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Score 759 - How do you pass it?

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Anonymous
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Score 759 - How do you pass it?

I can't seem to break the 759 barrier. Is something preventing this or Is there a key to doing this.

Message Edited by etisher on 06-21-2007 10:03 AM
Message 1 of 22
21 REPLIES 21
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Score 759 - How do you pass it?

Here's a link to a post about that elite group of FICO's "High Achievers":
 
 
See Post #7 by MidnightVoice


Message Edited by masdeocho on 06-21-2007 01:32 PM
Message 2 of 22
smallfry
Senior Contributor

Re: Score 759 - How do you pass it?



@Anonymous wrote:
I can't seem to break the 759 barrier. Is something preventing this or Is there a key to doing this.

Message Edited by etisher on 06-21-2007 10:03 AM


Can't break 759? LOL. Poor thing. Congrats on such an achievement. That's very good.
Message 3 of 22
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Score 759 - How do you pass it?



@Anonymous wrote:
I can't seem to break the 759 barrier. Is something preventing this or Is there a key to doing this.

Message Edited by etisher on 06-21-2007 10:03 AM




Sacrifice a couple of cats to Satan?

No, seriously, I think your issue is that you've likely picked all the "low-hanging fruit," as it were. You've probably got your utilization down below 10%, you don't have any recent baddies, and you've got several positive TLs. What's likely holding you back at this point is your credit history isn't long enough, and there's no cure for that except time.

The good news is that the FICO-interest rate curve is asymptotic, and you're just about at the asymptote. In other words, with a 759 FICO, you're getting just about the best rates. Even if you went to 850, you'd only come down a couple tenths of a percentage point on interest rates, at most.
Message 4 of 22
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Score 759 - How do you pass it?

If your credit report is young, time factor will hold you back. I've seen a girl with $90k in credit lines, multiple Amex, Variety of accounts. Low UTL. She is very young. She started with a bang applying for everything. She still is low-mid 700's. I have not seen her full report, only what she posted on another forum. She is a FICO junkie like us. I however can speak for my self when I was younger. I had a 720 for the longest time. It seemed to never rise. Age was my factor!
Message 5 of 22
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Score 759 - How do you pass it?

Why do you want a higher score? If you get a new job that pays $10 million a year and pay off all your debts your credit score goes down. Your ability to pay off debt is not a factor in your credit score. The truth is, a credit score is really an “I love debt score”. It tells the banks how profitable you have been to other lenders. When I was 22 I had an “I love debt score” of zero and everyone told me that I needed to build my credit. I heard three things over and over again: 1. You needed to have a credit card in case of an emergency. WRONG! 2. You need to have good credit so you can buy a car with a decent interest rate. WRONG! 3. You have to have a good credit score so you can buy a house. WRONG! At the time I believed all the lies and I built my FICO “I LOVE DEBT SCORE” up to 750 on the backs of credit cards, student loans, a car loan, and finally a 30-year mortgage. What did that get me? Great credit! But I was looking good and broke because all my money was going to the pockets of bankers. A year ago with the help of Dave Ramsey (google his name) I learned that I knew a lot more about money when I was 22 than I did a 32. Over the last 12 months my wife and I have made drastic changes in the way we handle money and we are paying off all our debt. I’ll know that we are succeeding with money when my FICO credit score is zero once again.
Message 6 of 22
snodog
Established Member

Re: Score 759 - How do you pass it?

Why wouldnt you want a higher score? I personally have a score in the 820's and i'm trying to get it as high as possible. If you miss 1 payment it gets knocked 100 pts, and anyone can have a bill get lost in the mail. Its good to have a buffer. And as for the score being an "I love debt score". Nonsense! , I have no car payments, no mortgage, no student loans, and we pay our credit cards bills in full every month. Congrats on paying off your debt but aiming for a 0 score would not be wise. Even if you never need a loan and pay cash for everything, you will still get hit with higher insurance rates and may not be able to get that job that you want. Not a very good financial decision imho, unless your one of those that cant be trusted with ANY credit.



Message Edited by snodog on 08-18-2007 04:20 PM
Message 7 of 22
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Score 759 - How do you pass it?

A few points to consider:

1) You don't have to rack up immense debt to get a decently high FICO score. Having four or five revolving charge accounts with balances in the $5 to $10 range is quite sufficient to build your FICO well into the 700s over time. I have a friend who is 19 with a FICO of 691...her credit history is about a year, and she has a couple credit cards and two store cards.

2) Along about FICO 760 or so, the FICO to interest rate curve goes asymptotic. In other words, increasing your FICO beyond the mid-700s has little effect on your interest rates. Beyond 800 or so, the curve is all but flat. Going from 775 to 850 might get you a mortgage rate 0.1% to 0.2% lower. That's it. The meaningful range for FICO is approximately 500 to 775. Below 500, no one's going to touch you for a mortgage or even most other forms of credit. Beyond 775, it's snob appeal--you're not going to get a significantly better deal beyond that. The most improvement in interest per FICO point is about 600 to 725.

3) All things considered, FICO tends to revert toward the mean, around the 700 mark. When you're 775 and up, FICO looks for an excuse to knock you down. That 30-day late that would have cost you 20 points at 600 will cost you 35 points at 700, 50 points at 775, and probably 75 points at 850. The same principle works in reverse. If you're at 500 and you keep on the straight and narrow for six months and pay your 5 revolving accounts on time, unless you're anchored by a recent baddie, FICO will probably give you a good 50 points of love. At 600, you might get 35 points. At 700, maybe 10 to 15 points. At 800, you'll likely tread water. Why? Reversion to the mean. The further above the mean you are, the harder it gets to climb and the easier it is to get knocked down. The further below...well, you can have a tough time getting the opportunity to prove yourself by getting revolving charge accounts to keep in good standing, but if you do, absent any anchors, you'll find your score rises quickly.
Message 8 of 22
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Score 759 - How do you pass it?

Thanks for all the replies and advice. I would first like to say, this had nothing to do about ego and having a perfect score. I am purchasing a house soon which would require a $650,000 (low in my area) mortgage. A quarter percent interest of savings on a mortgage that high is nothing to shake a stick at. $100 a month going to a college fund is significant. I actually did achieve a score of 761 for one month, the score has since dropped to 757. It seems that the balance decrease -increase on one credit card I have a balance on, influences the score every month. One note of caution to everyone. Be careful with auto payments from credit cards. They can easily be forgotten. Always check your statements, even with a zero balance. Thanks again
Message 9 of 22
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Score 759 - How do you pass it?

I can only speak from personal experience.  My current FICO score, according to a feed from transunion to WaMu is 792.  My real score is probably a shade over 800 (I base this upon the fact that when I was looking for my second mortgage that number was about 682, yet the pank "pull" of my numbers was in the 700 - 708 range).  OK, I earn a little over 100k a year, plus a 10% bonus, I owe 109k on a 145k mortgage after 3 years, 55k on a 62k second after a little less than a year, I have 247k in open credit cards with a 1 k balance.  There are no negatives on my history.
 
So, the way I see it, based upon my history the secret is 1) earn more 2) get more credit, but don't use it that often (I buy a $10.00 "gift certificate" at Barnes and Nobles or Borders books ever 6 months to exercise my cards and keep them current) 3) when you do use credit, pay it off in full, or as quickly as possible 3) pay off your large ticket items faster than you're supposed to.
 
But, 759 is an impressive number - depending upon your age.
Message 10 of 22
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