2 months in to rebuilding....what now??

[earlyKY]

Scores 2 months ago: experian-unknown, equifax- 493, transunion-474

Scores today: experian- 612, equifax-566, transunion-524

That's a 73 point jump for experian and a 50 point jump for transunion... which I am totally excited about but I'm still not where I need to be to qualify for a mortgage.

Here's what's left:

Experian: judgement that is paid, just waiting to update.

                Midland collections (currently disputing through BBB)

                Lates on credit cards (send out 2nd round of goodwill letters last week

Equifax: Same as Experian (minus the judgement)

TransUnion: Same as Experian plus 4 collections (all from CBS Collections) totaling $433

I have 3 credit cards and fingerhut

Capital One: Limit-300

                     balance- 125

Credit One: Limit 300

                   Balance- 125

First Premier: Limit 300

                       Balance- 75

Fingerhut: Limit 650

                 Balance: 200

I also have a $7,000 car loan( balance owed) never late and a personal loan with a balance of $700 never late

I am planning on paying the 4 collections ( hopefully for deletion) and paying my credit cards to a 0 balance. But i don't really know what else is left to be done in terms of raising my score to qualify for a mortgage.

any suggestions?

[earlyKY]

Anybody?

[signguy17]

1)  Payoff the coolections first.  Try to get them to PFD (pay for delete).  Tell them you have the ability to pay and once you recieve a letter saying that they will delte the collection from your CR upon payment you will do so.  If they won't budge pay it off anyway. 

2) Payoff your CCs every month if possible.  If you do so then you are not charged interest.  Figure out what is your total credit availablity and leave between 5 - 10% on the bill.  It only has to be on one card so use the one with the lowest interest.  When your creditors report they only give the CRAs a "snapshot" of that one day.  In other words, if you charge $500 on your CC and the payment is due on the 5th and it reports on the 11th and you pay it off then the CRA doesn't think you used the card at all.  So you always have to leave a little but only on one card.  I like to move it around alittle.  I ahve 2 cards I got early on at higher interest so every so often I buy a tank of gas or something just to give it some activity.

3) Once those things are done....... you wait and wait.  You pay your payments on time.  You use your CCs but keep the utilization low. You did not get in this situation over night and you are not going to fix it over night.

Today is my 1 year anniversary of rebuilding my credit.  11/11/12 I was at 584.  Today, 11/11/13 I am at 705.  3 months ago my bank that wouldnt give me the time of day a year ago gave me a CC @ 0% for 18 months with a $5k CL and a $5k LOC!!  But you just have to wait and "play the game!" 

Good luck!

[earlyKY]

Thank you! Patience is not my strong suit but I've seen such great results in the past 2 months I know that there isn't much left to do now but to continue to pay everything on time and wait. I just wish there was an easy button for raising credit lol!

[signguy17]

Don't I know it! Waiting sucks.

I would get tired of waiting so sometimes I would leave more of a balance than I should which would drive my score down and then I would pay it off the day after it reported. Then I'd make sure it had a 0 balance the next month and often (not always) the rebound score was higher then the high util drop. Your mileage may vary.