Need advice on next step

[Anonymous]

I've been working VERY hard on upping my credit score. I am buying a car in September and started working on my score 6 months ago. As of now my Equifax score (according to Crue karma) is 699. 700+ is my goal. Tim get to this score I have reduced my credit card debt to $1100 with an available credit limit of $57,250. I have 1 Line of Credit open at $2500, 2 personal loans at $9000. My plan is to finish paying off the card and then start on the LOC befor I buy/lease my car. I'm hoping too use the paid down LOC for the down payment as putting it on a card hurts my credit ratio. I have reduced all of my bills to a very manageable budget and all "extra" money that used to go to my credit cards will go to the loans. What should my next step be? Is there something else I should be doing?

[Anonymous]

You should start by getting your FICO scores. Credit Karma only offers you a Vantage 3.0 score which isn't your true score that lenders will be basing their decision from. You can obtain a copy of your true FICO scores from CCT (Creditchecktotal). Do the 7 day trial for $1 just remember to cancel before the 7 day trial or you will be billed at full price monthly. You can also acquire your free yearly reports from each bureau from annualcreditreport.com. You can also purchase and monitor your three score right here at myFICO. This will give you an accurate overview of your total credit profile so you can see where you can increase your score to receive the best possible rate for your car loan.

[Anonymous]

Hi and thank you for replying!! My FICO (according to Discover) is 712, 710 on Capital One's Credit Wise. Is this great it just average? Transunion has me at 721.

[Anonymous]

The Discover will be a true FICO however credit wise is also Vantage 3.0. That TU score is good I'd be interested to see how your other two bureaus look presumably right around the same providing you dont have and derogatory payment history or COs. The low utilization of your revolving with keep your score in tip top shape prior to your auto loan application.

[Anonymous]

No COs and no derogatory remarks. I am on my credit karma app every week, obsessively so. I keep a very close eye on any changes. The only "bad" thing I have is my credit age average is 2 + years which I know will improve with time.

[HeavenOhio]

Welcome, @Anonymous.

Capital One's CreditWise is also a VantageScore. I'm not clear on what your TU score might be.

If you have a Discover card, you get a TransUnion FICO8 with your account. Maybe that's what you're referring to. Discover also offers an Experian FICO8 that's available to everyone at creditscorecard.com.

From your original post, it looks like your profile is in reasonably good shape and that your plan is good. There may be some tweaks that people here can suggest if you list:

• Each of your credit card accounts along with their balances and limits
• Both the balance and limit on your LOC

The LOC is relevant because it's actually part of your revolving utilization. Your current loans are unlikely to be an issue. Just keep making the payments on time.

[Anonymous]

Ahhh I did not know that the LOC was part of revolving! Here's my cards:
Disc $1461 reporting, actual $1100 limit $16,500
Vict Sec 0 1,200
Wells F. 0 4400
Loft. 0. 1,250
Cap 1. 0. 500
DCU. 0. 5000
Maurices 0 1,300
Dillards. 0 3,600
Belk. 0 7,000
Cap 1 Quick 0 1,500
Kohls. 0 2,500
Amex. 0 6,000
Macys. 0. 2,000
Synchrony 0. 4,000
Disc tire. 0. 500

[HeavenOhio]

Your Discover balance is already in great shape, and the rest of your cards are reporting zero. Paying down Discover any further probably won't do much more for your score, if anything. If you've been carrying a balance over time, simply make sure you're paying substantially over the minimum to keep Discover happy.

From a pure scoring standpoint, I'd work toward paying down the LOC. You want to use that for your down payment anyway. And leaving one revolving account with a small positive balance with the rest reporting zero is ideal for scoring. It's best that the small positive balance be on a major card, though (not a store card and not a LOC).

Because you plan on using the LOC toward your down payment, you should be ready to go. The balance that you use for your down payment shouldn't report until your loan is approved and the keys to your car are in your hands, so you should be fine there.

Of course, if you're paying interest on your Discover card, you'll eventually want to make that stop. But since you're already paying interest on the LOC, shifting your payments in that direction isn't going cause any great pain.

Also, make sure your budget can handle all this. We've concentrated on scoring, and as mentioned, you're in great shape there. But keep in mind that you do have a couple of loans, you've been paying a card and an LOC over time, and you're borrowing for a down payment. I don't think you're going to have any trouble getting the loan you want, but you do need to make sure that you're comfortable with it.

[Anonymous]

THANK YOU!!! I will switch my focus to paying down the LOC instead of the Discover now.

[SouthJamaica]

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@Anonymous wrote:
I've been working VERY hard on upping my credit score. I am buying a car in September and started working on my score 6 months ago. As of now my Equifax score (according to Crue karma) is 699. 700+ is my goal. Tim get to this score I have reduced my credit card debt to $1100 with an available credit limit of $57,250. I have 1 Line of Credit open at $2500, 2 personal loans at $9000. My plan is to finish paying off the card and then start on the LOC befor I buy/lease my car. I'm hoping too use the paid down LOC for the down payment as putting it on a card hurts my credit ratio. I have reduced all of my bills to a very manageable budget and all "extra" money that used to go to my credit cards will go to the loans. What should my next step be? Is there something else I should be doing?

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I don't understand how anyone can answer your question without knowing the

present balances and the original loan amounts of the line of credit and the two personal loans.