8 Ways to Improve Your Credit

Credit scores, along with your overall income and debt, are a big factor in determining if you’ll qualify for a loan and what loan terms you’ll be able to qualify for. Many options for raising your score so don’t give up.

Check for and correct errors in your credit report. Mistakes happen, and you could be paying for someone else’s poor financial management. Get expert advice on how to handle mistakes, what to pay off and what not to pay off, could be the difference of getting a loan and not.

Pay down credit card bills. If possible, pay off the entire balance every month. However, transferring credit card debt from one card to another could lower your score. The biggest thing is to find out when your credit card company reports your balances to the bureaus. Make sure the payment hits before this date.

Don’t charge your credit cards to the maximum limit. The utilization is 30% of your score, a maxed out credit card can be as bad as a late payment. Try to keep your balances at 50% or less of your available limit.

Don’t purchase big-ticket items for your new home on credit cards until after the loan is approved. The amounts will add to your debt and they will ask you to explain the credit inquiry. Some loans allow you to role appliances and minor repairs into the loan. Save the credit cards and your credit score.

Don’t open new credit card accounts before applying for a mortgage. Having too much available credit can lower your score. A business credit card doesn’t report on your credit, something to think about.

Shop for mortgage rates all at once. Too many credit applications can lower your score, but multiple inquiries from the same type of lender are counted as one inquiry if submitted over a short period of time. 14 days is the unwritten rule, shop with in this time period and you it should only count as 1 pull. This also applies when shopping for an auto loan.

Don’t pay off old collections that aren’t reporting anymore, everything goes off date of last activity. If you pay it off, you will update the date of last activity which will hurt you instead of help you.

To sign up for credit repair visit www.amerifirstcreditsolutions.com