Top Ten Ways to Improve Your Credit Score
Every consumer or individual wishes they could get online and find a lesser known well kept secret article that would say something like “A Quick and Easy Way to Improve Your Credit Score 200pts!!!” Quickly improving ones credit score is especially needed when an individual or consumer reaches that point in life when they want to purchase their first real estate or home. One simple secret of life is, that in order to create or posses a worth while thing (such as a first home in an Arizona suburb), it often takes time, discipline, and work. A great example of this principle is the history of the “lose weight quick and easy” pills. More often than not, the case has been that weight loss pills simply fail or create more health problems than they improve. The same principle applies with credit scores. Here are ten tried and true simple guidelines that with time, discipline, and work, will improve your Credit Score.
The first and most obvious principle is to simply start paying all bills on time. No other single act will improve a credit score quicker. Even if an individual has an extreme history of poor bill paying, it is never too late to repent. Credit scores will improve quicker with consistent on-time bill paying than any other method.
The second principle is to maintain a low credit balance. The higher the balance on each credit line the lower the credit score will be. Think of each additional dollar of credit as being a pound of weight that weighs down the credit score.
Third, periodically go through the credit report. Often times the credit report will contain errors that will inadvertently damage the credit score. Errors on the credit report more often than not can easily be fixed by a quick call to a credit reporting agency.
Fourth, instead of moving a credit balance around, pay it down. Individuals are often tempted to consolidate debt or spread it out to multiple credit lines instead of paying it down which is never a long term solution.
Fifth, have a credit card or credit lines and manage it or them responsibly. Individuals who do not posses a credit line often times will have a lower credit score. An individual needs to prove to credit agencies that they know how to manage their debt.
Sixth, limit the amount of credit lines opened in a shorter time frame. When too many accounts are opened in too short of a time, especially if the credit history is limited, it will appear as an additional risk to the credit agency lowering the credit score.
Seventh, as a rule of thumb, do not open credit accounts that are not needed. For example, use a single credit card for all the grocery, clothing, and luxury items instead of for example, having a Home Depot card, Kohl’s card, and a Best Buy card.
Eighth, closing a credit account to simply have it removed from the record does not improve the credit score. The account could always show up on credit records. Again, paying down the balance is the best method.
Ninth, when taking out a loan, do it quickly in a shorter period of time rather than looking for multiple loans over an extended period of time. If a credit agency sees that there are chances for multiple loans, it could hurt the credit score.
Finally, meet with a real credit counselor if it simply seems like an overwhelming task to improve the financial situation and credit score.
Although these are not all encompassing principles, being disciplined with these steps will bring confidence, security and an improved credit score into anyone’s life.
Author Bio: Juhlin Youlien writes about az real estate including Paradise Valley AZ homes for sale and Fountain Hills AZ homes for sale. Paradise Valley real estate and Fountain Hills real estate include luxury home areas in AZ.
Category: Real Estate
Keywords: homes, real estate, buying a home, selling a home, realtor, realtors, loan, mortgage, foreclosure, s