How can I improve my credit score fast???

Question

I checked my credit score about a month ago on freecreditreport.com and my score was 665.
This month I apply for a loan to purchase a home and because I had 2 credit cards almost max out my credit dropped to 590 (that is the score that the loan officer told me I got).
I already fixed this problem ... I paid almost half of the balances on both credit cards.
I would like to pruchase a home as soon as possible. How long should I wait to see my credit score go up???
Do I need to do something else.
Your advise is greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

Hi, I would say there are a lot of things you can do. You are on the right track to paying off your debt but whatever you do, DON'T cancel your cards--part of your credit score looks at you credit limit to debt ratio.

Also one of the things you can do right now to raise your score up to 50 points is fill out the 'opt out' form. The opt out form found at this link: https://www.optoutprescreen.com/?rf=t will make sure that creditors can't pull your credit and send you offers at random without your permission. The credit beauros look at this as responsible.

I think your credit score will start to go up immediately, but don't pull your credit score again until absolutely necessary because everytime someone pulls your credit score it adds negative points to your credit report and your score will go down. I think these points stay on your credit report for 12 months. If you've had a lot of hits to check your credit score in the last year, wait a while and your credit score will go up automatically.

Answer 2

Something most people don't realize is that there are 3 major credit bureaus out there, but there are hundreds of credit companies. So, when you pull your credit from freecreditreport.com, your broker pulls your credit from another credit report company. The scores are not going to be the same. A broker will send the credit he pulled to a lender and the lender will pull their own credit to make the final loan decision with those scores.

You can get 100% sub-prime or non-conforming financing with a middle score of 590.There are tons of brokers that do these loans now. Your rate may be a little higher, but if you make your payments on time, you can refinance after 5 or 6 months and get a lower rate. You can also find brokers that do FHA loans. These are not as credit driven and you can get a lower rate doing a FHA loan.

Your best bet is to call several different brokers and see what they can do for you.

Answer 3

If you can trust your parents and/or they can trust you and they have good credit, you can actually ask them to add you as an authorized user to their account. Every bit of their credit history with that credit card company will show up on your credit improving your score. Then, try for a dept. store card because they are the easiest to be approved for, just try not to run up the bill =). After your approved make small purchases each month that you know you can pay off, then pay the amount off within 5 days (the usual grace period for interest). This also improves your credit score! You can also do this with your previous cards. The key is to pay all your bills on time even the water bill, without a revolving monthly balance.

Answer 4

Mike Racer is correct but you can also add points just by opting out with all 3 reporting agencies for any credit card offers. You know the unsolicited ones that come in the mail daily. Your score will go up just by doing that as well.You only need a 620 score with clean rent and other pay histories to buy a home now with the best rates, just so long as you can prove collateral capacity to pay with reserves and you get the score to that level at least. Other wise you can get 100% financing now in the sub-prime markets
I am a mortgage banker in Tennessee.

Answer 5

Paying down credits cards is only one small part of the formula. NOT having them is a bigger part. Most financial people treat available credit as though you used it already, because you can. Get rid of unsecured credit and you might increase your points with the financial people, even if you do not immediately affect your credit rating. Also, even if there is some negative thing on the credit, even if it is accurate, CHALLENGE IT TODAY. If they no longer have the record, then it has to be removed. Challenge the credit report regularly. Some have a limit on how often you can challenge, but do it often.

Answer 6

You can't make your credit score go up over night. When credit card companies retr to the credit bureau, they usually report the same amount that is on your bill, so even if you pay off part of the amount after you receive the bill (but on time before the bill is due), your usage of available credit will be high. If you want your score to go up, look at your billing statement and see when the last date of charges are listed, then pay your bill before that date before the next billing statement so that your usage looks lower.

Answer 7

It will probably take some time.
I had bad credit from my previous marriage but got credit score by over 125 points. I had to wait over a year in order to get a good loan with a good rate to buy a house. I don't think there is a way to get it up fast. Pay your bills on time and get the credit cards down even lower and/or get rid of one altogether. Good luck. Google "how to improve credit score"

Answer 8

65% of your credit score comes from your payment history and the ratio of your outstanding debt to your debt capacity (being maxxed out).
Paying down some balances will help.

So short of those two.....no matter what you do....it's not going to be that much of a drain.

You also need to be aware that what score you got off freecreditreport and the service the loan officer used may have been using different vendors and thus you weren't comparing apples to apples.

Answer 9

An easy way to boost your score a little is to apply for a few store issued credit cards or gas station cards. Use the card once for a small purchase, pay the balance immediately and then tear the card up. It will be reported as to the credit bureaus as paid in full. Only do this a few times as if you apply for dozens of cards at once, it will drop your score.

Answer 10

some info for you:

Credit Score Explained
http://www.debt-loan-refinance-mortgage-credit.com/category/Credit-Score-Myths-Explained.html