Jan
3
My husband and I want to improve our credit scores and have about a year to do it in.advice?
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SadToday22 asked:
We both have pretty good credit, I’ve never had a late payment but have quite a bit of debt. My husband doesn’t have nearly the debt I do but had some late payments about 3-4 years ago and has since paid those accounts off. So together we have fair/good credit but want to get better credit. What are some things we can do in the next 6-12 months that will help? We are trying to raise our credit scores because we want to refinance our home at a good rate. So, what’s some good, sensible advice to raising credit scores?
Dolores
We both have pretty good credit, I’ve never had a late payment but have quite a bit of debt. My husband doesn’t have nearly the debt I do but had some late payments about 3-4 years ago and has since paid those accounts off. So together we have fair/good credit but want to get better credit. What are some things we can do in the next 6-12 months that will help? We are trying to raise our credit scores because we want to refinance our home at a good rate. So, what’s some good, sensible advice to raising credit scores?
Dolores
Comments
8 Responses to “My husband and I want to improve our credit scores and have about a year to do it in.advice?”
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Joan
for sure, pay down some of your debt. they do not like maxed out credit lines.
Jamie
1. Continue making payments on time.
2. Reduce any c/c debt to below 30% of your limit.
3. Don’t apply for any credit unless necessary – inquires will cost you points and could end up looking back to potential creditors.
Bernard
Pay the mortgage on time is what the experts call “the simple credit fix”
I’d hold off on the refi right now… The underwriters are not signing many loans, I don’t have enough room to type why….
Douglas
Be patient. It won’t happen overnight. Keep making your payments on time at all costs, and pay down your debts. You WANT to have SOME credit debts… you just want to make sure that your balances are low and that you have a lot of space between your balance and the maximum credit limit. Other than that, all you can do is wait. Credit changes over time. There are no quick fixes, and if anyone suggests otherwise, they are either wrong or are selling something. If you keep up with your payments, in 6-12 months time your credit will improve. Whether or not it will be dramatic enough to help you out will remain to be seen. That simply depends on what your score is now and what happens between now and then.
Lucy
you should have 3-4 open lines of credit. So that you can prove that you can pay people on time. Also medical bills or items in collections really hurt your score. So, you pay them or dispute them.
Gladys
I would say supplement your income so you can pay off some of your debts and clear it up that way. Jennifer
Sally
You will need to knock down some of your debts. Also, each credit card (the limit) you carry will act as total amount of indebtedness you could get into. This is used against you negatively. Have a few cards with only 10% on each of them, do not consolidate as that will lower your credit score. Your bottom should be 790 and if higher, the better. Whatever you do, do not close any accounts. Having open accounts with no balance is better than closed ones with no balance.
Good luck to you two.
Lloyd
You need to pay your debts down to get your debt to income ratio in line. That will take time, probably most of the year.