Best way to improve scores?

armywifelong03 · ‎03-27-2019

Hello all! We are trying to get our scores to 720 to qualify for a lower down payment on our construction loan. I would love any and all advice on the quickest way to do this!

Remaining CC debt and scores below!

NFCU $22,000/$27,000

NFCU $10,000/$14,000

USAA AMEX $9,000/$11,000

My scoresHusband's scores

CramEiko · ‎03-27-2019

Remaining CC debt and scores below!
NFCU $22,000/$27,000
NFCU $10,000/$14,000
USAA AMEX $9,000/$11,000

Lowering your debt % should do the trick. Each of these are well over 50% UTI. IMHO this is what's keeping your scores below 720.

Is this all the debt you have? No car loans ect?

I'm sure others will chime in with more help.

Good Luck!

Updated Feb 2023:
Citi Double Cash: $26,300
Citi Costco: $33,800
PenFed Power Cash: $50,000
Chase Freedom Unlimited: $33,400
NFCU Cash Rewards: $29,000
BoA Unlimited Cash: $99,900
Wells Fargo Active Cash: $50,000
Citi AAdvantage Executive: $30,500
Wells Fargo Mortgage 30yr fixed 3.625%

Business Cards:
BoA Business Advantage Unlimited Cash: $8,000
Chase Ink Business Unlimited: $75,000
Chase Ink Business Unlimited: $75,000

RIP: EECU PLOC | BBVA PLOC | Chase SP | Chase Amazon | Chase Freedom | WF Propel | Cap1 QS | AMEX Gold | BoA Custom Cash | Lowes | Barclays Aviator Red

armywifelong03 · ‎03-27-2019

Thank you for your response! We do have two car loans, a mortgage, a personal loan and I have student loans. No lates on anything in the last 11 years. I know it is our heavy util that is holding my scores back. Ugh.

Thanks, again!

armywifelong03 · ‎03-27-2019

Editing to add that we have several (4 bank, 2 retail) that are at zero balances. Most have been for about 6 months, two hve been since about two months ago.

Anonymous · ‎03-29-2019

These appear to be your FICO 8 scores. You need to look at your MORTGAGE scores, which are your FICO 2, 4, and 5. You can get them on this site as well.

fezwhy · ‎03-29-2019

I was in a similar situation a few years ago and was 20 points shy of qualifying. Once I paid down my balances I was able to qualify.

You are so close you can almost taste it.

armywifelong · ‎03-30-2019

Sorry! To clarify, our mortgage scores are 707 and 717. We. Are. Right. There. I think I’m going to pay one card off and the other two below 48% and see what happens.

Thanks for the advice!

Anonymous · ‎03-30-2019

@armywifelong wrote:
Sorry! To clarify, our mortgage scores are 707 and 717. We. Are. Right. There. I think I’m going to pay one card off and the other two below 48% and see what happens.

Thanks for the advice!

That is certainly the right thing to do. Be certain that the remaining card is a true credit card (not a charge card) and that it has a credit limit of < 34.9k.

After you execute your plan, what will your total utilization be? (All credit limits combined?)

armywifelong03 · ‎03-30-2019

That puts us right at 19% utilization, with ALL cards, including bank cards and retail/charge cards.

Anonymous · ‎03-31-2019

Then it sounds like a good plan. You will most certainly get all the scoring points you need.