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Improve Your FICO Score Before Shopping For Homes For Sale



I


t always is exciting to         credit report.                    
begin looking at homes for                                        
sale in your area, bigger       Payment History                   
and perhaps nicer than the                                              
property you currently own.           Your payment history accounts for 
Before you let the excitement         35 percent of your FICO score and 
carry you away and make an offer      has the biggest impact on         
for homes for sale, first check       purchasing homes for sale. It     
your FICO score to ensure you can     covers your timeliness of         
purchase homes for sale at the        payments, bankruptcy, liens, wage 
best rate.                            garnishments, collections,        
                                      delinquent accounts, and the      
If your score is below 600 for        severity of the delinquencies —   
any reason, you need to take          all very important data to the    
corrective action. Better to put      homes for sale lender. Do the     
off looking for homes for sale,       following to improve your payment 
until you can purchase one at a       history:                          
good rate. Otherwise, you will be                                       
paying thousands more than            • Catch up any delinquent bills   
necessary for your homes for sale     and make them current. Begin with 
over the life of the mortgage. A      the revolving credit accounts and 
score below 600 puts you at a         then the smallest to the largest  
disadvantage with homes for sale      account balances. Then, stay      
lenders; but with dedication and      current.                          
lots of effort on your part, you                                        
can improve your FICO score and       • Begin paying all bills on time. 
get the better mortgage rate and                                        
terms for your homes for sale.        • If you find yourself having     
This article gives you ways to        financial problems, contact your  
improve your FICO score and your      creditors immediately — before    



you are late on payments. They        percentages are negatives to      
can help you with temporary           homes for sale lenders. At the    
remedies that may not impact your     most, 75 percent is barely        
credit rating. If you are truly       acceptable to the homes for sale  
in debt and do not know what to       lender; 35 to 25 percent is best. 
do, contact a reputable credit        So, pay down your total debt to   
counselor, generally a nonprofit      improve this ratio, lowering your 
firm, to help you learn to manage     credit card debt first.           
your finances responsibly.                                              
                                      • Pay off your debt. Do not just  
Even after you pay off collection     move it around. The               
accounts, they may impact your        debt-to-credit ratio makes it     
ability to purchase homes for         useless to move what you owe from 
sale. They will remain on your        one credit to another.            
credit report for seven years.                                          
                                      • Leave unused credit card        
Total Amount Owed                     accounts open, especially when    
This accounts for 30 percent of       they show a good credit history   
your FICO score, a big factor         in the past. Close them and you   
when buying homes for sale. It        do two things — (1) raise your    
covers how much you owe and how       debt-to-credit ratio by lowering  
many of your credit lines are         your credit availability, and (2) 
being used. Improve this area by:     it wipes out the history for the  
                                      cancelled accounts, if no         
• Keeping your debt-to-credit         balance.                          
ratio low. Otherwise, if you have                                       
a total credit availability of        • Do not open new credit card     
$20,000, for instance, and total      accounts just to increase your    
owed of $10,000, then your ratio      credit availability level,        
is 50 percent. High ratio             especially if you do not plan to  



use them. Too much credit             • Avoid offers for new cards. Too 
capacity is as high a risk to         many credit cards make homes for  
homes for sale lenders as a high      sale lenders see you as a         
ratio.                                disaster just waiting to happen.  
                                                                        
Length of Credit History              • Additionally, the longer you    
                                      pay your bills on time, the more  
How long you have been                improvement you will see in this  
establishing credit accounts for      sector of the FICO score.         
15 percent of your FICO score, as                                       
well as how active your accounts      New Credit                        
have been. Do the following to                                          
improve this section before           New credit accounts for 10        
buying homes for sale:                percent of your FICO score. It    
                                      covers how many new accounts you  
• Do not open a lot of accounts       have opened and what types of     
too rapidly. It will lower your       credit lines they are, as well as 
average account age, especially       how many recent inquiries have    
if you have established credit in     been made against your credit.    
only the past few years. It also      These are inquiries initiated,    
makes you look risky to homes for     because you attempted to secure   
sale lenders.                         credit (for example, you applied  
                                      for a credit card — whether the   
• If you have older accounts that     application was rejected or       
you do not use, consider making       accepted). Improve this segment   
small purchases and paying them       by:                               
off within six months to continue                                       
building a positive credit            • Rate shopping for credit within 
rating.                               a focused period of time of 14    
                                      days or less. When looking at     



homes for sale, many people           any installment loans, and so on. 
“check out” loans over a long         Improve your credit mix by:       
period of time, especially if                                           
they are not in a hurry to buy.       • Having one or two credit cards. 
It makes it look to homes for         It is ironic that homes for sale  
sale lenders as if you are            lenders are leery of people who   
constantly looking for more           do not have credit cards.         
credit. Ensure the inquiries show                                       
up on your credit report within a     • Installment loans (for example, 
short span of time, so that homes     a car loan) is better than        
for sale lenders know you were        revolving debt (such as,          
shopping for a single loan.           open-ended credit cards).         
                                                                        
• If you need to re-establish         • Certain finance company debts   
credit, open one or two accounts      (such as buying a large appliance 
only. Then, manage them               from a retailer with in-store     
responsibly by keeping the            financing) can lower your FICO    
purchases small, the account          score.                            
balance low, and make your                                              
payments on time. Also, pay at        • A good credit mix shows you can 
least a bit more than the minimum     handle multiple credit lines      
payment.                              responsibly and usually includes  
                                      one to two credit cards, one      
Type of Credit                        department store card, and an     
                                      installment loan. If you try to   
Another segment that accounts for     enhance your credit mix, remember 
10 percent is the type of credit      to do so slowly over time;        
accounts you have. This includes      otherwise, it becomes a red flag  
major credit cards, retail cards,     for the homes for sale lender.    
mortgage, equity lines of credit,                                       



• Closing undesirable accounts        Improving your FICO score before  
does not drop them from your          looking at homes for sale ensures 
credit report. If you have a          that you will pay a lot less      
balance or have shown a late          money over the life of the        
payment history, they remain and      mortgage. It is worth the         
continue to be used as part of        dedication and effort required.   
the FICO scoring.                     

                              
                                      




About the Author:

John Harris is an expert researcher and writer on real estate topics such as economics, credit improvement tips, home selling advice and home buying preparations. For more information please visit San Diego Homes for Sale


Read more articles by: J Harris

Article Source: www.iSnare.com


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    Improve Your FICO Score Before Shopping For Homes For Sale