Rebuilding Credit - Student Loans Question

[Pvcary]

I'm trying to rebuild my credit so that I can buy my first home. I have about 20k left in student loans from Sallie Mae, which is the source of the poor credit. Now that I have roughly 20k from savings, is it possible to negate my poor credit history by paying Sallie Mae in full? I've heard of submitting "pay in full" agreement options but I don't know how possible/ successful those are. Any advice or related experience would be helpful!

[InvincibleSummer3]

Having student loans isn't always the reason a credit score is low - what else have you got on your report? Chargeoffs, collections, etc? Do you have a history of late payments? Your payment history and utilization will generally be the biggest chunk of your score, and paying off an installment loan won't necessarily help. To really give you good advice, it's important to understand your credit profile as a whole.

This post might help - you'll want to look at the part that explains how a FICO credit score is calculated:

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Rebuilding-Your-Credit/Your-Guide-to-Credit-Scoring/m-p/718550#U7185...

[Luscher]

If you have the 20k in your savings and do not NEED it. I would advice throwing all of it to your student loan. Private student loans interest rates are crazy high and will only continue to grow your debt. Knock that beast out before it gets you into trouble.

[InvincibleSummer3]

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@Luscher wrote:
If you have the 20k in your savings and do not NEED it. I would advice throwing all of it to your student loan. Private student loans interest rates are crazy high and will only continue to grow your debt. Knock that beast out before it gets you into trouble.

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Good point - I'd assumed these were federal loans. If these are private loans, Pvcary, getting them paid faster is an outstanding idea in terms of good financial moves. But that's a separate issue from raising your credit score. Paying them off regardless of which kind of loans they aren't won't necessarily result in a huge score jump.

[Pat94108]

I have a 20k student loan as well but my credit score isn't low (around 750). If your score is low then there might be something else in your file that drags it down as said by invincibleSummer3. As for your question, I would advise you to pay off the balance if you don't immediately need the money in your savings.

[Luscher]

@invinciblesummer3 they are from sallie mae so they are private. Get rid of them while you can

[Luscher]

Also the advice I am giving you has nothing to do with your score. It is to help you out of debt. Private loans are the hardest to get rid of because of the high interest rates. You are most likely paying 8 percent or higher a day on that 20k.

[InvincibleSummer3]

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@Luscher wrote:
@InvincibleSummer3 they are from sallie mae so they are private. Get rid of them while you can

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Not necessarily. Salle Mae is still servicing some federal loans.