Rebuilding towards home purchase

[RebuildingFlorida]

I am working towards purchasing a home with a target date of summer of 2015.

My scores - based on myfico.com are Experian = 630, Equifax = 705 and Transunion = 725

I have three recorded Federal Tax Liens from 2011 (one paid for $80K and 2 for $70K that I have paid down to $25K each)

and I have a BOA account that in April 2008 that is recorded as "Account legally paid in full for less than the full balance" that only shows on my Experian report.

I also have a 30 day late payment from June 2007 on a closed Sears/CBNA account (opened in 1983) that shows my Experian and Equifax account the late should drop off soon.  My Experian and Equifax reports stated that I had too little credit and that was impacting my scores,

Open Account Summary

I have two accounts with Capital One that had CL of $500 (opened 2011) and $300 (opened 2012) when I discovered MyFico in early January 2014.

Since then I have done the following:

Amex Delta card - (pulled EX) and was denied (1/6/2014 - it's probably too late for recon)

Barclays William Sonoma Visa (pulled TU) applied and was accepted $1,300 CL

Barclays US Airways card (pulled TU) applied a week later and was declined (should have requested this one or a rewards card first)

GE Brooks Brothers (pulled TU) applied and accepted a store card with $850 CL

Discover IT card (pulled EQ) applied and accepted for $1,000 CL

Comenity Sportsman Guide applied (SP) and accepted for $5,000 CL

Citi Best Buy applied (pulled EQ) and accepted for $2,000 CL

I also did a CLI on my Capital One cards and was increased to $1000 and $500 and was able to do a product change on the older card to the quicksilver card.  Called Barclay Card and requested a product change from the Williams Sonoma card and was told that I had to wait.

I don't think there is much I can do about the BOA but wait.  It is my understanding that once I get my tax liens down to below $25K total, I can contact them and have the 3 liens removed from my credit reports.  The Discover, Sportsman Guide and Best Buy cards have not reported yet so it will be interesting to see how much this will hurt my scores and how long for them to recover.

Since I don't have either a car payment or a mortgage currently,

I was wondering if I purchased a small lot perhaps for $10K and got a 15/20 year mortgage on it would that help my credit score?

Thanks for all the information - what a great resource this site is.

[ktl72455]

Your cards are pretty new, I would slow down on applying for now, you have plenty. Now what they need to do is get older and you will see your score go up.

You are correct on the fed tax leins. You are really pretty set so you could take your "garden time" and work on good willing BOA to death :-)

The old 30 day late is not having much if any impact now.

Your new inquirys and Trade lines will have more impact on your score but you will recover quickly :-)

A car payment or Mort will only had to your credit mix.  I would let all the fresh stuff settle before doing much else and see where its at.

Congrats on all the new cards and credit limit increases!

[RebuildingFlorida]

Thanks ktl72455 for the input.  Since I have a year plus with the Tax Liens and close to 2 years with BOA, I was just looking for any way to push up my scores - particuliarly with Experian. 

Thanks again!

[notfancy]

With all the new accounts it probably is a bad idea to apply for any thing else... however if you're really looking to add to account mix, you could take a copy of your credit report to your local credit union and see what your chances are of getting approved for a small "credit builder loan" (google it for more information) I suppose it could maybe help.

[gdale6]

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@notfancy wrote:

With all the new accounts it probably is a bad idea to apply for any thing else... however if you're really looking to add to account mix, you could take a copy of your credit report to your local credit union and see what your chances are of getting approved for a small "credit builder loan" (google it for more information) I suppose it could maybe help.

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+1

[RebuildingFlorida]

Is there any advantage of getting a "Credit Builder Loan" compared to just a personal loan, say for example a 2 year loan for $2,000?

[RebuildingFlorida]

So I talked with several banks including the Credit Union I am currently a member of and they told me when they report these loans it shows that they are secured loans.   Am I wrong that buying an inexpensive property for $5,000 would have a more positive impact than doing the "credit builder type loan"?

Thanks for the idea - it has resulted in more research and I hope a better understanding of the credit score system!!!

[notfancy]

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@RebuildingFlorida wrote:

So I talked with several banks including the Credit Union I am currently a member of and they told me when they report these loans it shows that they are secured loans.   Am I wrong that buying an inexpensive property for $5,000 would have a more positive impact than doing the "credit builder type loan"?

Thanks for the idea - it has resulted in more research and I hope a better understanding of the credit score system!!!

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Glad you got the information on the loan. I suppose it would have a positive impact as you'd own property of your own, and then could build on it or a host of other things, of course then there are property taxes lol... Depends on what you  value and if you can get approved for it.

[RebuildingFlorida]

Thanks for all the advice.

After reading so much on the forums about NFCU, I joined their Credit Union (1 HP from Equifax) and then applied for their credit card.  They did a HP on both EQ and TU - and I was denied. ( three pulls for a denial)  - I sent them a recon email and was still denied.

Decided, my best course of action is to put every $ into getting my Fed. Tax Liens paid down to below $25K and get those off my credit reports. 

Thanks again