UTI, is there any benefit to less than 9%?

[Anonymous]

I've read that having a balance of less than 10 percent UTI total credit can help scores, but are there any other thresholds below 9 percent that you've witnessed?     I am referring to just one account with a balance.

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

A few people have reported small instances of dropping from 9% to 1% or 2% as yielding them another point or two but to my understanding it's not very significant.

[RonM21]

With each profile being different, how many points you can gain can vary. You'll hear of people testing out for a "sweet spot" with their percentage. The majority of examples I've seen people give shows them getting max scoring under 5%.

Once within the 5% range it can really differ on how low you can be and maximize your score.

[Anonymous]

Thanks everyone, I'm going to give it a shot at 5 percent, then 1 percent.   Although my file is far from clean, so it may be a futile experiment as 5 year old lates are aging too.   

[Grafton88]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Thanks everyone, I'm going to give it a shot at 5 percent, then 1 percent.   Although my file is far from clean, so it may be a futile experiment as 5 year old lates are aging too.   

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LolaCat,

The way I look at it is that it may not be a big point difference but it is a good habit to get into.  

During my rebuild I looked at what the high achievers did.  They seemed to have a very simple approach.  They didn't apply for much.  They paid their balances down.  They had high AAoAs.

I finally got my last baddie off of my reports this July 1st.  My scores have really taken off.  

You have done a good job this year in raising your scores.  When your baddies fall off you will have the same results plus you can have great habits ingrained so you can maintain your high scores.

[Imperfectfuture]

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@RM21 wrote:
With each profile being different, how many points you can gain can vary. You'll hear of people testing out for a "sweet spot" with their percentage. The majority of examples I've seen people give shows them getting max scoring under 5%.

Once within the 5% range it can really differ on how low you can be and maximize your score.

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My sweet spot is 3% to 4%.

[Anonymous]

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@Grafton88 wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

Thanks everyone, I'm going to give it a shot at 5 percent, then 1 percent.   Although my file is far from clean, so it may be a futile experiment as 5 year old lates are aging too.   

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LolaCat,

The way I look at it is that it may not be a big point difference but it is a good habit to get into.  

During my rebuild I looked at what the high achievers did.  They seemed to have a very simple approach.  They didn't apply for much.  They paid their balances down.  They had high AAoAs.

I finally got my last baddie off of my reports this July 1st.  My scores have really taken off.  

You have done a good job this year in raising your scores.  When your baddies fall off you will have the same results plus you can have great habits ingrained so you can maintain your high scores.

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Thanks for the encouragement, it means alot!   I have a great average of accounts, but OPEN accounts, only 1 year...I stupidly paid with cash for several years after trashing my credit in 2010, 2011.     So I have some catching up to do!  

I've exhausted my resources at removing old lates, I have a chargeoff that will be gone 10/16.  Student loans are paid, car is paid.   So meanwhile, with nothing left to do, I can play with small balances and see what happens!

Hopefully with practice I can hit the "sweet spot" in 12 - 18 months when I am ready to apply for a mortgage!

Again thanks to everyone for your replies 

[Grafton88]

LOL.  I paid cash for over 10 years.  I couldn't even get a score until October 2015.  I learned some good habits like how to budget so I don't consider it to be all bad.

My AAoA is only 9 months.  I am very careful when applying for new credit.  I only have 7 INQ across the 3 CRAs.

Sometimes you have to look on the bright side.  You have your student loans paid off.  You have your car paid off.  Your baddies will fall off soon.  There won't be anything holding back your score except time.  What I have found is that you can have high scores with a short credit history.

Good luck on buying a house.  That is my goal for next year.

[Anonymous]

I'm fairly confident in saying that regardless of what ones "sweet spot" is with regard to utilization percentage that being just outside of that sweet spot a couple of percentage points on either side (but still 9% or less) isn't going to make a significant difference.  A few points maybe, but a few points IMO aren't significant.  I get the desire to maximize score however when considering applying for new credit as everyone wants to give the best "look" possible... but we aren't talking night and day score differences here.

[surferchris]

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@Grafton88 wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

Thanks everyone, I'm going to give it a shot at 5 percent, then 1 percent.   Although my file is far from clean, so it may be a futile experiment as 5 year old lates are aging too.   

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LolaCat,

The way I look at it is that it may not be a big point difference but it is a good habit to get into.  

During my rebuild I looked at what the high achievers did.  They seemed to have a very simple approach.  They didn't apply for much.  They paid their balances down.  They had high AAoAs.

I finally got my last baddie off of my reports this July 1st.  My scores have really taken off.  

You have done a good job this year in raising your scores.  When your baddies fall off you will have the same results plus you can have great habits ingrained so you can maintain your high scores.

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Good advice...