Credit

[mariaanderson]

I have fairly good credit, but I want to increase it since I'm thinking of buying a house and new car. I'm 25 and have a few credit cards with fairly low balances and lots of student loans. Is there anything I can do right now to increase my credit within the next couple of months?

[rose-colored-coolaid]

Yeah, sure. Pay down your credit cards and keep the accounts open. This will your available credit to total credit ratio. I'm not sure how much of a bump you can get from these kinds of things, but then if you're trying to get a 200 pt bump this summer it's already a lost cause.

Overall, probably the most important thing to do now is get at least a 10% downpayment saved up. If you can't do that, it may not matter much what your credit score is.

[Alan]

Sure! Goes to <link redacted> and sign up for there credit improvement program. It doesn't costs much and the saving you get in your loans will more than make up for it.

Oh wait, I forgot that I'm not a spammer.

(and my apologies to Maria Anderson for the insinuation that she is a spammer)

[Robroy]

Pay off the student loans. Focus on maximum payments to one after the other until they are all gone. I would start with the one with the smallest balance and go from there.

And I would save up a 20% downpayment for a house and buy maybe in a year or three, after prices apear to have started coming up from a sustained bottom. The next price runnup will almost CERTAINLY not be as fast as it was for this bubble, giving you plenty of time to get in for a "close to bottom" price.

I would also buy when you think interest rates are as high as possible. Remember, people buy a payment, not a price. The more that is factored into the payment for interest, the lower the relative price. And, more importantly, a high interest rate always implies the opportunity to refi as rates go down. The same cannot be said for low rates. Low rates are only good for sellers.

[Ubersalad]

[Ubersalad]

[Robroy]

[Robroy]

[Alan]

You'll have to excuse uber. We've seen some not-so-sophisticated astroturfing here recently so any new and active posters are under suspicion for being spammers.

Not-so-sophisticated techniques:
Ask a question that is vaguely related to the forum topic. A few days later a new poster gives an answer with a link.

More-sophisticated-technique:
Create an account and post useful information that agrees with the most vocal members of the board. When you have gained trust, start posting links to desired sites in response to questions.

If you are for real then welcome. Be warned that it may take a lot of time and effort to gain our trust and even then we will be wary if your behavior turns spammish.

[Robroy]

No problem.

I have been a member (with the same name) in Freerepublic.com for about ten years now. I know how it works. I'm also 54 years old and have seen it in real life. I can say something ridiculous at age 54 and people listen intently. But I could (on rare occasion) say something smacking of wisdom in my early 20's and "got no respect".

I sold commercial real estate between '79 and '82 in downtown Seattle. Sometimes when a new client first laid eyes on me they'd look at me as if they were saying, "uh, can I talk to your DAD?".

I came in here forgetting the rules. Sorry about that...

[Ubersalad]

[laxtosnoco]

If you're just looking to increase your score, I recommend you pull your FICO through Fair Isaac. When you get your report, it will give some information about what's good and bad with your score. Given the information from your original post, we don't know if you have a history of late pays, bankruptcy or just a limited credit history. Fair Isaac runs periodic promotions where you can subscribe for a credit-monitoring service and pay nothing if you cancel in time. I've got more than a few posts under my belt so hopefully this advice doesn't flag me as a spammer.

Generally, if you're choosing between paying down CC balances vs. student loans, your credit score will improve more quickly by paying down the cards. This happens because paying them down decreases your credit utilization rate (current balances / limits).

[mariaanderson]

[laxtosnoco]

With only 4 years of credit history, a 714 FICO is pretty good. I'd concentrate on paying down the CC balances and would recommend you don't open or close any accounts for a while (assuming you've got at least 3 accounts reporting favorably). You'll be surprised how quickly your scores jump as you get the utilization rates down and keep paying those student loans on time.

What about your husband's credit? Remember, you've both got scores (3 each actually), and in dual-earning families the lender will generally use the middle score from the lower scoring spouse. To get the best loan you'll want to be 720+.

[Robroy]