Hello Everybody, Since there are so many newcomers to the board, I decided it would be a good idea to mention some of the credit building strategies used by many of us at this board in the past several months. We must all remember that revolving credit is great. But, we really should add some installment credit to our files as well. Secured banks loans have worked for me and many others. The idea is to use your savings account or CD's as a security deposit on a secured bank loan. You walk out of the bank with cash. You then pay the loan back using that same cash over 12 months. You get a paid bank loan added to your report. I did such a loan with Chase and they gave me a unsecured credit card shortly after. Preferably $1000 should be your minimal loan amount. MilMil (which disappeared from this site unfortuantely) did this for $3K at 3 different banks. Now that looks great on Mil's report. They tell us that Fico like variety of accounts. Ok, I hope this helps someone who didn't know about this little strategy. Oh yeah, you do generate an inquiry. Chase didnot pull my credit that day. But the credit department did pull my credit a few days later. In my case $1K was frozen in my savings account until it was all paid back. Does anyone have any other strategies to share? roni
Thanks for that info Roni. I'd heard that from someone else (a mortgage broker) and he said that REALLY boosts your beacon.
Could you share the detail of your Chase loan? Thanks in advance. 1. Did the deposit go to a CD 2. What was the loan's interest rate 3. Did you have a previous ralationship with Chase prior to your loan application Also, people, when you apply for such loan, be sure there is no fee for early repayment. Saar
Gee Saar, would you like my account # also. lol. Just Kidding. I banked with Chase..Checking and Savings. I had about $8K in savings and they froze $1K. I paid it back way to early..4 months. That was my mistake. I thought it would be a good way to build credit and a relationship with my bank. I think it worked. I got a credit card right afterwards. I know it didnot hurt. The interest rate was 9%. The loan would have cost me $80 bucks if I had used all 12 months to repay. roni
I have heard that works. I am partial to the CreditWorks method. It has worked for me and for every participant in the program. You do need to have credit already established, but with our program, patience and discipline you can build a nice little portfolio of credit lines. We know of at least 3 individuals that have built their credit to 6 figures. http://www.creditsense.com
