Score Simulator

[lsjohns00]

Hello Everyone,

I am new here and was wondering if anyone has followed the score simulator and how accurate it was? I have a credit score around 565 now and looking to buy a home in about a year and a half. Also I have one card and it is maxed out. The simulator is saying if I pay it down over a 24 month period I could top out at 705.

[lsjohns00]

FYI,

I have a ton of negative items. Some should come off in about a year but some as recent as 2009. I also only have a $2000 dollar credit limit on my card.

[kjm79]

From what I've personally seen with the simulator and from reading on the forum. the simulator gives a decent guesstimate of a score range.  I think I remember reading it doesn't take into consideration your "baddies" on your accounts, ie late paymetns, collections, judgments, etc. 

When it says if you pay down x amount over the next 24 months, it's factoring your lower UTIL ratio and the increase in your AAoA and length of credit history.  If you paid that same amount tomorrow, you might be close to the low end of the suggested score range.  Also, as your negative accounts get older and fall off, your score will start to rise as well.

Paying down that credit card will give you a boost in your score if you are maxed out.  Also, fyi, when it comes time to app for your mortgage and you want the highest score possible, DO NOT pay off the credit card to ZERO.  You said your limit is $2k, leave approx. $60-$100 on it.  FICO likes to see a small amount reported typically between 1%-9%.  It SHOWS you are actively and responsibly using credit. 

[Booner72]

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@kjm79 wrote:

From what I've personally seen with the simulator and from reading on the forum. the simulator gives a decent guesstimate of a score range.  I think I remember reading it doesn't take into consideration your "baddies" on your accounts, ie late paymetns, collections, judgments, etc. 

When it says if you pay down x amount over the next 24 months, it's factoring your lower UTIL ratio and the increase in your AAoA and length of credit history.  If you paid that same amount tomorrow, you might be close to the low end of the suggested score range.  Also, as your negative accounts get older and fall off, your score will start to rise as well.

Paying down that credit card will give you a boost in your score if you are maxed out.  Also, fyi, when it comes time to app for your mortgage and you want the highest score possible, DO NOT pay off the credit card to ZERO.  You said your limit is $2k, leave approx. $60-$100 on it.  FICO likes to see a small amount reported typically between 1%-9%.  It SHOWS you are actively and responsibly using credit. 

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Hi Kim - what if someone has more than one revolving account?  Is your recommendation to have all the accounts report a small balance?  Thanks!

[kjm79]

The recommendations from the forums is have only ONE account report the small balance and the rest be at zero to get the biggest bang out of your score. 

[Booner72]

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@kjm79 wrote:

The recommendations from the forums is have only ONE account report the small balance and the rest be at zero to get the biggest bang out of your score. 

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Hi Kim - thanks, I know that is the overall recommendation but I was just curious if you had a different experience with balances reporting.  Thank you for your reply.

[kjm79]

I'm still working on getting my UTIL down to that level (dropping  4-6% per month) and finding specifically what "sweet spot" I need to be in.  It is different for everyone of course.   FICO is such a fun game isn't it!?

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@Booner72 wrote:

 

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Hi Kim - thanks, I know that is the overall recommendation but I was just curious if you had a different experience with balances reporting.  Thank you for your reply.

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[lsjohns00]

Thank you Kjm79 so much for your advice. I am trying to educate myself on how to get the maximum out of my score. I am learning the hard way though. I just learned today that my FICO score is not the same as the PLUS score reported on Freecreditreport.com. It was good for me to get my credit report but I wont buy another score from them. Working on paying down my credit card now. I never even thought twice about the balance I carried on that card. I would pay it down every now and then but at some point max it out all over again.

[rajbansjoshi]

I dont think there is nothing that you can do about the negative items that you already have other than letting them age or if you want, send GW letters. I am not sure, on what kind of negative items you have...

But your priormost target should be to get your utilization ratio to around 7% and make sure that you dont have any current negative items. That would give you some immediate rise in your FICO Score for sure..

[rajbansjoshi]

I had tried Credit Simulators and believe me, they provide a fair guestimate about your scores but they also assume that you pay off all your over limit balances, any open Collections and also limit your utilization on the day your simulate your score.