paying off car?

Question

I have saved all the money in a savings account to pay off my vehicle. The only thing is I am trying to find a home to purchase and I was told that if I pay off my car now it will make my credit score go down a little. I don't want that to happen but I am paying about $60.00 per month in interest. What should I do? Oh ya and I also was told to get a A paper loan that I need to lines of good credit. I have a Target card and I am on my dad's account with a major credit card,is this good enough? If not what can I do?

okay let me just say first of all the monthly interest is sixty dollars not six hundred, secondly just to let yall know it actually helped my credit score tremendously to be put on my dads credit card I am on it as an authorized user and he has had it for fifteen years. It was advice given to me by a credit counselor and it is a great way to help loved ones establish a credit score. My credit score is705. I have worked very hard to get it to that.

Answer 1

it depends on how long you've had the car and the target credit card. your dad's account doesn't count. mortgage companies usually look for at LEAST 2 years of credit history. you should call a bank and talk to their mortgage department and find out what they're looking for. i say banks because they're more reliable than the "mortgage companies" that are found on the internet. Good Luck!!

Answer 2

Being on your adas account does nothing for your credit score. If you have had the loan for a year or more on the car, have had a balance on the target card and made at least the minimum payments, but not paying off the entire balance would help you out. Check to see that the auto loan compsny actually reports to a credit reporting agency. Do you have a cell phone with a contract? The length of employment and the amount of income wil play into everything when you apply for a home loan. Talk to a mortgage rep and see what they say.

Answer 3

Sometimes establishing good credit can take some time. You may have to be more patient than you would like. If you are looking to buy the home immeadiately you may choose to not pay off the vehicle and use that money as down-payment on your home. On the other hand I would never advise someone to continue to make other people rich (pay intrest) when they could be done with it. Of all the things you mentioned the Target card is going to have the least affect of all on your credit so you may consider another loan type. Like maybe your own major credit card, or even a personal loan that you pay off quickly.

Answer 4

Keep the car loan and apply for a major credit card. Plan on using the card and paying it off ever month. This shows that you are actually using that line of credit.

It is best to have two lines of credit.

Being on your dad's credit card as a user doesn't count for you because he is finacially responsible for it.


You may need that money to put down on your house. So take it and buy a high interest CD until it's time to buy your house. That way, it will be earning more interest than a plain old savings account.

Answer 5

Who told you that paying down your car would be a bad thing? Slap that person.

Even if your credit score decreased slightly (it likely wont) - your Debt / Income ration will decrease greatly. Mortgage lenders wont approve you to get a loan greater than about 37% debt to your gross income. If your 37% figure means you can afford about $1,000 a month in debt payments on a mortgage - that means you can get around a $150k house loan (at around 6%). If you have a car payment that is $200 or $300, that drops the amount you have available for a mortgage payment to about $700 or $800 - which considerably reduces the purchasing power you have with the mortgage.

There are lots of things that matter on your FICO score - but even if you had an 850 credit score, you would not be able to get a loan above a certain debt / income ration - it simply will not happen. (Of course, if you have a high credit score, it usually indicates you are wise about the debts you take on and how you pay them off - and wont even try to get a loan that would be hard for you to pay off)

You can see what items are on your credit report at freecreditreport.com (that's the only government approved site to get them) - there are 3 major bureaus that report credit related items. Check out on that site what items are listed on your credit report - and pay particular attention to the length of the accounts you have had opened. If that card you mentioned you have on your dad's account actually has a bill that goes to you (even though you may not pay it) - that can significantly help your credit score because it will show you have had a long history of paying bills on time. (Cell phone bills are also often on your credit - depending on who is the main name on your account)

If your credit score is low because you haven't had a time to build a history of credit, you can always use a co-signer to get your home loan secured. Your dad may be a good choice. You will have an easier time convincing him than you will convincing a bank to trust you.

One more thing - definitely pay off that car loan. Paying $60 a month for a few extra points on a credit score is not a wise use of your money.

If you want to get a high credit score - the first step is to be smart with your money. The credit score is only valuable to banks as a predictor of your behavior with relation to credit - so if you start acting like a responsible credit user you will eventually be recognized as such by the credit score.

Answer 6

I would advice you to pay off your car, that way you don't have any debt and I don't think it would affect your credit score that much. since you already have an almost paid off loan, then your credit score must been good standing and companies probably regurly sent you applications for credit cards. if yes, then apply for a visa or mastercard (American express charges yearly fee, I pay $85/year), check if the credit card offers "no yearly fees" or "no purchase interest fee". that way you can make gas payments (or other small things) and then pay your full balance at the end of each month, you will be building your credit score and you won't be paying interest in your credit card. The key point is that you pay the full balance of the credit card and don't pay interest, otherwise it will turn into a snow ball getting bigger and bigger. Also, save that $60/month that you were going to pay for interest and put on your downpayment. good luck!

Answer 7

Building good credit is hard. You need to get off your dads accounts and get your own. Your score will go down but not to bad. instead of paying off the loan pay extra on the premium. This will lower your intrest in the end.

Answer 8

it will make the score go down a bit---a realtor would advise not to pay off the car now
also, it sounds like you don't have enough credit (of your own) to purchase a home---you will most likely have to have a co-signer like a parent or roomie

Answer 9

Hi,
I used "Credit Solution" to settle my debt and improve my credit score.They managed to reduce my debt up to 58%.It's legitimate.I came accross this company on NBC News Special Edition.Check it out here:
http://tinyurl.com/2u3car

Answer 10

if you have a 705 you are in good shape to buy a house. if you are prepared to pay off the car, pay it off, because Fico scores are really hard to predict anyway.