Inside those credit scores
Tupper Briggs
Tupper began his real estate career in 1973 and has earned every accolade from the National Association of Realtors available over the years...
Tupper began his real estate career in 1973 and has earned every accolade from the National Association of Realtors available over the years...
Nearly all loan programs now use credit scores from Equifax, Experian and/or TransUnion to assess your credit worthiness. There are 5 components that make up your score:
1. Your payment history—accounts for 35% of your total score.
2. Your account balances—accounts for 30% of your total score.
3. How long you’ve had credit—accounts for 15% of your score.
4. The types of credit you’ve used—accounts for 10% of your score.
5. How often you’ve applied for new credit in the last couple of years—10% of your score.
Credit scores range from 300 to 850. If you consistently make payments more than 30 days late or if you max out your credit limits, your score will fall significantly. So making payments on time and using around 30% of your credit limit at any one time will enhance your score and your ability to secure a loan.
You should check your credit scores with all three repositories (it’s free once/year) to confirm your information is accurate. Go to www.AnnualCreditReport.com.