Need help improving scores within 6 months

[Anonymous]

Hi all,

I am new here.  I had good credit until my house was underwater and I was forced to miss payment and ended up short sold my house in March 2010.  My score dropped to the low 600's.  I never late on credit cards and I always keep my balance less than 10%.  My current Transunion score is over 680; equifax 639 and Experian is 628.  I need to get my mid score to be over 700 by March of 2012 to apply for a conventional loan.  

What is the best way to achieve that?

I've heard that if I get a car loan and pay it off in a 6 months, my score will jump.  Is that true?

What if I get more credit cards?

myfico score watch only allow me to apply to the score simulator within 30 days.  That's sucks.  I'll be switching to equifax score watch.

[llecs]

Welcome to the forums!

Continue to keep CC balances reporting less than 10%, though you can certainly use more (just pay down before the statement date). Also, FICO likes to see $0 balances and getting more of your balances to $0 will help (but don't get all of them at $0...leave 1 or 2 under 10%).

Check the source of your scores. If all 3 came from a lender, then they could be FICO scores. If all 3 came from the same source and service, then none of them are FICO scores. If that's the case, there's always a chance your FICO could be higher.

IMO, getting a car note and paying it off in 6 months will result in a net loss. YMMV based on your credit. You'll get dinged for the new credit and I predict a losss for the entire 6-month period.

How many CCs do you have. If you have 3 or more, I bet a short-term loss of 6-12 months after adding any new CCs. If less, YMMV, but there's always a chance of an increase. I've certainly seen high scores well into the 700s with only a couple of CCs reporting, given though a clean report and some age.

Do you have any baddies holding you back other than the short sale? Have you tried sending GW letters to the mortgage lender?

When you order a myFICO report you can only use the simulator within 30 days of the purchase, unfortunately.