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Hello,
My TransUnion score is brutal and I need to improve it and I have a couple of questions.
The "bad" marks for me are amount of debt and amount of new credit.
Do both of these factor the same amount?
Also, I have a auto loan that will be coming off at some point as I recently sold the vehicle and paid off the loan. How long should this take?
I know I have high credit card utilization and am working on paying those down. Is there any method to this or should I just pay as much down on the one with the highest rate?
The reasons for my questions revolve around a mortgage. I am currently selling my current home and will need to buy a new home where I am moving. However these credit scores may pose a problem. I am planning to take half of the proceeds from my house selling to pay off my credit cards.
Any help and advice is greatly appreciated.
New debt is 10%, amounts owed are 30%.
The auto loan won't be removed from your CR. It will update to paid/closed and stay for up to 10 years -/+ from date closed.
Are any of your CC maxed out? If so, at least get them under that point which is around 90%. For the rest, while making minimum payments on the others, start with the smallest balance and pay that off, use that money and pay off the next smallest balance. Keep doing this until all but one are paid off and report at 9% or below.
Doing it this way will show more cards with 0 balances quicker, which FICO likes to see.
There are other ways of doing it also. Like paying off the higher APRs first. This may take longer to show 0 balances.
Thanks for the response and help.
None are maxed, but most are high. I have 4 cards. Their utilization is 92%, 85%, 84% and 67%.
I worded the question about the auto loan wrong, but you answered what I was looking for. However, after comparing my equifax to my transunion the auto loan shows as paid on equifax (which is higher) and does not show as paid yet on my transunion.
How long do credit inquiries stay on the report?
Credit inquiries stay for 2 years but only count in your score for 1.
Your 92% CC is maxed out. Anything over 90% is maxed out by FICO and you get dinged for those.
You may see a few points by the auto loan showing paid. It could go either way.
OK,
Say I were to pay off all my credit cards this month. Would I see a big increase once they were reported as paid off or would it be better to gradually pay them down?
Also with 90% being maxed, will I see any increase going from 92% to 80% utilization?
You may see a small bump going from 92% to 80%. You won't be maxed out any more.
The sooner they are paid down the sooner you will see a bump. Don't let them all report 0 balances. Let all but one report 0 and the other at 9% or below.
Yes, your util is holding your score down. Lowering util is one of the fastest and easiest ways to get a "bump" in your score. Paying off your auto loan shouldn't affect you much.