayment, etc. It basically tells lenders how likely you are to pay your debts.It is usually a number between 300 and 850. The higher the credit score, the less risky you are to lenders. And the less risky you are to lenders, the better interest rates you will get. Also, the higher your credit score is, the more chances you have in getting a loan. Sounds simple right?

Remember, your payment history contributes to 35% of your credit score, and your balances contribute to 30% of your score. Therefore, maintaining low balances and paying your bills on time each month affects 65% of your credit score.Simply put, the longer your accounts have been opened, the higher your score will become. Accounts that are new may actually bring your score down, especially loans. It is not until you establish a positive history over time that you will notice the positive effects of a score increase.

A healthy mix of different accounts is best. You want your credit report to be comprised of credit cards, mortgages and auto loans. You don't simply want to have credit cards listed on your credit report.When a company pulls your credit report to qualify you for credit, this is called an inquiry. An inquiry will stay on your credit report generally for 3 years. It is very important to limit the amount of inquiries on your credit report. Although inquiries only contribute to 10% of your credit score, too many inquiries in a short period of time makes a consumer appear to be out of money and desperate for credit, and this becomes a risk in the eyes of potential creditors. It also implies to creditors that you may be opening new accounts, which as stated above pushes your credit score down.

The bureaus use the information contained in your credit report to calculate your score. The three major credit bureaus use the FICO scoring system, which ranges from 300 to 850.What Exactly is Your Credit Score Made Of? Your credit score is made of five different parts:Payment History (35%) Payment history refers to the ability to pay your bills on time. It represents 35% of your credit score. Your history is considered the best indicator of your future financial behavior. Late payments, missed payments, loan defaults, unpaid taxes, and the worst of all, bankruptcy, will all hurt your score.It's also important the amount of negative events and when these events happened. Newer events affects your score more than older ones. More severe events (like bankruptcy) are worse than less severe events. And many events hurt your score more than only a few of them.

Do not let your due date slip by.When you pay your bills on time or prior to the due date, you are establishing really good credit score standing. An additional advantage when you are paying in advance is that you are additionally making your balances low.Late payments will certainly not just provide lenders with a bad perception of you but it could contribute to a lower credit rating. To avoid late repayments, it is better to track due dates. Develop a monitoring system for due dates a week or two before your payment is due.

New Credit (10%),The application for new credit represents 10% of your credit score. Every time you apply for new credit, an inquiry is added to your credit report. This inquiry hurts your score, because it tells the bureaus that you are in the need for more money.Also, taking new credit will bring down the average length of your credit accounts. This is because now the new credit account is taken into consideration to calculate the average length.Credit Types (10%),The types of credit that you have represent 10% of your score. It's good to have different types of credits because it shows the lenders that you have experience managing different credit accounts.

Important: Having different types of credits can help your score but don't go out and get loans if you don't need them. This isn't a significant part in the credit score formula (it only represents 10% of your credit score) so don't get yourself into more debt just to have a better mix of credit.How Can I Improve My Credit Score? Now that you know what a credit score is and where it comes from, the next thing you have to do is to start improving it as soon as possible. The truth is that it won't be an easy task (especially if you have a low one): it will take some time, money and patience but it will be worth it. A few more points could be the difference between buying the home or car that you and your family deserve or not!




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