Closing on a home.

[Anonymous]

Hi!
I am in the process of closing on a home. I am going through this program called the National Home Buyers Grant fund. You credit score has to be a 640 to qualify, otherwise I will have to put some money down. I am 10 points shy of the 640. My credit is currently at a standstill. Is there anything I can do to get these 10 points in 30 days? Please help

[Anonymous]

The easiest was is to pay down your credit cards as far as you can before the month closes (whenever that is for that particular card). Even if you pay them in full every month, they will report with whatever the balance was on the statement. If you can get your total credit card balance down from what it typically reports at, your credit utilization will drop and your score should go up.

Of course, that assumes you had statement balances recently.

[Anonymous]

I've already done this. I don't see anything else I can do to have my score increase. Any suggestion?

[StartingOver10]

Not enough info in your post. What is your current utilization on each card - its balance and its limit.  As the prior poster said that is the easiest way to gain a few points.

What is holding your score down if the utilization is zero except for one at less than 9% of the credit limit (made this assumption because you said you had already paid your balances before the statement cuts).

EDIT for more info:  remember, paying in full after the statement cuts is not the same thing as paying to zero before the statement generates.  What counts is the balance that is reported on your CR. 

[dman23]

Just curious as to why you would start the process if you knew you didn't have the required score?

[Anonymous]

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@dman23 wrote:

Just curious as to why you would start the process if you knew you didn't have the required score?

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According to his original post, the consequence of not meeting the score requirement is that he has to put something down, not that he can't buy the house. So it is probably worth the chance that he can improve his score. And if not, I assume he was prepared to make the down payment.

[dman23]

Thanks Plip. That's what I concluded.