By sitting down with a qualified individual, myself as an example, you can identify what exactly is hurting your credit or keeping it from getting it to the level you want it to be. Below are some basic factors, which most people know, that do affect your score. Although, keep in mind that there are details within each persons report that is specific to their situation so if you contact me we can discuss what specifically you can do as the below factors do not encompass all elements of a credit score.
- Pay your bills on time: Granted this one is a little obvious, but late payments and collections can have a serious impact on your score and there tends to be a lasting impact while that late payment is still on the report.
- Do not apply for credit frequently: The thought process here, in my opinion, is that if you are applying for every credit card being offered to you when you buy something at the mall then you may be looking for ways to supplement your income. This, as you can imagine, is frowned upon by the otherwise happy-go-lucky credit bureaus.
- Reduce your credit-card balances: The term to focus on here is “credit utilization”. If you are maxed out on your credit cards or even carry a high balance month after month the assumption is that you are living beyond your means. The goal should be to keep your balance less than 30% of the credit limit extended to you. Ideally, if you can pay it off each month it will be beneficial to your credit score. So all of you frequent flyer card users, do not fret, just pay it off monthly and you’ll get a credit boost and build up those miles.
These tips are extremely useful, especially when looking to maintain or get some moderate improvement to your score. Although, if there is significant work to be done, don’t fret, just as there are things that drag a score down there are also things we can do to get it back up. So, if you are looking for some slight improvement or you have a bad feeling your credit score is less than the outside temperature we can put a plan together to get you where you need to be.
