Get The Best Credit

Manage Your Credit Score.

The days of easy credit are long gone. With the economy being in turmoil and the banking system suffering massive losses over the last couple of years it is so important that we are diligent in managing our credit and managing our credit scores. To qualify for a home mortgage, have a car financed and even get a credit card today requires a higher credit score than years past. Therefore it is so important that we make sure our FICO scores are as high as they can be.

Improve Your Credit Score.

Many people falsely believe that just by paying their bills on time they will have a good credit score. This is the furthest thing from the truth. As a matter of fact your payment history only accounts for 35% of your FICO score. There are people who are never late on their bills with a 600 score and some with an 800 score. These tips below will help you improve your credit score.

1. Reduce the balances on your credit cards.
2. Increase the limits on your credit cards.
3. Try not to close out an account even if you no longer use it. Length of history increases your score.
4. Monitor your history with an credit monitoring service.
5. Limit inquiries to your accounts.
6. Do not frivolously apply for credit. Excess credit lowers your score.
7. Review your credit reports annually for errors and dispute any negative items.

These seven tips can help you keep your score high and help you qualify for financing and get the best rates available.

Risk Based Pricing.

This is not a new concept but it is very prevalent in today’s market. What risk based pricing means is that lenders access the risk and price accordingly. Your credit score is a primary factor and sometimes the only factor that determines the risk to a lender. Therefore, the higher you score the lower the risk. The lower the risk the better the pricing. Conversely a low score will cause you to pay much more for the same services. Hence the importance of managing your credit and especially your score.

Your Mortgage.

As a mortgage banker for over 20 years I have never seen credit as tight. In the past if you had a stable job, made your payments on time and could afford the payments based your your income and existing debt you would qualify for a mortgage. But with the advent of the computer models and easy credit that backfired credit is tighter than ever. Worse than that people who have always been faithful to pay their bills on time are suffering. As we fight to change the system by supporting politicians whose plans will make this an equitable playing field, we must learn to ensure we get the best financing options possible. That means focusing our efforts to manage our credit and our scores based on the 7 tips above. This way you can get the best credit score and the lowest rates possible.

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I am Glad you could return. Have you signed up for The Best Credit For You Newsletter? Thanks again for coming! Your comments are greatly appreciated. Related Websites

• What Determines a Credit Score pt 1
• Credit Score Killers: 5 Things To Look Out For
• How to Qualify for Mortgage without a Credit Score

Credit Report 101

To understand how to get the best credit you must know what is a credit report and how they are used. You also need to know what a credit repository is in their role in affecting your credit. First a credit repository is a company that gathers information from member companies about the credit that you have with them. They provide a means for the creditors to report information to them regarding your credit account. The information they then report is called of course a credit report. By law the credit repositories (commonly known as credit bureaus) are to be an unbiased third party that reports factual information about your credit history with your creditors. In fact they are generally paid by the creditors and therefore align with them unless you force the issue.

Credit Repositories

There are 3 major national credit bureaus; Trans Union, Experian and Equifax. Each credit is national but they have there regions where they are predominate in. Many creditors choose not to join all three repositories and may opt to join the 1 or 2 that are predominant in the area they do business in. Even some national creditors do not report to all repositories. The cost that the creditor pays to be a member of the credit repository depends on a number of things. One feature is how often they report. Some creditors report once a month and others choose a bi monthly or quarterly option to save money. Even more creditors choose to report monthly to one credit repository and less frequently to others as a cost saving measure. With this in mind you will sometimes notice that the credit report may sometimes have information 3 months old or older. Therefore the balances and sometimes other information are almost always wrong. Another feature of the credit repositories is that they report what the lender tells them and until recently there was not an effective way for you to challenge the information. Today you can challenge the information and the creditor has 30 days to respond or the repository must go with the information you provide. Knowing how the credit repositories work and knowing your rights with them and the information they publish as your credit report will help you better manage your credit and get the best credit.

Know Your Rights

To get the best credit you must know your rights as a consumer. You do have many rights and there have been many lawsuits that the credit reporting agencies have lost that caused them to pay major damages to consumers. Now they are more consumer friendly than in the past. It is still not easy to navigate the gatekeepers, but believe me it is much easier than it was in the past. One important tool that you have today is the ability to get a free copy of your credit report once a year. You do this by going to http://anualcreditreport.com and you can instantly get your free copy of your credit report from the 3 major repositories. This is very helpful to see what they are reporting on your report and to be able to challenge any false information immediately. It is also very important that you get a credit report from each repository and manage it because they are different. As mentioned earlier all creditors do not report to all repositories and if they do they not report to all repositories monthly.

Manage Your Credit

The most important factor in you being able to get the best credit is to manage your credit. To manage your credit entails a number of things including:

• A Personal Budget
• Pay Bills on Time
• Manage Your Balances
• Monitor Your Credit Reports
• Be Proactive

Knowing how the credit repositories work, while understanding basic information about what is a credit report and being proactive to manage your credit will help you get the best credit in all situations.

Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Related Websites

• Things to Have Removed from your Credit Report pt 2
• 3 Reasons To Check Your Credit Report Regularly
• Things to Have Removed from your Credit Report