topic Re: Expanded "FICO High Achievers" (scores of 760 and above) characteristics list in Understanding FICO® Scoring

Expanded "FICO High Achievers" (scores of 760 and above) characteristics list

haulingthescoreup — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 17:38:37 GMT

Well, I guess one advantage of pulling scores far too frequently is that I get lots of examples of what those annoying FICO High Achievers do! MidnightVoice posted a list, and I have added to it from my reports, plus from what I found by a search on these forums. I have cited the source for any comments that did not come from my own reports.

If you've gotten anything different, or anything that's not on the list, please post it on this thread! I'll go back and edit the list to try to keep it complete. Has anyone ever gotten a comment about the average age of their revolving accounts? (not their overall accounts) --I wasn't able to find one on that. Please copy/ paste the exact comment --not a rephrasing, and not a quote from a different source. ;)

Depending on your bucket, you may or may not be penalized for not matching these characteristics. For instance, those who are rebuilding don't seem to be penalized for inq's nearly as much as those with established, stable profiles. Also, some seem pretty old-school, such as only having 4 or 5 CC's total, including both open and closed accounts, and only having $1200 remaining on a non-mortgage loan (tough to finance the Jags and Lexuses with that!)

Note: these are all quotes from FICO credit reports, not interpretations and rephrasings. I added comments in parentheses on a few, noting what triggered the comment. I've tried to group them by topic, because it's pretty overwhelming!

Characteristics of FICO® High Achievers (FICO scores of 760 and above)

Account age:

oldest account: FICO High Achievers opened their oldest account 19 years ago, on average.

average account age: Most FICO High Achievers have an average age of accounts between 6 and 12 years.

oldest revolving account: FICO High Achievers opened their first revolving account 19 years ago, on average.

average revolving age:

age of newest account: FICO High Achievers opened their most recent account 27 months ago, on average (from MidnightVoice's post)

Number of accounts reporting:

number of accounts currently being paid as agreed: FICO High Achievers have an average of 6 accounts currently paid as agreed. (number of open accounts that are currently not late, etc --incl mortgage, etc. Got + for having 8.)

total number of accounts: Your FICO score takes into account the number of accounts (such as credit cards or installment loans) on your credit report. You have a large number of accounts. In general, people who have a large number of accounts pose more of a risk to lenders than people with a moderate number of accounts. (On a TU report, reported by BobSki778 on 4/8/08)

number of accounts carrying a balance: FICO High Achievers have an average of 3 credit accounts carrying a balance. (Note: this is on all types of credit, not just CC's. Got - with 5 accounts: 2 CC's, mortgage, HELOC, student loan; got + with 4 accounts: 1 CC, mort, HELOC, SL--these out of a total of 8 accounts)

Utilization:

Revolving util: For FICO High Achievers, this ratio is 7%, on average.

Installment util: Most FICO High Score Achievers have paid down on average 35% of the original amount of the loan, in addition to the fact that on average they usually owe less than $1200 on their non-mortgage accounts (found on a search)

Inquiries:

Inquiries: About 72% of FICO High Achievers did not apply for credit in the past year. Of those that did, about 20% applied for credit just once. (got with 2 inqs--EQ, didn't get with only 1 on other reports)

Mix of accounts:Your FICO score evaluates your mix of credit cards, installment loans, and mortgages. People who demonstrate responsible use of different types of credit are generally less risky to lenders. (found on a search)

Revolving:

Number of credit cards: FICO High Achievers have an average of 4 to 5 credit cards (including open and closed cards, bank cards and department store cards). (found on a search)

Recent CC use: Your FICO score evaluates your mix of credit cards, installment loans and mortgages. People who demonstrate responsible use of different types of credit are generally less risky to lenders. You helped your FICO score by showing recent use of a credit card. (comment only, no percentage given)

Balance reported on CC's: Your FICO score evaluates how much you owe on your revolving accounts (such as your credit cards). The amount you owe on these accounts is too high. Most FICO High Achievers owe less than $600 on revolving accounts such as credit cards and department store cards. (on Phoenix-rising's report)

Installment:

Consumer finance account: Only 12% of FICO High Achievers have a consumer finance account. (found on a search)

Remaining balance: Most FICO High Achievers carry a total balance of less than $1200 on non-mortgage accounts. (found on a search)

Alternate average balance:Your FICO® score considers how much you owe on your credit accounts, such as revolving credit accounts and non-mortgage installment loans. Generally, the more you owe on these accounts, the greater risk you pose to lenders. FICO® High Achievers have an average total balance of $5000 on non-mortgage accounts. (contributed by JayToo 01/05/2008)

Late payments:

any lates: About 93% of FICO High Achievers have no missed payments at all. But of those who do have a missed payment, it happened nearly 4 years ago, on average.

60-day or longer: Very few FICO High Achievers, about 1%, have a 60 days late payment or worse listed on their credit report.

"bad payment history" --multiple accounts with lates: About 93% of FICO High Achievers have no missed payments at all. But of those who do have a missed payment, it happened nearly 4 years ago, on average. (Got this with lates on 3 three different revolving accounts)

Other derogatories:

Virtually no FICO High Achievers have a public record or a collection listed on their credit report.

Message Edited by haulingthescoreup on 01-05-2008 07:33 PM

Message Edited by haulingthescoreup on 04-08-2008 03:19 PM

Message Edited by haulingthescoreup on 07-05-2008 10:38 AM

Re: Expanded "FICO High Achievers" (scores of 760 and above) characteristics list

Timothy — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 16:03:29 GMT

Very Good-
I could not find one exception on your list. Great job.

Re: Expanded "FICO High Achievers" (scores of 760 and above) characteristics list

haulingthescoreup — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 16:16:47 GMT

It's astonishing what I can find to do on the forums when I have a pile of housework waiting! ;) Thanks.

Re: Expanded "FICO High Achievers" (scores of 760 and above) characteristics list

psychic — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 17:16:58 GMT

I guess I must annoy you too. Look at what else we FICO High Achievers get to see on our reports--

Re: Expanded "FICO High Achievers" (scores of 760 and above) characteristics list

haulingthescoreup — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 17:57:08 GMT

Boo! :D This is from my TU --I'm not about to show my EQ! ;)

Have you gotten any comments on your scores that I don't have? I'm not in the "thin air" score ranges yet, so I don't know what else might be floating around out there.

Re: Expanded "FICO High Achievers" (scores of 760 and above) characteristics list

fused — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 19:20:39 GMT

Hauling, the info looks great. The comments on my EQ and TU vary a little but I don't have one listed on my reports that you didn't mention. I might be able to pay off my FIA BT faster than I originally thought, so the 800 club is possible for me next year. Here's what I'm going to do.

1.) 7 credit cards: 3 have $0 balances/ 4 with balances - goal is to have only 2-3 CCs with < 5% util

2.) 1 charge card: $8k+ balance reporting, stupid Amex is reporting info that's two months old, we'll see if my TU shoots up again when the $0 balance reports.

3.) 1 unsecured loan: $8,774 balance (10K loan), pay it down to < 5K

4.) Pray

Re: Expanded "FICO High Achievers" (scores of 760 and above) characteristics list

haulingthescoreup — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 19:24:58 GMT

fused wrote:
Hauling, the info looks great. The comments on my EQ and TU vary a little but I don't have one listed on my reports that you didn't mention. I might be able to pay off my FIA BT faster than I originally thought, so the 800 club is possible for me next year. Here's what I'm going to do.

. . .

4.) Pray

:D :D :D

Nice to know that even the seasoned FICO warriors sometimes hit a point where things are out of their hands!

Re: Expanded "FICO High Achievers" (scores of 760 and above) characteristics list

MidnightVoice — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 18:47:35 GMT

Maybe you ought to add that EX FICO High Achievers don't have HELOCs because EX thinks they are credit cards!! LD

Re: Expanded "FICO High Achievers" (scores of 760 and above) characteristics list

Timothy — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 03:23:08 GMT

Just ask for a CLI to 50K

Might be easier than trying to get them to change the coding on it.

MidnightVoice wrote:

Maybe you ought to add that EX FICO High Achievers don't have HELOCs because EX thinks they are credit cards!! LD

Re: Expanded "FICO High Achievers" (scores of 760 and above) characteristics list

haulingthescoreup — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 03:38:38 GMT

Timothy wrote:
MidnightVoice wrote:

Maybe you ought to add that EX FICO High Achievers don't have HELOCs because EX thinks they are credit cards!! LD
Just ask for a CLI to 50K
Might be easier than trying to get them to change the coding on it.

And nothing wrong with having a little extra cushion in these times!

Re: Expanded "FICO High Achievers" (scores of 760 and above) characteristics list

mkatan — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 09:17:32 GMT

This is quite accurate, I joined the 800 club sometime in 2005 and never looked back. Funny thing though at first I thought oh I am gonna be at 830-850 range at no time, however in the last 2 years I only gained about 5 point on the average, my only "negative" is my credit history is only 16 years old (I moved into the US in 1992). My highest score is TU at 828, my lowest is Ex at 817

Re: Expanded "FICO High Achievers" (scores of 760 and above) characteristics list

haulingthescoreup — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 14:18:09 GMT

Yes, that's what happens as you approach the speed of light in FICO scoring. It's harder and harder to wring out a couple of points of increase, but boy, try missing a payment, and see how far and how fast your scores can fall!

Thanks for posting --it's always fun to know that there really are people in the 800+ ranges.

Re: Expanded "FICO High Achievers" (scores of 760 and above) characteristics list

psychic — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 06:56:29 GMT

My scores haven't budged in 7 months. I imagine that subscribing to Score Watch wouldn't be very exciting for me.

Re: Expanded "FICO High Achievers" (scores of 760 and above) characteristics list

mkatan — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 08:14:31 GMT

haulingthescoreup wrote:
Yes, that's what happens as you approach the speed of light in FICO scoring. It's harder and harder to wring out a couple of points of increase, but boy, try missing a payment, and see how far and how fast your scores can fall!

Thanks for posting --it's always fun to know that there really are people in the 800+ ranges.

You are very welcome, I am very proud of it, since I wasn't handed my parents history( like my wife). I always paid on time etc but honestly after I read Suze Orman Young Fabulous and Broke, I begun to understand the system better and joined Fico monitoring. My scores go up n down a point or two every few weeks but are basically the same for the last 11 months. BTW, while our combined income is in the 6 figures , we are by no means rich which proves that even with modest income you can have high fico scores.

Re: Expanded "FICO High Achievers" (scores of 760 and above) characteristics list

haulingthescoreup — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 16:54:39 GMT

If I may ask, how old is your oldest credit tradeline reporting? It looks more and more as if, all other things being equal, that is the determining factor in breaking through the 800 ceiling. Oh, and do you have a mortgage?

Sorry --hope you don't suddently have the feeling that you are surrounded by people in white lab coats with bright lights and magnifying glasses! ;)

Message Edited by haulingthescoreup on 01-03-2008 08:54 AM

Re: Expanded "FICO High Achievers" (scores of 760 and above) characteristics list

mkatan — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 07:38:13 GMT

no problem, no I do not have a mortgage. I had a car payment that I paid off in 16 months instead of 60 (finished on 12/06), I paid off all my student loans (totaling 35k from grad school, finished them before the end of the 6 months grace period, but started paying while in school, when I started my PhD I had all my MS loans paid, and after graduating I rapidly paid them off before they start the finance charges). I have a current car loan, but again I am a head of schedule (again 60 month but I am about 65% paid, it should be paid off by August). My oldest CC is from 1993, its my BoA account, that when I opened they used my saving acct as collateral (secured card as they are know now, back than you got it with a 2 years CD account). That account that is now 15 years old also has my highest CL (45k, up from the original 3k). I normally have 0 balance on all my CC but occasionally carry a balance for a month or two,usually when we travel. For example, we went to Europe in June and used CC while there, it took me 3 month to pay off, the tickets and the usage, however I used my CITI account that beside having very low interest rate (2.9%) gives me great rewards. I also buy our season tickets using my card and always pay it off in 3-4 months. I think I have a good ix of credits: few CC, 2 gas cards(haven't used them in years), couple department store and Sams club, paid off student loans, paid off car with a 2nd one 2/3 done. My wife inherited the house we live in from her grandparents, so we didn't need a mortgage (and yeah I understand how lucky we were for that, we did however spent 65k revamping the place and she is the only daughter on an only son).

Message Edited by mkatan on 01-03-2008 11:38 PM

Re: Expanded "FICO High Achievers" (scores of 760 and above) characteristics list

haulingthescoreup — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 11:51:02 GMT

You very much fit the classic profile of the FICO High Achiever, other than the mortgage --always clean history, restrained number and use of cards, one open loan with only 1/3 the balance of the original loan amount, and a 15-year-old card. Looks like length of credit history carries more weight than the presence of a mortgage, interesting.

Thanks so much for posting, and I hope you survived the older home remodel with sanity intact! :)

Re: Expanded "FICO High Achievers" (scores of 760 and above) characteristics list

MidnightVoice — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 15:09:24 GMT

mkatan wrote:
My wife inherited the house we live in from her grandparents, so we didn't need a mortgage (and yeah I understand how lucky we were for that, we did however spent 65k revamping the place

did you get a loan for that, and if so was it secured by the house?

Re: Expanded "FICO High Achievers" (scores of 760 and above) characteristics list

mkatan — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 09:16:19 GMT

MidnightVoice wrote:
mkatan wrote:
My wife inherited the house we live in from her grandparents, so we didn't need a mortgage (and yeah I understand how lucky we were for that, we did however spent 65k revamping the place

did you get a loan for that, and if so was it secured by the house?

no we didnt use a loan, just some saving and the cc( paid it off as fast as we could, I think it took few months). I try not to borrow if I can avoid it, Why?

Message Edited by mkatan on 01-05-2008 01:16 AM

Re: Expanded "FICO High Achievers" (scores of 760 and above) characteristics list

MidnightVoice — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 15:13:17 GMT

mkatan wrote:
MidnightVoice wrote:
mkatan wrote:
My wife inherited the house we live in from her grandparents, so we didn't need a mortgage (and yeah I understand how lucky we were for that, we did however spent 65k revamping the place

did you get a loan for that, and if so was it secured by the house?
no we didnt use a loan, just some saving and the cc( paid it off as fast as we could, I think it took few months). I try not to borrow if I can avoid it, Why?

Message Edited by mkatan on 01-05-2008 01:16 AM

Just though a HELOC might be on your CR - a good thing