How To Improve Your Credit Score Fast With These Secrets!

Improve Your Credit Score Fast With These Secrets!

First of all to understand how to improve your credit score fast or raise your credit score, it's important to know what areas to concentrate on to give you the best results in the shortest possible time.

It's important to have a good credit score for many reasons. Often people don't realize that a score just a few points higher can save hundreds, even thousands of dollars when they apply for and get a home mortgage, for example.  If you have a FICO score around 640-660 and you can raise it to a very good score of 760-780, and you take out a 30-year term home mortgage, you would save about $3000 per year.  That adds up to $90,000 savings on that same mortgage!

And raising your score may not be that hard for you to do. Going over the following tips and some secrets you may find a few you can apply immediately and see fairly fast results.  Even just a few points can make a difference in your borrowing ability and show you how to improve your credit score fast.

1. About 30-35% of your payment history is reflected in your FICO credit score. No matter what happens, make sure to make payments on time.  I make mine 4-5 days early online. Making your payment online is important.  You know it's not going to get lost in the mail.  Also I make the payment early because websites may have technical problems. If you waited to the last minute you may not be able to get into the website.  And I think it looks better to the credit card company if you pay a little early.

If you know you'll have enough money in your checking account you can set up automatic payments also. This is good if you foresee any problems with possible emergencies where you might have to go out of town or hospitalizations coming up, etc.

2. About 30% of your credit score is based on how much you owe. If possible try to keep your balances on your credit cards to less than 50% of the limit on each card. The more below 50% the better.

3. Most people don't know that 15% of your FICO score is based on your credit history. So if you have a credit card that is not being used with a zero balance, and have no activity, it can lower your score. So charge something small each month and pay it off so you build up your credit history. 

4. New credit. Make sure not to open up any new accounts. 10% of your FICO credit score is based on how many new accounts you open. This also applies to auto or car loan shopping. If you're shopping rates at several companies, do it in a short period of time - within two weeks. Don't drag it out. Making several requests could affect your FICO credit score. It may be better to just get the loan through your credit union rather than have the finance officer at the car dealer shop around. Each inquiry he/she makes is reflected with inquiry marks on your credit report.

5. 10% of your FICO credit score is based on your mix of loans. You probably can't do much to change this except - if you don't have a credit card, get one,

6. Last but not least, if you don't have a credit report, obtain or get a free copy from each of the three major credit-reporting agencies, Equifax, TransUnion and Experian. Go over each carefully and write a letter with documentation if you find any mistakes that are not in your favor.

These are a few of the best ways to show you how to improve your credit score or raise your credit score fast! It really doesn't take that long to raise it a few points and it can make a big difference in your borrowing ability. There are a lot more secrets and trade secrets not included in this short article. With a little more research you can find solutions and repair your credit too.

copyright©2008  Helen Hecker All rights reserved. No permission is given to copy or reproduce this article in any way or in any form.