No one knows: How to get your score over 800

[Junejer]

Hi CreditAble, was that card (8yrs 3mos) the oldest TL that you had? If not, what was the oldest TL at the point of hitting 800? It has eluded me as well. I got to 790, but I knew that I wasn't going to get there, because of the credit apping that was coming down the pike.

TIA

[CreditAble]

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@Junejer wrote:
Hi CreditAble, was that card (8yrs 3mos) the oldest TL that you had? If not, what was the oldest TL at the point of hitting 800? It has eluded me as well. I got to 790, but I knew that I wasn't going to get there, because of the credit apping that was coming down the pike.

TIA

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 The 8 year 3 month tradeline was my very first line of credit ever. It was an AU bank card converted to joint a few years later. I had the original account holder removed last June with a soft pull and I have been the sole (individual) account owner since then.

 I thought it might be appropriate to point out that I hit the ground running with a $5,000 prime bank card as my first tradeline. I can't imagine if that would make much difference as far as time in file needed for an 800 Fico. I just wanted to point out that I was blessed with the privilege of avoiding "toy cards". My training wheels consisted of a platinum AU bank card.

 If someone had to start farther back in the pack I don't want him to get disappointed if his mileage should vary from mine. The main point is that an 800 score is definitely not age barred after 8 yrs 3 months.

 * Full (further) disclosure:

The original AU card was applied for by a very good friend of mine. The original purpose of the card was for my exclusive use. There was a lot of trust there on my friend's part. I am however very trustworthy and my friend knew that. Furthermore my friend knew of my absolute ability  to pay obligations that exceeded ten times the amount of the card's CL.

 The AU path to credit building should be used with caution..

[Junejer]

That's awesome thanks for sharing. I would have never guessed that 800 would have been possible with a credit history of only 8 years.

[CreditAble]

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ByrdMan wrote: 
I got to 790, but I knew that I wasn't going to get there, because of the credit apping that was coming down the pike.

TIA

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 Maybe you might consider my approach. Many people caution against chasing 800 scores as unnecessary except for bragging rights. I realized that 800 was unnecessary and that it was only a matter of (unknown) time before I reached 800.

 On my way up the score ladder I was always setting minimum "score pull back numbers". In the beginning I tried to stay above  720, 750, 760 then finally 770. Once I got into the 790s I would have been content if my scores would have pulled back all the way to 760. I was doing the 0% arbitrage loans and was prepared to accept occasional score drops. Huge drops never actually happened even with $20,000 balances.

 My point is that I knew I could pay off all balances anytime that I wanted to so I knew I could maximize my credit score within 30 days. My maximum score would be in the 790s and I could swing any deal I wanted to with a score like that.

 I would encourage you to take comfort in any relatively high pull back score number you might have. You know that you handle credit responsibly and that you have mastered the system.

 Sooner or later you will hit 800 and with relatively little additional effort on your part.

 I guess you might say that I enjoyed the game up into the 790s, then I stopped trying so hard. After a short period of time I reached the 800 goal without trying at all. It was actually all sort of fun. If I had gone straight to 800 with no setbacks, it would have been kind of boring.  

[CreditAble]

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@Junejer wrote:
That's awesome thanks for sharing.

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You are welcome and thanks for the help that you have provided me. This is absolutely the best credit scoring forum on the web.

[Junejer]

CreditAble, I have to quit apping (buying rentals and rehabs), in order for me to keep my AAoA up. I will get there eventually. That is a good point. I know that there will be pull-backs, I just need to set an acceptable pullback score. Good advice. Thanks CreditAble.

[Anonymous]

I just hit 800 on one of my scores when a co-signed, defaulted auto loan came off. 

8 open accounts

14 closed accounts in good standing

3 accounts have balances (2 CC 1 AutoLoan)

$75k in available CL, 2% util 

1 open mortgage account, 4 closed mortgages (two purchases, 1 re-fi, 1 went to another lender)

Oldest account is 12 years old (was all in my ex-husband's name before)

1 inquiry

ZERO deliquent or derogatory except on TU (7 yrs old comes off this month)

[Anonymous]

My score recently jumped from the high 700's to just over 800 in the past two years.  I am 38.  I have always had good credit, but was told to stop closing & opening new cards to get it to rise.  It had not moved at all for nearly a decade, so I was doubtful it would ever change.  Now all of a sudden it rockets up 40 points or more in 18 months!

Not sure it is simply age (was 36 not old enough, I've had credit cards since 18 and never had a single late payment on record?).  I did buy a new car (financed through the credit union) and open a home equite loan in the past two years, but was actually told my score was lower at the time because of credit to debt ratio or some such thing.

This whole score thing is a mystery to me and seems a little bit wrong that banking institutions can sit in judgement of us (while taking our bailout money) and not at least provide a clear system for grading.  Would we accept a system like this from our child's teacher for grades?

[cobaltnv]

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@Anonymous wrote:

This whole score thing is a mystery to me and seems a little bit wrong that banking institutions can sit in judgement of us (while taking our bailout money) and not at least provide a clear system for grading.  Would we accept a system like this from our child's teacher for grades?

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Welcome to the forums catgoblet.

One thing to keep in mind here relative to your comparison of FICO scores to school grades. Your FICO scores are not actually FOR you they are for the company thinking about lending you money. They are simply a measure of the risk you present to the lender. It would be very nice to know exactly how the scores are calculated, but then it would be easy to gain the system and therefore make the scores irrelevant. 

That being said. If you spend enough time in these forums you will learn a lot about how those scores are calculated.