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Plan of Attack, Any Suggestions?

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MrChairman
Established Contributor

Plan of Attack, Any Suggestions?

Ok here is my story: My wife and I are in the process of building a condo and have been talking with several loan officers. My scores are all above 620 so that isn't the problem. I am trying to up my score however to get a better rate. We are going VA. I have 5 CC's that carry balances. 3 are "maxed out". And I will pay off a Best Buy credit card in full, which currently has a balance of $275 with a CL of $600 I am planning on paying these down to 70% UTI. I also have an installment loan with a monthly payment of 115.00 with around 6 payments left. This will be paid off before we go through with the final loan app. I have three other installment loans (2 auto, 1 personal loan). By doing all of this will I see a dramatic increase in my scores or would the money be better spent somewhere else in the homebuying process?


Starting Score:TransUnion: 698 (12 FEB 2010), Equifax: 674 (12 FEB 2010)
Current Score (Lender Pulled):TransUnion: 684 (12 SEP 2016), Equifax: 696 (12 SEP 2016), Experian: 679 (12 SEP 2016)
Goal Score:All scores All scores at least 700+ by December 2017!!

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madmann26
Valued Contributor

Re: Plan of Attack, Any Suggestions?

Get your revolving credit util down. That is what is hurting your scores the most right now. If you get the util down to under 30% (9% ideally), you should see a nice bump. The installment loans don't hold near the weight that revolving does.

Current FICO 9 Scores



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Jutz
Valued Contributor

Re: Plan of Attack, Any Suggestions?


@madmann26 wrote:

Get your revolving credit util down. That is what is hurting your scores the most right now. If you get the util down to under 30% (9% ideally), you should see a nice bump. The installment loans don't hold near the weight that revolving does.


+1

 

UTIL means revolvers weigh heavily.  Installment loans keep your credit mix in check, age nicely, and factor into DTI during UW, but that's about it.  Unless of course it has a negative history...

 

Also, high balance on CC means high minimum payments, which factors into DTI.

 

  • Current: EQ FICO 706, TU FICO 701, EX FICO 706 | Starting Score: 525 (05/2012)
  • Starting total revolving credit: $1100 | Current total revolving credit: $36,700
  • Inquiries (12 Months): EQ 2 TU 1 EX 1 | Most Recent: 1/21/2014
Chase Freedom $9500
DCU Visa $10000
Capital One QS $2000
AMEX BCE $3000
Lowe's CC $8500
WalMart CC $3100
BOA Platinum $600
AMEX Gold NPSL
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