Help understanding my Credit!

[Anonymous]

Hello everyone I'm new here! Looking for a bit of help understanding my current credit situation trying to rebuild my credit.

 I am current looking to purchase a house but need to build my credit up first, starting out my credit score was 592 with 2 credit cards with 2,750 credit limit total and 92% utilization, I then applied for a credit card with a 1,000 limit and was approved, my credit score went to 624 according to my LifeLock,CapitalOne credit tracker, and Credit Karma, 2 weeks later I paid around $2,200 off my other two credit cards bringing my credit utilization under 20%. a week later they reported and to my surprise, my LifeLock,CapitalOne credit checker, and Credit Karma all show my score went DOWN to 612 after i reduced my utilization, nothing else had changed except a credit inquiry from years ago DROPPED from my report, no missed payments in 3 years, I was expecting it to raise substantially after lowering my credit utilization that much, anyone have any ideas on why my score would have dropped instead of raising? or if iImay have done something wrong? Thanks in advance for anyones help!!

[Anonymous]

My best guess with the little information given was that the new credit card dropped your credit age which in turn caused your credit score to dip. Without much more info as to whats in your profile I dont know much else. Who is this new card from? Who are the older cards from and each limit? Might need to give a bit more information for a more well rounded answer.

[Anonymous]

Hello, Thanks for the reply!  my new card is from  First Bank through Scheels with a 1,000 limit , my oldest card is a Capital One card with a 2,250 limit that is 9 years old, My other card is through Synchrony Bank with a 500 limit around 7 months old,

Total Credit 3,750

Total Balance on all card, $473

Credit utiliaztion around 13%

Average age of credit 3 years 7 months

My credit age average is around 3 years 7 months old, I do agree that opening another new card dropped my age of credit quiet a bit, I just figured it would have reflected on the initial report when the new card reported when my score rose to 624 but i never really looked at that part, it just may not have reflected until a couple weeks later on my report. If that is the case then I can't really do much more to raise my score other than waiting for my age of credit to rise correct?  i can pay my total balance down and have my utilization under 10% but if lowering it 80% didn't have much of an effect i wouldn't think 5% would make much a difference, Would there be any other options to help rasie my score? Thanks again!

[Anonymous]

Personally my credit seemed to jump quite a bit when I brought my util to 9%. I cant explain why that is the magic number, but that definatly seems to boost for a few people so it cant hurt to give it a try. Do you currenlty have any installment loans at this point? Having a good mix of different types of credit looks REALLY good on your credit report. If not I would maybe take out a secured loan to get some sort of installment loan under your belt. 

[Anonymous]

I will definitely get my utilization to 9%, like you said it can't hurt! I do not have any type of loans, only loan i have ever had was a auto loan that i paid off 4 years ago, I will look into getting a secured loan to add a mix of credit types, I appreciate your input, definitely helpful! Thanks again!!

[Anonymous]

I don't know about lifelock, but CK and Cap1 Credit Tracker scores aren't Fico scores and can vary by as much as 100 points either way. Try Creditchecktotal for the $1 trial for 7 days. Or you can get the scores from here too.

[Anonymous]

Hey, thanks for the info, my LifeLock shows the same as Capital One and CK so I'd say its fair to assume LifeLock does not provide an actual FICO score, I checked my credit through that Creditchecktotal and it shows my score at 655, so that make me feel a lot better! So is this FICO Score 8 powered by Experian what lender would be seeing with a hard pull?

                                          Thanks!

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Hey, thanks for the info, my LifeLock shows the same as Capital One and CK so I'd say its fair to assume LifeLock does not provide an actual FICO score, I checked my credit through that Creditchecktotal and it shows my score at 655, so that make me feel a lot better! So is this FICO Score 8 powered by Experian what lender would be seeing with a hard pull?

                                          Thanks!

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If you are looking to buy a home, you need to see where your mortgage scores are. That will require you to do a 3 bureau report purchase from this site. You can't get those anywhere else.

[Anonymous]

It depends on what version the lenders use, quite a few use this one, but some use Fico 05 or others.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the help everyone, much appreciated!