Need help with a plan to get a FICO score of 750+

[Anonymous]

My goal is to pay off CC debit and achieve a score of 750+.  I'd like some advise on how to do this as quickly as possible.  I do not ever have any late payments on my history and no collections, ever. My according to my free CitiBank Equifax report my current FICO EX score is 702.  

I have 7 credit cards with a total credit limit of 85K.  I have a balance on 5 of those cards that total a balance of 27K.  This interest rate on these cards are between 13% and 18%.  I think I can realistically pay off the enire 27K balance within 15 months.  I'm wondering if I should open a new CC like the Chase Slate which offers $0 transfer fee and 0% interest for 15 months or I got a USAA "pre-selected" offer for a CC with 0% interest for 18 months.  The only problem with this is I doubt either CC will transfer the entire 27K.  I'd be pissed if they only wanted to do a balance transfer for 5K or something.  I guess I could also apply for an installement loan or some sort of loan consolidation.  I have respectible credit score now and the income to pay it all off over time. I'm just not sure the best way to go about it. 

So, my goals are 1. Pay this off and pay as little interest until I can do that.  2. Improve my FICO score as much as possible as quickly as possible.  I will be building a new home in the next 8 to 15 months and I'd like my FICO scores to be as high as possible when that the time comes to apply for a mortgage. 

I should also add that the only additional info my CitiBank Equifax report provides is "Key Factors affectin your FICO score: 1. Proportion of balances to credit limits on bank/national revolving or other revolving accounts is too high 2. Too many accounts with balances"

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

My goal is to pay off CC debit and achieve a score of 750+.  I'd like some advise on how to do this as quickly as possible.  I do not ever have any late payments on my history and no collections, ever. My according to my free CitiBank Equifax report my current FICO EX score is 702.  

I have 7 credit cards with a total credit limit of 85K.  I have a balance on 5 of those cards that total a balance of 27K.  This interest rate on these cards are between 13% and 18%.  I think I can realistically pay off the enire 27K balance within 15 months.  I'm wondering if I should open a new CC like the Chase Slate which offers $0 transfer fee and 0% interest for 15 months or I got a USAA "pre-selected" offer for a CC with 0% interest for 18 months.  The only problem with this is I doubt either CC will transfer the entire 27K.  I'd be pissed if they only wanted to do a balance transfer for 5K or something.  I guess I could also apply for an installement loan or some sort of loan consolidation.  I have respectible credit score now and the income to pay it all off over time. I'm just not sure the best way to go about it. 

So, my goals are 1. Pay this off and pay as little interest until I can do that.  2. Improve my FICO score as much as possible as quickly as possible.  I will be building a new home in the next 8 to 15 months and I'd like my FICO scores to be as high as possible when that the time comes to apply for a mortgage. 

I should also add that the only additional info my CitiBank Equifax report provides is "Key Factors affectin your FICO score: 1. Proportion of balances to credit limits on bank/national revolving or other revolving accounts is too high 2. Too many accounts with balances"

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i don't know how reliable is the citibank score but if u have no baddies on your report, u should be in good shape already. just pay down your utilization as low as possible, u should be fine. i wouldnt open a loan just for it though.

[Anonymous]

It's not a Citibank score per se. It's a real FICO 8 Equifax scrore. Citibank says they get there info directly from Equifax and FICO.

So, you think just continue with my current interest rates, pay minimum payments to the lower CC accounts and pay off higher interest rate CC first?

I forgot to mention in my first post. I have a big mortgage loan, a big student loan, and two auto loans. All of these have fairly low interest rates and I never have late payments. I guess I forgot to mention this because I don't think (I'm up for suggestions) I can do anything about that debt until I get my CCs paid off first.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:
It's not a Citibank score per se. It's a real FICO 8 Equifax scrore. Citibank says they get there info directly from Equifax and FICO.

So, you think just continue with my current interest rates, pay minimum payments to the lower CC accounts and pay off higher interest rate CC first?

I forgot to mention in my first post. I have a big mortgage loan, a big student loan, and two auto loans. All of these have fairly low interest rates and I never have late payments. I guess I forgot to mention this because I don't think (I'm up for suggestions) I can do anything about that debt until I get my CCs paid off first.

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that's a lot of loans and u are looking for another mortgage in a year? i definitely wouldnt recommend getting a loan just to pay off ur CC unless your income is 150k+.

[Anonymous]

I am going to sell my current home and build another. So, I will only have 1 mortgage at a time. My income is greater than that which is why I can make big enough payments that pay off the debt in about 15 months while paying all my other bills on time. I'm embarrassed that I have such a good income with such a CC debt but I'm trying and WILL to get on track.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:
I am going to sell my current home and build another. So, I will only have 1 mortgage at a time. My income is greater than that which is why I can make big enough payments that pay off the debt in about 15 months while paying all my other bills on time. I'm embarrassed that I have such a good income with such a CC debt but I'm trying and WILL to get on track.

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good luck and i am sure you will get it done sooner or later.

[sobreezy]

The best method at seeing your scores improve rapidly is to pay down those credit cards. Although it has been told that they (whoever they are) like to see usage, my suggestion based off of information from people who've done it (me included), is to pay down as many cards as possible to a 0 balance except for 1 card. That card would carry a balance of no more than 1-3% utilization. This will boost your scores dramatically. And when you pay off any CC call their customer service and ask for a letter that states that you currently have a 0 balance and fax that letter over to each credit bureau. You can thank me later.

[sobreezy]

And you don't need any more loans...you already have a nice mix that you are paying on consistently.

[takeshi74]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I have 7 credit cards with a total credit limit of 85K.  I have a balance on 5 of those cards that total a balance of 27K.  This interest rate on these cards are between 13% and 18%.  I think I can realistically pay off the enire 27K balance within 15 months.  I'm wondering if I should open a new CC like the Chase Slate which offers $0 transfer fee and 0% interest for 15 months or I got a USAA "pre-selected" offer for a CC with 0% interest for 18 months.  The only problem with this is I doubt either CC will transfer the entire 27K.

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Keep in mind that revolving utilization is a significant scoring and risk factor.  Revolving utilization falls under Amounts Owed below:

http://www.myfico.com/crediteducation/whatsinyourscore.aspx

27/85  is ~32% overall but you also need to keep an eye on individual utilization with each card.  That also goes for any card you're looking to BT to.  Even iif you could get a 27K card you wouldn't want to transfer 27K to it as it would max it out.  Prolonged high utilization can lead to adverse action.

Don't look for quick fixes.  Building and rebuilding credit takes time.  It sounds like you just need to get your utilization down.

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@Anonymous wrote:
It's not a Citibank score per se. It's a real FICO 8 Equifax scrore.

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IIRC it's a FICO 8 Bankcard score (not the same as FICO 8).  See also the Understanding FICO Scoring subforum and its stickies.

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@Anonymous wrote:

I should also add that the only additional info my CitiBank Equifax report provides is "Key Factors affectin your FICO score: 1. Proportion of balances to credit limits on bank/national revolving or other revolving accounts is too high 2. Too many accounts with balances"

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General advice with revolving utilization is do not exceed 30%.  Optimal is much lower.  For best possible score (i.e. to eke out every point when applying) allow only one balance to report at 10% or less.

[Anonymous]

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@sobreezy wrote:

And you don't need any more loans...you already have a nice mix that you are paying on consistently.

I"m don't want another loan (CC balance transfer) for the purpose of building credit.  Rather, to avoid paying hundreds of dollars in interest on my credit cards until I get them paid off.