What should I app for with no scores?

[SouthJamaica]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I'm going to wait because I really don't want another secured card. So I will follow the advice here to wait until my file is clean and current cards are reporting. 

I I wasn't aware I could pay my loan down to 9%.. Doesn't that kind of defeat the purpose? I figured they would like to see monthly on time payments. But I will ask if the credit union will allow me to do that. 

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No actually whenever you take out an installment loan, (a) you lose points for having a high percentage balance (b) you get a bump up when you lower the balance (c) you probably peak when you're in the 1 to 9 % range (d) believe it or not you LOSE points when you pay it off.

[Anonymous]

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@SouthJamaica wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

I'm going to wait because I really don't want another secured card. So I will follow the advice here to wait until my file is clean and current cards are reporting. 

I I wasn't aware I could pay my loan down to 9%.. Doesn't that kind of defeat the purpose? I figured they would like to see monthly on time payments. But I will ask if the credit union will allow me to do that. 

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No actually whenever you take out an installment loan, (a) you lose points for having a high percentage balance (b) you get a bump up when you lower the balance (c) you probably peak when you're in the 1 to 9 % range (d) believe it or not you LOSE points when you pay it off.

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Ironbull,

This is true. I had a secured personal loan and paid it down very fast. My scores kept going up each month as the balance came down and what SouthJamaica says about leaving it at 9% I didn't know at the time. I paid mine off with a big slap on my back from me in celebration and lost about 50pts on my next score change. When you don't have much there to shore up scores any little move will have a greater impact. As your file and history increases the individual items will have a lesser effect.

Needless to say I was devastated and that when I found this forum. IT's the little details you get here that matter so much more than the big stuff so pay attention.

The point is to pay the 90% (or so, you don't have to be exact about it but you want to be under 10%) down quickly (or immediately if you can) to avoid all the interest and your loan will report without you needing to make any further payments for the bulk of the year (or whatever length of time you put it on. Most banks are a 1yr.) This will get your best possible reporting face out front quickly and you should see the scores fly up.

[Anonymous]

Thank you for all the great advice. You guys are awesome

[joltdude]

A little bit about Secured Share loans and the pros and cons..

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Understanding-FICO-Scoring/penalized-for-not-having-installment-loan...

Also saw this when looking around...

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Understanding-FICO-Scoring/Should-I-get-an-installment-loan/td-p/438...

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@SouthJamaica wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

I'm going to wait because I really don't want another secured card. So I will follow the advice here to wait until my file is clean and current cards are reporting. 

I I wasn't aware I could pay my loan down to 9%.. Doesn't that kind of defeat the purpose? I figured they would like to see monthly on time payments. But I will ask if the credit union will allow me to do that. 

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No actually whenever you take out an installment loan, (a) you lose points for having a high percentage balance (b) you get a bump up when you lower the balance (c) you probably peak when you're in the 1 to 9 % range (d) believe it or not you LOSE points when you pay it off.

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Ironbull,

This is true. I had a secured personal loan and paid it down very fast. My scores kept going up each month as the balance came down and what SouthJamaica says about leaving it at 9% I didn't know at the time. I paid mine off with a big slap on my back from me in celebration and lost about 50pts on my next score change. When you don't have much there to shore up scores any little move will have a greater impact. As your file and history increases the individual items will have a lesser effect.

Needless to say I was devastated and that when I found this forum. IT's the little details you get here that matter so much more than the big stuff so pay attention.

The point is to pay the 90% (or so, you don't have to be exact about it but you want to be under 10%) down quickly (or immediately if you can) to avoid all the interest and your loan will report without you needing to make any further payments for the bulk of the year (or whatever length of time you put it on. Most banks are a 1yr.) This will get your best possible reporting face out front quickly and you should see the scores fly up.

I'm gonna remember that one. Great advice

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[Anonymous]

How does this work exactly? I mean how do I pay it down to 9% and if I pay it down will it shorten the life of the loan? I planned to do a 48 month loan based on the thread in the link above. 

[joltdude]

Originally when I coaxed a family member into doing this, I just had them take out the Secured note, and autopulled the payments out of their checking....

Supposedly theres a better way... but I dont know how to do it either.. Check out that second link I added to my previous post

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Understanding-FICO-Scoring/Should-I-get-an-installment-loan/td-p/438...

[Grafton88]

What I did on my second secured loan is to not set up auto pay.  The term of the loan is 1 year.  They wouldn't allow a longer term.  

Once it was posted to my account I paid 20% off.  My next payment was shifted back several months.  Seeing that it was working as I expected I paid off another 20%.  Then this week I paid off another 20%.  I will do the same in March and then make small payments for the rest of the term.

You might not be able to get a long term on a small dollar amount loan.  My first one was only 6 months on a $500 loan.  The good thing is that they took the $500 out of savings and put it immediately into my checking account.  As I made each payment they took a few dollars interest off and put the remaining amount into my saving account.

You will be able to find out all the information you need when you visit your CU.