Hello Everyone,
Very happy to have stumbled across this forum. I need help forming a game plan and honestly I don't know where to start out.
The Goal: Increase my credit score in order to get a better interest rate on a home loan.
Short Story (can skip): Been with my current employer for a few years, small business so everyone here is pretty friendly/open. My employer asked me how come I didn't buy a house as it would save me money, I had always thought owning my own house was out of reach/too expensive. I am currently paying $1100 + all utilties renting a house and after a bit of searching for what kind of houses I would want in my area, my house payment including taxes and insurance range between $700-$900. So financially it would be in my best interest to buy a house, not only for the monthly savings but also tax credits, etc.
Current Credit Score: 600
I have nothing on my report other then student loans - some deferred. I recently reconsolidated all my student loans (as I was paying some, but some other loans got split into smaller amounts and those amounts were the deferred ones - I don't know how this works but I was paying on 2 loans previously and thought I had everything cleared up. Turns out I didn't and in the consolidation process learned that I had 5 loans. The total amount was what I thought it was but I had only been paying on 2 of those) so am paying on that now monthly.
I also do have a credit card (Capital One) with a $750.00 limit but had to put a large car repair on it 2 months ago and am slowlying paying that off. I have never been late on making a minimum payment on this card and often times pay more then the minimum.
And that is the only two things on my report. I was playing around with the mortage calulator on Zillow and found the lower interest rates on a mortage much more attractive once I reached the 640 mark. Minus the 3.5% down payment, I pretty much qualify for an FHA loan but really want to work on getting a better interest rate.
My current lease is due in June however I'm not sure if I could come up with 3.5% by then, so I'm figuring another year renting at my current location. So that gives me roughly a year and a half to get my score up.
As the title states, beyond paying down my current credit card I don't know what else I should be doing to increase my score.
