I found this site in November 2011 while I was going through the mortgage process. I had a bad, but enlightening, experience with the first lender I applied with. Things fell through with the first lender and I was recommended to a new lender by my realtor. Some of the advice they were giving me seemed 'off' compared to what I was learning here. I learned the LO's think they know how credit scoring works, but I made the changes to the scores myself from what I learned here. Previous to October 2011, I had been working on rebuilding my credit for over 2 years (Feb 2012 will bring 3 years of 'clean' credit). I was irresponsible in my younger days and just didn't care. In 2009, I decided I needed to grow up and get with it. I haven't had a late/missed payment or any collections since 2008. I also had a few rebuilding credit cards that I continue to use wisely. My biggest accomplishment is buying my first home on 12/23/11...and I couldn't have done it without everything that I learned here. My goal is to keep my credit utilization under 9% and continue building!!
September 2011
Capital One-$500 cl--balance $189
Orchard Bank-$300 cl--balance $146
Credit One-$575 cl--balance $59
WFNNB-$560 cl (grocery store CC where I work)--balance$189
Care Credit-$1000 cl--balance $181
Capital One Auto--balance $19,000 (just opened in July)
November 2011
Capital One--paid balance down to $0
Orchard Bank--paid balance down to $0
Credit One--paid balance down to $10
WFNNB--paid balance down to $0
Care Credit--paid balance down to $0
December 2011
Closed on mortgage!!
January 2012
No new debt on previous cards!
Approved for GEMB/Mckinneys--$2500 cl--$2100 balance (new furniture, %0 percent interest until 2014...will be paid off with taxes)
Approved for GEMB/JC Penney's--$200 cl--$0 balance
Approved for Barclays--$1000 cl--$0 balance
Credit One--CLI to $675
Orchard Bank--CLI to $400
Now I'm gardening :-)
Starting Score: 611