Improving Your FICO Score for Home Buying
Choosing a lender isn't the first step in becoming a homeowner. In reality, the home buying process starts and ends with your finances. To realize your goal of owning a home, considering your credit score is a must along with the type of mortgage loan for which you'll qualify in Davie, Florida.
A FICO score is a review of your years of credit history based on an instrument developed by Fair Isaac and Company. Most people traditionally have a score of 600, but scores are tiered from 300 to 850. In recent years, however, some people have seen their score drop dramatically after loss of employment, charged off credit card accounts, or credit card accounts that were closed because they don't carry a balance. Some of the factors in deciding your FICO score include:
- Credit Inquiries — How many times has your credit history been accessed by someone other than you?
- Types of Credit — Do you have a healthy mix of loans and credit cards?
- Payment History — Do you pay your bills on time ?
- Credit to Debt Ratio — How much do you owe versus your available credit?
When you pull your credit report, you'll discover that you actually have three reports. Experian, Equifax and TransUnion — three of the major credit reporting agencies — use a slightly different models to determine your credit rating. FICO is used by Experian. Equifax's model is called BEACON and TransUnion uses EMPIRICA. Because of this, you have three scores, one for each scoring model.
Lenders want to make sure that allowing you a loan isn't a risk for them. Your FICO score gives lenders a view of what type of borrower you'll be based solely on your credit history. You'll need a score of at least 700 to get a acceptable interest rate. You'll still get approved for a loan with a lower score, but the interest paid in the long run could be more than double the amount of someone with a higher credit score.
We're used to working with all levels of credit history. Call us at (954) 598-0700 and we can help you get on the right track to the home of your dreams.
How do you get a better score? Building your FICO score takes time. It can be hard to make a large-scale change in your FICO score with small changes, but your score can improve in a year or two by monitoring your credit report and by using your credit wisely. The best way to do this is to know your FICO score. Here are some methods to improve your credit score:
- Apply for gas cards or retail credit. For those who have no credit or low credit, chain store credit cards and gas credit cards are ways to improve credit, increase your credit limits and stay on top of your payments, which will raise your credit. You should always beware of maintaining a high balance for too long because these types of cards usually have a steeper interest rate.
- Don't let your cards get dusty. Whether you're just getting started with credit, or if you've got older cards, be sure to use your cards so that your accounts maintain an active status. But, pay them off in one or two payments.
- Stay on top of payments. Delinquent payments instantly lower your credit score. It's where people who have recently experienced job loss see the biggest dip in their credit score. Yes, it takes longer to build up your credit this way, but it's the surest way to prove that you're responsible enough to make payments to a lender.
- Ensure that your credit history is correct. If you discover mistakes on your credit report, write to the bureau asking that the item be removed. If you have a common name or the same name as a family member, you'll want to pay extra attention to make sure the activity reported is correct.
- Spread your debt around. At first, this doesn't seem like a good idea. But, you steer clear of having one card that is maxed out and have your remaining cards at a zero balance. It's better to have each of your cards at a lower balance than to have the most of your debt taking up the balance one card.
Knowing the ways you can improve your FICO score, you're one step closer to becoming a homeowner. Remember that when you're ready to apply for a loan to purchase a house, you'll want to keep your applications within a two-week window to avoid a negative mark on your credit score. With the help of Unicasa International USA Realty, the loan application process can be a stress-free experience so you, too, can achieve home ownership.
Get more information by visiting myFICO.com, Fair Isaac's informational site and once per year, for free, you can review all three of your credit reports at annualcreditreport.com. And, for a small payment, you can get your FICO score from each bureau on their websites: equifax.com, experian.com and transunion.com.