I am really fustrated and need your guys help. I have recently been talking to a real estate agent on buying a house. She sent me to a mortage broker and i got pre- approved for a $100,000 ~ $150,000 house. My question is: My credit score is 630-660 and i really want to raise my score before doing so. Ive been at my current job for 3 years and have been paying my bills on time with no late payments. My only bills are a $300 vehicle payment and two credits cards wich i only owe 20% on each ( I only got these too boost credit score~~really dont need them). i do have some hospital bills on credit report and a light and cable bill ( when i moved 3 years ago the post office lost my forward adress~ i know thats not an excuse) So my question is with very little debt to income ratio what can i do to raise my score?? Will it hurt me to pay off the two negatives to a zero balance? ( the total balance for both is $300. Could i open a small secured loan through my credit bureau and pay off in 3 months? It just seems that the past couple years my score is slowly going up~~ It seems as if im being penalized for not being in debt~ ive tried to be smart since getting my new job and paying everything on time, not taking out alot of credit obligations? Pleas help me.
You not being penalized for not being in debt. You need some revolving credit card accounts and use them, pay them in full and keep the balances at 0. Revolving accounts account for a huge portion of your FICO score. The negatives on your report are hurting you, have you disputed them at all?
Not only do you need some revolving accounts (or a little more), you need some history to improve your FICO scores. Sounds as everything else, other than the collections, is in good order. Here is my suggestion . . . 1) Dispute the derogatory tradelines through the credit reporting agencies and request validation from the collection entities directly. You will need to ascertain whether they are collection "agencies" or purchasers of the payment rights; i.e., assignees. This is imperative as to how to fashion your disputes insofar as the two entities generally report differently albeit not accurate in most cases, and, 2) Ask a friend or relative to add you to some of their cards "if" they are a few years old, have never been late, and are 30% or below in utilitzation of avaliable credit. If the above is not a viable options, there are companies which offer this service. Some are better than others but, in any event, this can significantly increase your FICO's insofar as the history of the accounts you are added to are transposed on your credit reports.
