Will a Self Loan help my score?

[MichaelMyer]

I'm ready to start my rebuild (499 Fico). I have no open accounts, just charge offs. Some with a balance, including a charged off installment loan for $1800. I'm considering opening a Self installment loan so I can have a positive trade line post. Would that help my score since I already have a charged off installment loan, or should I do a secured credit card instead? Or do both?

[Rogue46]

I would do both for maximum points. The CC will give you the revolving portion and having an open loan will fulfill the installment part. But the loan will only help for the most points if it's paid down Ideally under 10%.

The charged off loan is closed so that does not benefit you as an open loan.

[GZG]

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@MichaelMyer wrote:

I'm ready to start my rebuild (499 Fico). I have no open accounts, just charge offs. Some with a balance, including a charged off installment loan for $1800. I'm considering opening a Self installment loan so I can have a positive trade line post. Would that help my score since I already have a charged off installment loan, or should I do a secured credit card instead? Or do both?

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there are better options, the first question you should ask

how much do you owe? How much money do you have? Can you pay off what you owe or a percentage of what you owe? 30-90% (depending how new the chargeoffs are)

you can't fix bad with good, you can fix bad by paying it off or settling it to $0, no self loan will help you if you still owe thousands in bad debt if you can reasonably pay them off. 

[charmer50]

A self loan helped in my situation,  My loan is only 2 months old and my score increased about 23 points so far.  I started the account with the minimum amount of $25 per month,  After opening the self loan I applied and was approved for capital one platinum secured card, Discover and first premier unsecured account, The credit card accounts also helped raise my score . This is 2 months after bankruptcy discharge,  My score was in the mid 500"s and now I'm almost a 630 fico 8 score.

[admiralsmoker]

It is hard to give you the best response without any additional information such as a list of your negative accounts. Look up the Date of First Deliquency so you know whey they will fall off from your credit report. If you plan on getting a mortgage during the time before they fall off, then you will have to get those accounts settled to report no balance. 

A simple answer to your question is that a secured credit card is absolutely better than an installment loan. The Self Loan will report under installment loans. A secured credit card is a revolving account and has bigger impact on your credit score. 

[FireMedic1]

You have to fix whats broken first. Settle all the CO's so they have a $0 balance and quit updating each month. The drop in util will increase scores. Once thas done. Then shop for a couple secured cards. Revolving accounts do more than a loan for scores. Once established. Then you can look into a SSL. Dont put the cart before the horse. Once all is completed. Then scores rise and better chance of approvals.