Patience you should maintain while building your credit score

[Anonymous]

Hello everyone,

     Recently I have been fascinated with building my credit score to take these inspirational once in a lifetime trips. The idea of being able to someday be a homeowner or being able to purchase a new vehicle with no interest really gives me a lot of hope for my future. My goal in this post is to help people who are also trying to build their credit remember one thing as they progress along their credit building journey: Patience. I know first hand what it feels like to reach a certain score and expect that I suddenly deserve these wonderful lines of credit to be extended to me. I have recently wasted 6 hard inquires in the last 3 months because I believed that my score alone was sufficent enough to grant me an approval to a card of my liking. It is paramount that you understand that a score is just a variable that a lender considers when evalutating your application. There are many resources on this forum site and I suggest you research them all before you make the choice to apply for a line of credit. I will now provide my current stats as well as some very important information that I have concluded from my extensive research of the details on my credit reports.

Experian:      665

Equifax:        647

TransUnion: 661

[Anonymous]

                                            Experian        Equifax          TransUnion

Open Credit Cards

5

5

5

Open Retail Cards

0

0

0

Open Real Estate Loans

0

0

0

Open Installment Loans

2

2

2

Total Open Accounts

8

7

7

Accounts Ever Late

3

3

4

Collections Accounts

0

0

1

Time Since Negative

2 yrs 1 mo

2 yrs 1 mo

2 yrs 3 mos

Average Account Age

2 yrs 6 mos

2 yrs 6 mos

2 yrs 6 mos

Oldest Account

7 yrs 9 mos

7 yrs 9 mos

7 yrs 9 mos

Credit and Retail Card Debt

$3,286

$3,286

$3,286

Real Estate Debt

$0

$0

$0

Installment Loans Debt

$9,956

$9,956

$9,956

Collections Debt

$0

$0

$94

Total Debt

$13,420

$13,242

$13,336

Number of Inquiries

9

4

4

Credit Debt

$3,286

Total Credit

$4,900

[Anonymous]

Now be advised that most of my limits come from AU cards that belong to my parents.

I have 1 AMEX Charge Card (AU), 1 Capital One (AU) $3500, 1 Wells Fargo (AU) $900 and I own two accounts opened in March and April of this year respectively. Capital One Platinum $300 and a Discover It Secured $200.

I have one negative mark on all three reports from

FIRST PREMIER BANK

xxxXXXXXXXXXX

Account Type

Revolving

Revolving

Revolving

Balance

$388

$388

$388

Credit Limit

$300

$300

$300

Payment Status

Negative

Negative

Negative

[Anonymous]

The one thing I have learned from this charge off is that I need to have my balance be set to $0 dollars in order to have positive benefit to my score and my overall report. (Paid in full) looks a lot better than Settled for someone who is manually overviewing your account and has the potential to approve your application. The biggest reason this is still damaging my credit though, is because they are still reporting this negative information as well as this balance is still negatively affecting my utilization (currently at 126%) which is a factor in FICO scoring models. I currently do not have the money to pay this off, but I admit that the status of this becoming PAID in FULL will be the best option for me being able to seek other lines of credit until this bad boy falls off my record in December of 2023.

I want to stress the importance of being patient. When a creditor reviews your profile they are able to sift through your report and identify AU accounts that inflate your credit score, which in turn means you need more positive information to help them approve you. The next course of action is for me to allow my report to reflect on time payment of my two current cards that belong to me for at least twelve months. This milestone will be able to prove my new creditworthiness.

Another word of advice for any of you out there ready for a new card. Use prequalify tools on lenders websites to help you avoid unnecessary inquires and disappointment. A soft pull contains all of your information needed for them to make a decision to see if you are qualified for their product. If you have made mistakes in the past, it is okay. I will not let my past charge off be a burden to me any longer. However, you must take the best course of action to fix your profile in order to be considered to be creditworthy. I know there are a lot of steps but I promise you it is worth it and when you finally make it to the point where you have your feet kicked up on the beach with your significant other reflecting on how awesome that first class flight was, and how you paid absoutely nothing for the trip. You'll remember the little steps you took to help you get there. Patience is key.

Day by day, we will get closer to our goals and I hope you aspire for greatness and may all your dreams come true. 

[Brian_Earl_Spilner]

Credit scores just give lenders an idea if they should be wasting their time with you. Once you get past that hurdle, everything else comes into play. There are exceptions, like I proved with my PayPal card, but for the most part, you need the score, to get in the door.

[Anonymous]

I love that. Your score allows them to consider you, and your report is what they use to decide wether or not to extend credit for you.