No credit card required
Browse credit cards from a variety of issuers to see if there's a better card for you.
I am planning to buy a home and need some help in improving my creditscores for mortgage which are low compared to fico score 8.
My cards:
BOFA - 3800/11500 -balance remaining
DISCOVER - 1100/3500 -balance
BESTBUY -0/2700
AMEX -0/7200
CITI -0/3000
CHASE -0/4700
BARCLAYS - 0/500
MACYS -0/300
I have two missed late payments around 20 months back and one collection that is closed.
My credit score for mortgage are:
FICO 4 - 653
FICO 5 -658
FICO 2 -692.
Vantage scores are 745/747.
I want to bring the other two fico scores close or above 665 ,in a quick time.Can you please help with what i should be doing for a quick 10 point increase.
@Anonymous wrote:I am planning to buy a home and need some help in improving my creditscores for mortgage which are low compared to fico score 8.
My cards:
BOFA - 3800/11500 -balance remaining
DISCOVER - 1100/3500 -balance
BESTBUY -0/2700
AMEX -0/7200
CITI -0/3000
CHASE -0/4700
BARCLAYS - 0/500
MACYS -0/300
I have two missed late payments around 20 months back and one collection that is closed.
My credit score for mortgage are:
FICO 4 - 653
FICO 5 -658
FICO 2 -692.
Vantage scores are 745/747.
I want to bring the other two fico scores close or above 665 ,in a quick time.Can you please help with what i should be doing for a quick 10 point increase.
Hi and welcome to the forums
You could pay off one of the cards and have the second one report balance that less than 9% of the limit.
Another thing you could try is start a GW approach to removing those lates. That can be quick process for some but it can also take a while.
Here is one of the threads dealing with GW removal
Thank you the quick response.if i pay off both my cards, does it increase atleast by 10 points,just want to check if anyone faced similarly situation and saw some significant rise in month or so.
@Remedios wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:I am planning to buy a home and need some help in improving my creditscores for mortgage which are low compared to fico score 8.
My cards:
BOFA - 3800/11500 -balance remaining Pay this off
DISCOVER - 1100/3500 -balance Pay at least a hundred on this
BESTBUY -0/2700
AMEX -0/7200
CITI -0/3000
CHASE -0/4700
BARCLAYS - 0/500
MACYS -0/300
I have two missed late payments around 20 months back and one collection that is closed.
My credit score for mortgage are:
FICO 4 - 653
FICO 5 -658
FICO 2 -692.
Vantage scores are 745/747.
I want to bring the other two fico scores close or above 665 ,in a quick time.Can you please help with what i should be doing for a quick 10 point increase.
Hi and welcome to the forums
You could pay off one of the cards and have the second one report balance that less than 9% of the limit.
Another thing you could try is start a GW approach to removing those lates. That can be quick process for some but it can also take a while.
Here is one of the threads dealing with GW removal
+1 on this, but it is less than 29% on the idividual card, and less than 8.9% on the total combined revolving credit limits. I also do not see any installment loans in his profile, and he shouldn't create one if going for a mortgage real soon, he should however pay down the balance on any existing installment loans, if not already significantly payed down. Paying the amounts I stated in bold will get him to the AZEO status of less than 8.9% aggregate, and less than 29% on a single card, and maximize his utilization points. That should easily gain him or her at least a 15 point jump, but likely a good bit more.
Welcome, @Anonymous.
Pay one card down to a tiny balance (at least $5, but not much more). Pay the other to zero. DON'T pay both cards to zero, as that will result in the fairly substantial "all cards at zero" penalty. You want to leave a balance of at least $5 because many banks will forgive small balances and report zero.
Some scores react to balances well below the 8.9% mentioned above, thus the advice to bring your balance down to not much more than $5 when you need every possible point. I have $69,000 in credit limits. At least one of my scores is dinged with a balance of $400 on a $7,000 limit. I currently have a balance of $896 on a $24,000 limit, and several of my scores have experienced dings.
When these dings happen is unpredictable. $5 or a bit more will safely keep you away from those.
It's occured to me that you should leave the small balance on the Bank of America card and pay Discover to zero. It's probable that the card that's paid to zero will charge trailing (leftover) interest at statement cut time, meaning that your balance won't be zero. Discover will report upon request, meaning that you can pay off the trailing interest and ask them to update your credit report.
Now that I think of it, I'd suggest that your first order of business should be to pay Discover to zero and ask them to report. If trailing interest is charged on the next statement, pay it to zero and ask them to report again.
@Anonymous wrote:I am planning to buy a home and need some help in improving my creditscores for mortgage which are low compared to fico score 8.
My cards:
BOFA - 3800/11500 -balance remaining
DISCOVER - 1100/3500 -balance
BESTBUY -0/2700
AMEX -0/7200
CITI -0/3000
CHASE -0/4700
BARCLAYS - 0/500
MACYS -0/300
I have two missed late payments around 20 months back and one collection that is closed.
My credit score for mortgage are:
FICO 4 - 653
FICO 5 -658
FICO 2 -692.
Vantage scores are 745/747.
I want to bring the other two fico scores close or above 665 ,in a quick time.Can you please help with what i should be doing for a quick 10 point increase.
1. Send 3 verification letters to each of the 3 bureaus, trying to get rid of the 2 lates and 1 collection.
2. Pay Discover down to $980.
3. Pay BOFA down to $3220 or lower.
4. After Discover & BOFA are paid down ask them as a courtesy to report mid cycle with the lower balance. Discover will do it, I don't know about BOFA but can't hurt to ask.
@Anonymous wrote:Thank you the quick response.if i pay off both my cards, does it increase atleast by 10 points,just want to check if anyone faced similarly situation and saw some significant rise in month or so.
It's great to pay them both off if you can, but make sure you don't pay them off 100% before the statement cuts. You want to make sure at least one reports a small balance before you pay it off.
@HeavenOhio wrote:It's occured to me that you should leave the small balance on the Bank of America card and pay Discover to zero. It's probable that the card that's paid to zero will charge trailing (leftover) interest at statement cut time, meaning that your balance won't be zero. Discover will report upon request, meaning that you can pay off the trailing interest and ask them to update your credit report.
Now that I think of it, I'd suggest that your first order of business should be to pay Discover to zero and ask them to report. If trailing interest is charged on the next statement, pay it to zero and ask them to report again.
Better yet, if there's going to be interest, better to just overpay enough to cover the interest.
@SouthJamaica wrote:
2. Pay Discover down to $980.3. Pay BOFA down to $3220 or lower.
This is probably enough to bring at least one of the lower two scores to 665. If that's the best @Anonymous can pull off financially, she (he?) should do that.
The tiny balance on one card is the safest route, of course. It removes all mystery, and getting more than enough points will be a slam dunk.
An in-between option would be to bring Bank of America down to $3,220 and Discover to $0.