Five Ways to Enhance Credit Scores Prior to Applying for a Loan in San Diego County

Real Estate Tips
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March 7, 2014

Your Lender that you’ve chosen to work with will take a good, long look at your credit history when you are getting ready to buy a home in San Diego County. When the lender figures out the number that you obtain for your credit score, this determines how much you will be lent.

You may have issues of securing a loan, especially if your credit score is unfavorable. A few points could be critical for the difference of thousands of dollars of interest, even if you obtain good credit. Improving your credit is a great opportunity for you to assist your rates, and according to Realtor.com, these are some of the methods you could take in repairing your credit score, before applying for a home loan in San Diego County.

Check for Errors

According to a study put together by the Federal Trade Commission, the report indicated that one in every five consumers had at least one mistake on their credit report. Some of these mistakes were so impactful that it impaired the customer’s credit score. However there’s light at the end of the tunnel: These bureaus investigate thoroughly your credit report and could remove and/or correct the errors that have been made.

Equifax, TransUnion and Experian are the top credit bureaus. If you go to Annualcreditreport.com, you are authorized to achieve a free copy every year. Look through the errors with the specific credit bureau, once you receive the credit report. It takes 30 days for the credit bureau to review and remove credit errors.

Pay Down Credit Card Debt

Credit card debt is weighted stronger than debts that are rotating like auto and student loans. At no higher than 10 to 30 percent of your available credit, is what experts state that you should aim to keep your credit score at.

Ask for Forgiveness

Bill payment history has to do with 35 percent of your credit score under the FICO (Fair Isaac Company) model. By asking your creditor for forgiveness of a black mark is something you should try, because just one late payment is strong enough to decrease your credit score in San Diego County. A good deletion could be something a creditor could do if you have no track record of anything else poor in your credit history.

Keep Your Old Accounts Open

Like I said in an earlier blog, you may want to pay off other debt as well as unused credit cards or even close the account. Don’t do that! By closing old accounts, the overall account length that you obtain is shortened which could be detrimental to your credit score. Keep the old account open and continue to build.

Pay on time

This is self-explanatory, and if you’ve had issues in the past with your credit score by not paying back on time, it’s in your best interest to not let history repeat itself. Look to pay once a month, and timely payments on a monthly basis could in fact improve your credit score.