@Anonymous wrote:
@HiLine wrote:And here it comes. Personal best.
26 more points to go.
Nice bump for a 0 balance!
Thanks! Honestly though, there are other factors in force to make such a nice bump. 2 cards reported new 0 balances on the same Score Watch alert, and together they brought overall utilization down to under 10%. I don't have much ammo left. This is what I expect is going to happen in the next 3 months:
Overall utilization at 1%: 4 points increase
Only 1 card reports a non-zero balance: 1 points increase
The utilization on this card goes from 47% to 6%: 6 points increase
3 6-month-old inquires drop off: 10 points increase
AAoA hits 2 years: 3 points increase
Credit history length hits 3 years: 2 points increase
These will add up to 26. Any adjustments needed?
I have now paid down 20% of my auto loan and hopefully will gain a point or two from when the loan gets reported at the end of the month. I also plan to pay a large portion of my largest credit card balance so that overall utilization will be under 2%; this card gets reported around the 6th of each month. I should also reach 2 years of AAoA some time in December. Hopefully this combination will launch my score into the 790's by the time I officially buy a house next month. I probably won't have 800, but for my mortgage, 790 should be enough to get me the best rates.
It sucks to have to rush things like this, but I guess I have no choice. I need to pull the mortgage trigger sooner than I expected.
It sucks to have to rush things like this, but I guess I have no choice. I need to pull the mortgage trigger sooner than I expected.
@HiLine: I enjoyed reading the updates and your journey. You're an inspiration. Just wanted to let you know that. 
Thanks for sharing your thought, gurlondrums! Really glad to hear!
Turned out my score on Transunion at 11/19/14 was 776, according to Discover.
Turned out my score on Transunion at 11/19/14 was 776, according to Discover.
I'm not 100% sure I want to buy a house yet. Found a condo that I like and even made an offer on it, but I don't know if this is a good deal. I haven't been on the market long enough to know what a fair purchase price would be. I'm going to talk with my real estate agent about my concern. Mortgage may happen this month or next year, I don't know yet.
@jamie123 wrote:
@HiLine wrote:
I'm not 100% sure I want to buy a house yet. Found a condo that I like and even made an offer on it, but I don't know if this is a good deal. I haven't been on the market long enough to know what a fair purchase price would be. I'm going to talk with my real estate agent about my concern. Mortgage may happen this month or next year, I don't know yet.Be very careful in what you discuss with your Realtor. In most states a Realtor works for the seller. What you tell your Realtor in confidence might find its way back to the seller in short order. If your Realtor knows you can afford the house and you really like the house you will have a poor bargaining position. It looks to me like your Realtor is walking you down "the yellow brick road" so to speak. An offer on a condo already? Just how many condos have you looked at?
Keep it to yourself that you really like a property. Act like you could care less and could walk away at any moment.
I will keep this to heart. Thanks for sharing your experience!
@jamie123 wrote:
Some Realtors can be very shady! I know from experience, my ex-wife was a Realtor.
Sorry to hear that ...
So after giving it a lot of thought, I pulled the trigger. Submitted my earnest money and contacted several lenders. I got my credit pulled and .... gained 2 points today. Perhaps it was my auto loan.
I'm going to decide on which lender to go with tomorrow. I should feel pleased about my FICO score being 776 for the first time ever, but the anxiety from selecting between the lenders is just too overwhelming.