topic Re: How do I get over 800? in Understanding FICO® Scoring

How do I get over 800?

Anonymous — Fri, 16 Aug 2019 22:00:59 GMT

I have 9 cards

110k limit

under 1% utilization

9 years length of credit (7 years avg)

2 inquiries (was 1)

no missed payments

8 prior installment loans all paid off, including 2 auto loans

I'm always getting 775-780 score. Can anyone help?

Re: How do I get over 800?

Anonymous — Fri, 16 Aug 2019 22:06:25 GMT

Do you currently have any open installment loans? If you don't you're probably losing 20-30 points in the Credit Mix section of FICO scoring.

Re: How do I get over 800?

Anonymous — Fri, 16 Aug 2019 22:15:45 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Do you currently have any open installment loans? If you don't you're probably losing 20-30 points in the Credit Mix section of FICO scoring.

So I have to be constantly paying interest otherwise I'm losing out on 20-30 points?

Re: How do I get over 800?

Anonymous — Fri, 16 Aug 2019 22:37:47 GMT

No, you don't have to be paying interest.

First, let's establish what a FICO score is. Your FICO score is a statistical prediction of your risk of incurring a serious derogatory within the next 24 months (a serious derogatory is defined as a 90-day late payment or worse). In other words, it is mostly a forward-looking score intended to anticipate future performance; while most people mistakenly assume it looks backward. Because of its forward-looking nature, you're rewarded for having open, active revolving and installment accounts.

When understood from that perspective you can understand why you would miss out on scoring points by not having an installment loan since an active loan is a significant input into the algorithm that calculates the score. In the absence of that input, you miss out on the opportunity to gain points for having an optimal Credit Mix.

What several people do when they don't have an active installment loan is open a Share Secured Loan to boost their credit mix. If you search these forums you'll find detailed descriptions about SSL and how they work but this recent comment is an excellent place to start: How do shared <sic> secured loans work?

Re: How do I get over 800?

Anonymous — Fri, 16 Aug 2019 23:10:40 GMT

How would you get an installment loan without interest? Even the trick of the SSL has interest even though you're loaning from yourself. 0%APR auto loan is just interest added as principal from negotiation.

Re: How do I get over 800?

Anonymous — Fri, 16 Aug 2019 23:18:48 GMT

Which product or rate do you think you will qualifty for at 800 that you will not qualify for at 780? At the level you at, most people are going for 800 or 850 just to see if they can.

Re: How do I get over 800?

AllZero — Fri, 16 Aug 2019 23:42:54 GMT

How many of the 9 cards are reporting a balance?

What is the individual utilization % that is reporting a balance?

What is the age of your youngest account?

What is the source of your score? Are they FICO?

Re: How do I get over 800?

Dervrak — Fri, 16 Aug 2019 23:46:31 GMT

The general consensus is that there is really is no advantage to having a credit score over ~770, as the best rates companies offer top out at that level. You might get offered higher starting credit limits with 800 or higher and its certainly something to strive for if for no other reason that it gives you "cushion" for your credit score to drop from hard pulls and the like.

Personally the only person I know with an 800+ credit score is my mother who has an 826. She has a 40+ credit history, no blemishes, mortgages and car loans paid off and carries little to no balances on her credit cards.

Re: How do I get over 800?

Anonymous — Sat, 17 Aug 2019 00:42:00 GMT

@AllZero wrote:
How many of the 9 cards are reporting a balance?
6
What is the individual utilization % that is reporting a balance?
at most 4-5%, majority are small recurring bills and subscription
What is the age of your youngest account?
6y/o
What is the source of your score? Are they FICO?
They're from Credit Karma, Chase, Discover, Credit Union

Re: How do I get over 800?

Jnbmom — Sat, 17 Aug 2019 00:57:07 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@AllZero wrote:
How many of the 9 cards are reporting a balance?
6
What is the individual utilization % that is reporting a balance?
at most 4-5%, majority are small recurring bills and subscription
What is the age of your youngest account?
6y/o
What is the source of your score? Are they FICO?
They're from Credit Karma, Chase, Discover, Credit Union

If six accounts are reporting a balance, pay all of them to zero except one, just leave a little balance and you should see a little boost. A SSL is a great way to get the installment boost and yes there's interest but not much at all since most pay it down right away

And as mentioned 770+ gets about the same rates/approvals as 800 scores.

Re: How do I get over 800?

AllZero — Sat, 17 Aug 2019 01:45:08 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@AllZero wrote:
How many of the 9 cards are reporting a balance?
6
What is the individual utilization % that is reporting a balance?
at most 4-5%, majority are small recurring bills and subscription
What is the age of your youngest account?
6y/o
What is the source of your score? Are they FICO?
They're from Credit Karma, Chase, Discover, Credit Union

As Jnbmom noted, you are getting penalized for 50% or more of your accounts with a balance. Try AZEO.

Your aggregate utilization is good. 8.9% and under is prime. Your AoYA, AAoA and AoOA looks good too. That youngest is 6 years old, correct?

Once your reports shows it has been updated through CreditKarma, Chase, Discover, Credit Union, get your 3 Bureau FICO report at creditchecktotal.com (part of Experian) for $1. Cancel 7 days or earlier so you won't get charged the re-occuring fees. Pay attention to the negative reason codes. It can give you some insight on what is impacting your score.

Report back if you get close to 800.

Re: How do I get over 800?

HeavenOhio — Sat, 17 Aug 2019 04:02:43 GMT

You want to pay attention to FICO scores. Ignore the VantageScores provided by Credit Karma and Chase. But as suggested above, take advantage of their nice Transunion reports. Discover offers a FICO score, so you're good there. I woudn't know which score your credit union provides, but it's probably noted somewhere near the score.

You probably want to grab your AZEO scores (all zero except one). To do that, leave a small balance on one card (at least $5 but not much more) with the rest of your cards reporting zero. This will give you your best possible FICO scores.

Re: How do I get over 800?

SouthJamaica — Sat, 17 Aug 2019 12:51:53 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I have 9 cards
110k limit
under 1% utilization
9 years length of credit (7 years avg)
2 inquiries (was 1)
no missed payments
8 prior installment loans all paid off, including 2 auto loans

I'm always getting 775-780 score. Can anyone help?

You'll be at 800 soon.

To optimize your revolving utilization, make sure most accounts report a zero balance, and any others report a small balance.

Re: How do I get over 800?

unc0mm0n1 — Tue, 20 Aug 2019 21:32:06 GMT

How would you get an installment loan without interest?

My Mazda CX-5 was an installment loan and I didn't pay any interest. I got it when Mazda had their 0% interest deal.

Re: How do I get over 800?

Anonymous — Tue, 20 Aug 2019 22:18:28 GMT

Hate to break it to you, but the "interest" was included in your principal to make it 0%. It's all part of the negotiation for auto loan, as someone that used to sell cars, I would sell people "i could either give you the car for $x or give you 0% apr which would save you money over time." Majority of people with great credits would take the 0% APR which is literally more than if they had just taken the discount and we can bargain even more with our lender too, those are also the same people that will buy all the add ons because the monthly payment isn't that much. Thanks all, I'll look into secured loans or maybe into an installment for 0% phone purchase

Re: How do I get over 800?

Anonymous — Wed, 21 Aug 2019 00:46:56 GMT

As said before there is nothing to be gained after around a 770 fico. DW and I just recently got above 800 and we were not trying. It was a matter of the stars being in perfect allignment. We hung out in 740-770 range for what seemed lke forever.