Chicago Home Options

Ginger Bonneau

  • Home
  • About
  • Resources
    • First Time Home Seller Tips
    • First Time Home Buyer Tips
  • Reviews
  • Contact Ginger

Simple Tips To Keep Your FICO High

September 11, 2012 by Ginger Bonneau Leave a Comment

FICO recipeFor today’s home buyers and refinancing households, the value of “good credit” has never been higher.

Mortgage approvals hinge on your FICO score, as does your final mortgage pricing.

If you’re shopping for a home in IL , therefore, or contemplating a refinance, be aware of how everyday credit behaviors can affect your FICO. Even small events can make a big impact.

Here are some common-sense steps to help improve your credit score.

First, keep a “cushion” on your credit cards.

30 percent of your credit score is linked to “Amount Owed” and a big part of Amount Owed is a raw calculation of (1) What you owe in dollar terms, against (2) How much credit you have at your disposal. The credit bureaus want to see at least 70% of your credit “available”. 

If you can keep your cards at least 70% available, your credit scores should improve.

For example, if all of your credit cards give you access to a combined $50,000 and you are using $10,000 of that available credit, you have 80% of your credit available to you and this is “good”.

Raise your balances to $30,000 and this is “bad”.

Second, don’t make major purchases on credit prior to making a mortgage application. This includes opening a store charge card to save 10 percent or more on a washer/dryer set, for example; or for any other appliance or furniture piece.

The reasons why are two-fold. One, store charge cards are often opened with a limit matching your initial charge, rendering them 100% utilized. This is bad for a FICO, as discussed above. And, two, opening a new charge cards has a negative FICO impact anyway.

Charge cards are associated with high default rates. 

Third, make all of your monthly payments on time — even the ones in dispute. You may not want to pay that $80 wireless phone bill, for example; the one that you think you owe, but remember that Payment History accounts for 35% of your credit score. Even one late payment — or payment in collection — and your credit score can drop.

It’s often less expensive to pay a bill in dispute than to be relegated to a higher mortgage rate. The payment is dispute is remedied today. The payment on that mortgage rate lasts for 30 years.

Filed Under: Personal Finance Tagged With: Credit Lines, Credit Scoring, FICO

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Ginger

Contact Ginger


Consultant
Office: 312.254.0200
Mobile: 312.608.1125

Connect with Me

Let’s Keep In Touch!

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Recent Articles

  • NAHB: Home Builder Confidence Ticks Up in April
  • How To Get A Mortgage If You Are A Gig Worker
  • Do Not Procrastinate On These Spring Maintenance Tasks
  • 7 Inexpensive Upgrades You Can Make To Your Rental Property

Looking For Something?

Categories

Our Location

1586 N. Clybourn
Chicago, IL 60642

Copyright © 2021 · Powered by MySMARTblog