First-Time Buyer's Guide to Better Credit

Choosing a lender isn't the first step in becoming a homeowner. The content of your wallet starts the home buying process. Putting back your money for a down payment is great, but if you lack an acceptable credit score to reinforce it, you could find yourself renting longer than you expected in Dublin until you build up your score.

A FICO score is a collection of your years of credit history based on a model developed by Fair Isaac and Company. The score ranges from 300 to 850, with most people normally having a score of 600. With the change in the economy, however, some people have seen their score drop by hundreds of points because of job loss, charged off credit card accounts, or credit card accounts that were closed because they don't carry a balance. Some of the pieces in summing up your FICO score include:

• Credit Inquiries — Do you have too many open accounts?
• Types of Credit — Do you have a healthy mix of loans and credit cards?
• Payment History — How many months do you make late payments?
• Credit to Debt Ratio — How much do you owe versus how much credit you have available?

When you apply for a mortgage or any other loan, lenders want to make sure that extending a loan to you isn't a problem. Your FICO score gives lenders a view of what type of borrower you'll be solely because of your credit history. Because of the shift in the economy, most home buyers should have scores in the range of 740 or higher to get a decent interest rate. You'll still get approved for a mortgage loan with a lower score, but the interest accrued over the life of the loan could be more than double that of an individual with a superior FICO score.

We're used to working with all tiers of FICO scores. Contact us and we can help you get on the right track to the home of your dreams.

You want a better score, but how do you get there? Improving your FICO score takes time. It can be difficult to make a significant stride change in your number with small changes, but your score can improve in a few years by monitoring your credit report and by using credit extended to you to raise your score, instead of ruin it. The best way to do this is to know your FICO score. Here are some methods to improve your credit score:

• Chain store cards and gas cards. For those who have non-existent credit or less-than-stellar credit, retail credit cards and gas credit cards are ways to start your credit history, increase your spending limits and stay on top of your payments, which will raise your FICO score. You must always beware of keeping a high balance for more than a couple of months because these types of cards traditionally have a surprisingly high interest rate.
• Keep your cards in rotation. Whether you have older cards, or are just getting started with credit, be sure to use your cards to make sure your accounts maintain an active status. But, pay them off in one or two payments.
• Keep up with payments. Late payments hurt your FICO score. It's one of the reasons people who have recently been unemployed see the biggest hit in their credit score. Yes, it takes longer to rebuild your credit with payment history, but it's the surest way to prove that you're able to make payments to a bank.
• Correct your credit report. If you discover incorrect items on your credit report, write to the bureau asking that the item be removed. If you have a common name or the same name as a family member, you'll want to give extra care to make sure the activity reported is correct.
• Spread your debt around. At first, this doesn't sound like a good idea. But, you don't want to have one card that is at the limit and have the rest of your cards at a zero balance. It's better to have each of your cards at about 25% of their credit limit than to have the majority of your debt taking up the balance one card.

Now that you know more about credit reporting, you'll be able to successfully take the first steps to homeownership, and that is improving your FICO score. Keep in mind that when you're ready to apply for a loan to purchase a home, you'll want to keep your credit inquiries within a two-week window to avoid damaging your credit score. With the help of Provident Realty Group, the loan application process is sure to go more smoothly so you, too, can become a homeowner.

To learn more, visit myFICO.com, Fair Isaac's informational site and review your credit history for free at annualcreditreport.com. And, for a small payment, you can get your FICO score from each bureau on their websites: equifax.com, experian.com and transunion.com.