topic Re: Input needed!! Sooo close!!! in Understanding FICO® Scoring

Input needed!! Sooo close!!!

Anonymous — Mon, 25 Jan 2016 09:41:38 GMT

Okay, so I'll try not to make this too painful and lengthy to read but would greatly appreciate any input from all you experts!

Hubby and I have been working with our LO for a couple years getting us exactly where we need to be to buy our first home! As of now, we're looking at our house starting to be built in March. We've worked our butts off on hubby's credit to make sure it's as best as possible (my credit won't be factored due to being a stay at home mom) but have a few questions.
Current myFICO mortgage scores as of 12/28/15
EX:676
TU:685
EQ:650
-Our LO wants a mid score of 680 so we can get thru automated underwriting. So we're VERY CLOSE, but need a boost.

Q1. We have 2 inquiries set to fall off come March. Any guesses on how many points increase we could see when they do?

This one relates to CC and utilization.
Currently, my husband has 3 cc's and our auto loan.
Cap1 Platinum-$0 balance/$400 limit/0%util
Cap1Quiksilver-$0 balance/$400 limit/0%util
Verve Card-$5 balance/$500 limit/1%util
Aggregate util- .0038%
-I know there's a sweet spot for utilization vs number of cards and having 1 with a balance while the others report $0. My question is 1) For having 3 cards, are we doing best having only the one report a balance and others $0? 2)Does utilization always round up? I know both aggregate and individual utilization are factored in, but I'm worried our aggregate will report as 0% (which we all know penalizes us)

Re: Input needed!! Sooo close!!!

olehammer — Mon, 25 Jan 2016 15:36:14 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Okay, so I'll try not to make this too painful and lengthy to read but would greatly appreciate any input from all you experts!

Hubby and I have been working with our LO for a couple years getting us exactly where we need to be to buy our first home! As of now, we're looking at our house starting to be built in March. We've worked our butts off on hubby's credit to make sure it's as best as possible (my credit won't be factored due to being a stay at home mom) but have a few questions.
Current myFICO mortgage scores as of 12/28/15
EX:676
TU:685
EQ:650
-Our LO wants a mid score of 680 so we can get thru automated underwriting. So we're VERY CLOSE, but need a boost.

Q1. We have 2 inquiries set to fall off come March. Any guesses on how many points increase we could see when they do?

This one relates to CC and utilization.
Currently, my husband has 3 cc's and our auto loan.
Cap1 Platinum-$0 balance/$400 limit/0%util
Cap1Quiksilver-$0 balance/$400 limit/0%util
Verve Card-$5 balance/$500 limit/1%util
Aggregate util- .0038%
-I know there's a sweet spot for utilization vs number of cards and having 1 with a balance while the others report $0. My question is 1) For having 3 cards, are we doing best having only the one report a balance and others $0? 2)Does utilization always round up? I know both aggregate and individual utilization are factored in, but I'm worried our aggregate will report as 0% (which we all know penalizes us)

Q1. By "fall off" do you mean aged 2 years or passing the 1 year mark? While on the report for 2 years once inquires pass one year they no longer have a FICO score impact. It will help in a manual review that those inquiries drop however.

Utilization rounds up but you might want to have at least $10 on that card. It's possible that the CRA could calculate a $5 balance as zero. Anything under 4% overall you're not going to gain any incremental points.

Auto loan (not listed?) - what is the utilization on the loan (remaining balance/original balance)? To maximise the installment loan score you'll want that below 9% or as low as possible as well.

Re: Input needed!! Sooo close!!!

Anonymous — Mon, 25 Jan 2016 15:43:54 GMT

Thank you so much!
-The 2 inquiries will reach the 2 year mark and age off.
-The auto loan is listed and has 13,000 to pay off currently out of 16,000. (We got it 2/24/2014)
-Should I also stick with letting 1 out of 3 cards report a balance and the others $0?

Re: Input needed!! Sooo close!!!

olehammer — Mon, 25 Jan 2016 16:25:03 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Thank you so much!
-The 2 inquiries will reach the 2 year mark and age off.
-The auto loan is listed and has 13,000 to pay off currently out of 16,000. (We got it 2/24/2014)
-Should I also stick with letting 1 out of 3 cards report a balance and the others $0?

Auto loan - recommend paying down to at least 79% remaining in case there is a score break at 80% remaining. That would be under $12,640. The more you can pay down without impacting your down payment ability the better.

Balance - yes, you only want a single card reporting.

Re: Input needed!! Sooo close!!!

olehammer — Mon, 25 Jan 2016 16:27:16 GMT

Also, how long has he had the Cap1 cards? Would be worth it to try and get a credit line increase as well. Always a soft pull.

As long as you keep your balance under $50 on the Verve you should be just fine. I wouldn't let it report any less than $10 just in case.

Re: Input needed!! Sooo close!!!

Anonymous — Mon, 25 Jan 2016 16:37:21 GMT

As above, get the car loan down below 80%, your probably won't see any change on EQ 04 or TU 04, but you should see a little bump on EX98 (your middle score coincidentally).

Re: Input needed!! Sooo close!!!

Anonymous — Mon, 25 Jan 2016 16:46:12 GMT

Wow! I never knew that about the auto loan part! Thank you! Will definitely work on getting that below 80%.

He's has one cap1 since 7/2013 and the other cap1 since 4/2015. The verve card just hit its 1 yr anniversary as well.

Re: Input needed!! Sooo close!!!

olehammer — Mon, 25 Jan 2016 21:56:56 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Wow! I never knew that about the auto loan part! Thank you! Will definitely work on getting that below 80%.

He's has one cap1 since 7/2013 and the other cap1 since 4/2015. The verve card just hit its 1 yr anniversary as well.

If he hasn't tried to increase those cap 1 credit lines in the last 6 months i definitely recommend it. Also, if' you're paying annual fees on either you can probably ask customer service to PC the card or waive the fees.

Re: Input needed!! Sooo close!!!

Anonymous — Mon, 25 Jan 2016 23:01:24 GMT

Only the verve has an annual fee ($96 ugh the price of rebuilding credit I suppose) I called them to see about waiving it and they weren't having it. They were sure quick to offer closing our account though, which I think is garbage bc we've been perfect customers, never late etc. Unfortunately I can't cancel them right now before the mortgage process, but as soon as we close, they're gone!

Re: Input needed!! Sooo close!!!

Anonymous — Mon, 25 Jan 2016 23:03:20 GMT

To make sure I understand you fully, when you mentioned getting our auto loan to 79% and that being the breakpoint-does that mean we could stand to see a score increase by doing so? If so, could we expect it to be a significant increase?

Re: Input needed!! Sooo close!!!

olehammer — Mon, 25 Jan 2016 23:51:21 GMT

Read this thread...
http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Understanding-FICO-Scoring/Installment-tradeline-utilization-thread/m-p/4055989/highlight/true#M94476

Epic discussion and data points on installment loans. If course YMMV but you're so close to 79% as it is it can't hurt to try.

Your cc's are fine as they are. Do not close anything (obviously) but I really bet you can get a CLI on the cap1s if you ask. At the very least click the links on the account to request an increase.

Re: Input needed!! Sooo close!!!

Anonymous — Tue, 26 Jan 2016 00:00:39 GMT

Based on the stats you provided, scores should be a little better.

Your AAoA should be over 2 years, you have a good credit mix, no new credit and Util is optimal.

Do you know what is dragging them down? Do you have any lates or other derogs? Maybe we can help there

Good Luck

Re: Input needed!! Sooo close!!!

Anonymous — Tue, 26 Jan 2016 03:13:19 GMT

Thanks so much you guys for baring with me-new to being active in the forum and for your time in continuing to share your knowledge! Hubby and I are setting up a game plan to get our auto loan 79% or lower and will be certain to check with Cap1 on a CLI.

A little backstory to explain why our scores aren't as high as they should be- We do have a BK Chap 7 on our report (filed 4/22/13 discharged 7/24/2013) so we'll be 3 yrs out from discharge this July. The only other baddie is a 30 day late but is from 8/2014, so (from what I understand) its impact on score is more minimal at this point. I did try to goodwill letter the crap out of Cap 1, but with no luck. Other than the 2 items mentioned above, there isn't a single other negative item to report. We've paid absolutely perfect and kept low util (we make sure payment posts before each acct reports) We've made sure to not allow any new INQ's in over 6 months.

Our LO will pull credit in March just before house building begins and again in about August before closing. So I'm trying to make sure we have somewhat of a "cushion" score wise so everything is good at both credit pulls. LO wants a 680 mid-which we're only 4 points away from.

I also read that when you have a CC tradeline and its associated INQ reach its 1 yr anniversary that a score increase is very possible. Any truth to that? Bc the Verve card just hit 1 yr this month, and auto loan hits 1 yr next month so wondering if we could expect a boost from that also?

Re: Input needed!! Sooo close!!!

olehammer — Tue, 26 Jan 2016 04:24:44 GMT

Inquiry impacts on score begin to diminish at 6 months and completely fall off after 1 year.

I think for new credit accounts the negative impact is strongest for the first 3 months and then gradually improves up to 1 year.

The 30-day late will have a little jump at the two year mark but you'll be applying before then.

Make sure you check what date your auto loan reports so you get it down before 3/1.

Re: Input needed!! Sooo close!!!

Anonymous — Tue, 26 Jan 2016 05:23:18 GMT

Auto loan actually reports on the 1st of every month. Payment due date is the 26th every month, so of course January's payment has already been made. However, going to post an additional payment before 2/1 and then hopefully with February's payment, we can get it under 79% before 3/1.

Amazing news from Cap1 as well! Requested CLI and was IMMEDIATELY increased to $1150 limit from $400!! Woo hoo!!!

So between:

-Verve Card reaching 1 yr anniversary this month

-Auto loan reaching 1 yr anniversary next month AS WELL AS paying down to 79%

-Cap1 reaching 1 yr anniversary in April

-Cap1 CLI to $1150

ALONG with maintaining perfect payments, low util, no new INQ (outside of mortgage related), do you think it would be possible to see a mid score of at least 700 (current mid is 676) by July? I dont want to be stressing over 1-2 points just before closing.

Re: Input needed!! Sooo close!!!

olehammer — Tue, 26 Jan 2016 20:46:21 GMT

Good luck! While no one can guarantee the absolute score change you will receive with these actions you are definitly moving in the right direction.

With a discharged BK on your report you will be in a "dirty" bucket until that drops off completely. It will impact your ability to work towards a maximum score but you definitly have an opportunity to cross into the 700's.

Best of luck!