@buckeye777 wrote:
Hello everyone...i was hoping to get some help. i have recently become obsessed with my credit score when i tried applying for a mortgage and found my score was 605. since then (feb) i have been working to pay my debt down. i was wondering if there is anyway to tell what my next score may be. i paid two cards down to 0. one of which had been closed but with no late payments. the other is in good standing. i have paid all my bills on time and do have 3 late payments 1 yr old. the credit cards i paid have not been updated on my report yet. this month my fico score went from 618 to 627. i was wondering how much the credit cards would effect my score...thanks
Welcome!
There are a couple of FICO simulators out there. If you ever buy a report on here then you get access to a simulator based around your specific credit. Absent a report from here, I think you can still find a simulator on here somewhere and for sure still on bankrate.com using FICO criteria. These aren't that reliable because no one credit profile is alike, but you can get a general idea.
Revolving utilization is a big deal. If wanting to get into the nitty gritty, look through your lender's report. It'll list the top 4 things hurting your FICO. If utilization is in the top one or two, then you stand to see more of an improvement as utilization drops. When calculating util, you need to factor in ALL CCs opened, all CCs closed reporting a balance, any CC charge-offs showing a balance other than $0 and updating regularly, and any LOCs or HELOCs up to a limit of $20k+ (varies by FICO version). IME, I generally would receive 10 pts for every 10% of util paid down. Now going from 90% to 80% likely won't do anything to your FICO, but on the whole, if you go from 90% down to 1% you stand to see 90+ as an example. This is certainly YMMV and doesn't apply to everyone but gives you a general idea. I paid down 89% to 1% and saw 125 on EQ and 80 on TU. Util can have a big score impact. ETA...mix of credit plays into that too. Paying down util on 2 CCs won't have the same impact if you pay down the same util percentage on 3 CCs because of the lack of a mix of credit.
