{"id":4379,"date":"2008-09-04T05:38:35","date_gmt":"2008-09-04T10:38:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/magic1host.com\/blog\/2008\/09\/04\/3-easy-steps-to-a-better-fico-score\/"},"modified":"2008-09-04T05:38:35","modified_gmt":"2008-09-04T10:38:35","slug":"3-easy-steps-to-a-better-fico-score","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/magic1host.com\/blog\/?p=4379","title":{"rendered":"3 easy steps to a better FICO score"},"content":{"rendered":"
by Doc Schmyz<\/div>\n

It used to be that “people” made decisions about your credit<\/a> worthiness. You knew your banker and your handshake was all the collateral you needed. Those days are long gone, and now a single number – your FICO score – determines your credit worthiness.<\/p>\n

Although there are several credit models, the most commonly used is FICO, based on a model created by Fair, Isaac Company. Their consumer website is myfico.com, and you can find information about the FICO credit scores there.<\/p>\n

Your FICO credit score can be used to determine your interest rate and how much credit a lender will give you. So taking care of your score, and keeping your credit clean will save you money.<\/p>\n

Preserving your FICO score, and improving it, is not difficult, but it may take time. Here are some tips to maintain and improve your score, based on three credit situations.<\/p>\n

FIRST: You need to get a copy of your credit history<\/p>\n

You may not have a history for several reasons. Maybe you pay all your bills with cash, maybe you?re a student, maybe you have never needed a loan for anything. All this will have an effect on your history. Don?t be upset…if you?re like most people you will get a credit history far sooner than later.<\/p>\n

A fast and easy way to improve or start a credit history is to get a loan and pay it off on time. “Installment loans” are looked at as more important than credit cards. You will show a stronger score if your installment loans are paid up to date and on time then say a consumer credit card.<\/p>\n

Another option is to take a $1000 and open a 6 month CD at a bank. Now turn around and get an installment loan using the CD as the collateral. You then take that $1000 loan and do it again at another bank. Do this for a total of 3 times.<\/p>\n

In the end you have 3 loans. Pay the minimum payments for 6 months…then cash out the CD’s and pay off the loans in full. Now you have a credit history.<\/p>\n

SECOND: Maintain Your Good Credit History<\/p>\n

Ok…now you have a good history. No major debt…now to keep the FICO as high as you can.<\/p>\n

You don?t need to close old accounts. (Unless you?re being charged a fee to keep the account open.) Part of the FICO formula is based on the amount of credit available vs. how much you have used.<\/p>\n

Another thing to be aware of is how you manage your money. Here?s the scenario: you have a $2000 credit card. Every month, you charge about $1800 to that card. And, every month you pay it off. But here’s what happens – your credit card company reports your credit information monthly to FICO. However if they report it on the day before you pay it off…the credit agency sees you carry a balance every month. If you can try changing the days you pay off your credit card.<\/p>\n

THIRD: Repair Your Poor Credit History<\/p>\n

For whatever reason, if you have a poor credit history, there are things you can do to improve your score. Some of them take time, and you will probably be best served by talking to a credit counselor to be sure that you not only repair your credit history, but also eliminate what caused that poor credit history in the first place.<\/p>\n

The FICO score is most affected by your credit history. To repair a low credit score start paying your bills onetime. In order of value you need to pay your Mortgage, Installment loans, and last your credit cards.<\/p>\n

The next factor in your FICO score is how you have used your credit. So pay off those credit cards<\/p>\n

At the end of all this, make sure you review your credit report. Get one report from all three credit agencies. Read every page. (I know it reads like stereo instructions in Greek) Look at the entries and call and contact the creditors to have them remove any errors.<\/p>\n

A strong, healthy, and clean credit score is a major part of your financial world. Keep it clean and don?t risk it. A good score can factor into things you can’t imagine. Don?t damage your score if you can help it.<\/p>\n

\n
About the Author:<\/div>\n
Doc Schmyz has invested in Real estate<\/a> all over the U.S.. His website gives hundreds of investors up to date real estate investing information<\/a> Get more info from across the U.S. on Doc’s real estate investing resources<\/a> page.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It used to be that “people” made decisions about your credit worthiness. You knew your banker and your handshake was all the collateral you needed. Those days are long gone, and now a single number – your FICO score – determines your credit worthiness.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1665,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[77],"class_list":["post-4379","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-business","tag-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/magic1host.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4379","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/magic1host.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/magic1host.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magic1host.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1665"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magic1host.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4379"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/magic1host.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4379\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/magic1host.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4379"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magic1host.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4379"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magic1host.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4379"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}