Just wondering how long it takes people who are new to credit! Thanks!
Doesn't FICO8 ignore AU accounts for scoring? And OP, do you want the number for its own sake, or to get favorable conditions for a loan or credit card? You don't need 800 to get top offers
@Gornet wrote:
Just wondering how long it takes people who are new to credit! Thanks!
For MOST people, ideally never. If you get much above 760, you're wasting potential sign-up bonuses with no reward. You need about 740 for the best interest rates on most loans, give yourself some safety, but not too much. Maintain your FICO around 750-760 for best results. If it goes higher, app for a credit card that gets you a nice sign-up bonus 
nyacat said:
For MOST people, ideally never. If you get much above 760, you're wasting potential sign-up bonuses with no reward. You need about 740 for the best interest rates on most loans, give yourself some safety, but not too much. Maintain your FICO around 750-760 for best results. If it goes higher, app for a credit card that gets you a nice sign-up bonus
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+1 Agreed. I have been twittling my thumbs for a little while sitting on an 800+ score. And for what? Great sign ups galore and I'm not grabbing any. I'm getting ready for a little app spree myself:
On my radar: CSP, Freedom, maybe Marriot (70,000 points!) and then Amex everyday to offset some account age. Not suire if that's a little overzealous....even with an 800+ score. I'm going to be doing an SBA loan and a mortgage for rental home purchase soon. That's a lot of apps in a short time but I don't see 4 card apps (1 backdated with Amex) temporarily knocking my score down more than 30-40 points.
As for the OP. I hit it in about 2 1/2 years. I had lots of good accounts and more than a few baddies when I started. I got all but 2 of them removed and one has since fallen off and the other is old and minimal. My wife has perfect credit made me an AU on hert oldest card (big boost in the beginning). I then apped for cards in phases, always carry extremely low utlilization and have watched my scores keep rising.
I actually temporarily lost some ground toward 800 when my oldest account fell off after 20 years. It was foolishly closed back in college. I was already lucky to have it stay that long. Moreover, with a few fewer card apps at certain times, I probably would have hit 800 even sooner but then fallen back down with some new cards after that. But for what? I wanted the cards sooner or later so I have no regrets. 800+ has little use except to be a parachute for app sprees to stay in the mid upper 700s.
Get a strong AU or two if you can. Always a big help. Plan ahead. bunch up good no-fee some long term cards (amex too...very important!) and keep them open. That;s the back bone of a strong, robust file with an old AAoA over time.
Start (Sept 2011): low-mid 600s. NOW: TU FICO: 801, EQ FICO 808, EX FICO 798 (PSECU). Goal: Achieved! Now Maintain!
My scores vary from 765-814 depending on what my report shows at any given time. Too many balances, my score drops, too high utility, it drops again. Open a new card, my AAoA changes plus the HP and again I lose points.
So very few people always manage to maintain a score of 800 and above. It's nearly impossible.
Plus like others have said, what's the point? If you're looking to get a loan, the best rate doesn't require 800, not even close..
Starting Score: 600s
@ficonightmare wrote:My scores vary from 765-814 depending on what my report shows at any given time. Too many balances, my score drops, too high utility, it drops again. Open a new card, my AAoA changes plus the HP and again I lose points.
So very few people always manage to maintain a score of 800 and above. It's nearly impossible.
Plus like others have said, what's the point? If you're looking to get a loan, the best rate doesn't require 800, not even close..
+1
Rule of thumb is 720+ will qualify you for best rates on almost everything; 750+ will give you the best rates for mortgage, auto, LOC, credit cards, etc. To be safe and allow a little cushion, try to aim for a 750-760 score.
Anything beyond that is just showing off...lol! People who have an 830+ score owe as much to statistical noise/random variation as to great performance on their credit reports. Don't get me wrong...I would gladly take an 830 score! But in terms of getting best terms from lenders, 750=830
Hopefully I'll be able to report back based on my own example. I started out 2 and a half years ago with only credit cards, then added an auto loan a few months ago. With pretty high utilization and a bunch of recent accounts, I'm happy with a score approaching 750. With utilization optimized I'm confident I can hit 760 now. As for 800, I think it's doubtful that 6 months of gardening can lead to a 40 points jump. I'd guess 3.5 years is the minimum.
