No Fast Track to Credit Health They Say

[Anonymous]

Ignored my file for years (contractor, got hit by the housing bubble pretty bad, things went off the rail for awhile, credit went by the wayside).  Started checking it in late January this year.  Started at a 580+/- across the board.  Needed a new truck, signed for the best deal I could get at the time- $30K @ 12%.

Started doing my research and working all the angles.  Strategically opened a few accounts, etc., disputed a couple marks, etc.  Been using and paying the various accounts in different ways and watching the results.

Fast forward to today- went back to the dealership with a 788!  200 points in 7 months!  Gave them the truck back and left with a $47K 4x4 crew cab at 4.5%.  Same payment, 50% more truck.  All the sales & finance guys were grilling me on how I pulled off Bad to Very Good so fast.    I told them I did my research, worked the angles, and used myfico.com!    

Now to get over 800....  Won't be long, I'm thinking.

[Physh1]

It takes work. I'm in the same boat...

In March of last year my TU FICO was 588 & my EX FICO was 620. I'm sitting at 765 and 774 respectively as of a few days ago. Took lots of reading, the right applications, & patience. Can't happen for everyone but I am so thankful a resource like this exists. Couldn't have sorted it out nearly as easily without it.

[takeshi74]

It's not that improvements cannot be made quickly.  We say don't expect quick fixes.  Additionally you can't just rely on looking at scores.  If you added a number of new accounts you're going to hit a plateau just on that front.  As for getting over 800, you can't assume that progress is linear.  Big improvements are easier in a sense when you have bigger issues that you can address.  Once you're into the higher scores it gets a bit more difficult to eke out the last few remaining points.  To get where you want to go it's going to take a solid AAoA which you've dropped with your new accounts.

Don't aim for 850 just to aim for 850.  If you're above 740-760 with FICO 8 (probably not the model the dealer used) then you're above the range where best terms are generally offered anyway.