Hi Everyone-
I'm hoping someone has some real experience with this and can guide me. I am due to close on a house in 3 weeks and if I can raise my score 5 points, I will get a much better rate and be spared some of the substantial "low credit fees".
I have already done all the things that the helpful people on these forums usually advise. I paid down my credit cars so that they are all at zero balance except for one with a 3% utilization and I've had every possble baddie that can be taken care of removed. My mortgage officer suggested that my husband add me as a co-obligor on his cc accounts, but neither of them would go for it.
When I was combing through my credit reports looking for crumbs, Experian listed this as reason number 3 that my FICO isn't higher.
"The remaining balance on your non-mortgage installment loans is too high.
Your FICO score weighs the balances of your non-mortgage installment loans (such as auto loan or student loans) against the original loan amounts. In general, when you first obtain an installment loan your balance is high, and as you pay this loan down, the balance decreases.
Keep this in mind: This factor will have less of a negative impact on your FICO score as you pay down your installment loans and the total balance decreases."
I have an open unsecured installment loan wthe One Main Financial. It has been paid on time for a year and I currently owe 6501 on an original balance of 7300.
I can pay this down - but has anyone seen their scores increase from doing this? The Score Simulator does not have an option to show the effect for this.
Thanks in advance for your help!
