Hi, Just purchased a home and also paid down my credit cards. Here is my scenario. I had 9500 in credit available with 8300 used or about 87% of my credit used. I have since reduced this to about $4500 in debt across 4 credit cards. The average balance to limit is just under 50%. The range is from 30% to 58% debt to limit. What I am trying to figure out is a realistic estimate as to how much my FICO might rise by paying this down. My current FICO was 660. I have no negatives on my credit as of now and cant understand why I am not approved for higher credit when I have a job making above 70k a year. I cannot even raise the limit when i ask for some reason! Two cards have a 1500 limit and have never increased. I do not know why. My goal is to get as high as possible of course by paying this down more... but how soon might I see a change in my score? How much more shoudl I pay these down to get the score maximized? Thanks Kevin
Look at each card's closing date - EX will update within 1-5 days after that usually, EQ within a week or so after that. TU is anybody's guess. Get *each* card below 50% by closing date for max effect.
For max effect, get each card under 20%. Your overall utilization should be under 30% if you can get it there. I've lost from 20-24 pts simply by taking a card from 0% to about 90%. Gained those points back the following month when I paid the account to $0 again. You'll gain points at several steps along the way though. If you were at say 90%, you'd gain for going down below 70%, then an even bigger gain going below 50%. 50% is the big one. If possible, don't ever use more than 50% on a card - at least if you're concerned about maximizing your FICO score. You'll get another decent dip for dropping below 30% and then smaller, yet steady increases all the way down the line...EXCEPT for 0%. Here's a post where I lost points for going to 0%. Here's another thread about utilization.
Thank you fazt! I am curious as to your ending signature. It seems you went from mid 600's to high 700's in 4 months. Is that from paying down balances only? I am going to look to buy a new truck so I want to have tier 1 credit before I walk in. I am just not sure as to when this new score will reflect on my credit report Kevin
