Need help rebuilding to purchase home

[Anonymous]

According to the loan company, I am only about 80 points away from being able to qualify for an FHA loan. My scores now are 540, 502, and 500. I know I do not qualify for any major CC's right now and I am almost certain I do not qualify for any store cards. I also burned Cap 1 2 years ago. Stupidity on my part. What are my best options right now to try and improve my scores? I have been working on rebuilding since March and have already increased my scores by over 100 points but now I feel stuck. Any advice would be much appreciated.

[Anonymous]

You can give Capital One a try, you might be pleasantly surprised.  Their prequalification is a soft pull in any case, so no harm in testing the waters with them.  Even if all they will offer you is a secured card, that will still help your file and your score.

You can also try your bank/credit union for a secured card.  Discover might also be willing to open one for you, although they can be a bit more resistant to lower scores, since their card does graduate.

Fingerhut has a fresh start program that is very easy to get approved for as well, and while they are nobody's first choice of merchant for general purchasing, an account with them that is kept healthy with a small purchase once in a while that you pay off quickly, can help your scores on all three CRAs.  

[Grafton88]

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@Anonymous wrote:
According to the loan company, I am only about 80 points away from being able to qualify for an FHA loan. My scores now are 540, 502, and 500. I know I do not qualify for any major CC's right now and I am almost certain I do not qualify for any store cards. I also burned Cap 1 2 years ago. Stupidity on my part. What are my best options right now to try and improve my scores? I have been working on rebuilding since March and have already increased my scores by over 100 points but now I feel stuck. Any advice would be much appreciated.

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I started last March with a secured CC from NFCU.  3 months later I got a secured rebuild loan.  In December I was able to get 3 unsecured CC.  

How badly did you burn Cap 1?  Any possibility to get that paid off?

Any other badies on your reports?  

[Anonymous]

What are the baddies? Any unsecured cc's? What's your utilization? Anything you can dispute as paid that is listed as unpaid?

[Anonymous]

when I began my rebuild I started with a secured cc from my bank and car loan...waited 6 months and applied for cap1 who I also had a charge off with from 6 yrs ago.. I would use the cap1 prequalify site and see what they say. If they cant do anything for you I would look for a secured card from a bank. I was told that for an FHA loan you need to have 2 accounts that have been opened for a year. Im also hoping to apply for one in the near future once my scores go up a bit more. Best of luck to you!

[Anonymous]

A secured CC such as Discover or Capital 1, a credit builder loan through a Credit Union ( I like Self Help Federal CU, there might be one close to you). You could add a card or two via the Shopping Cart Trick perhaps....but just a couple, no need to get carried away.

Those things, coupled with time, should do it. You would also have a relationship with a credit union....great place for a home loan.