Newbie here looking for a start in the right direction...

[jjamesrico]

Hello ther CB, I'm new to this community and very glad to have found you guys! Little bit about myself, I just turned 26 and have never had any credit or loan before ever. I've been doing a bit of research through Reddit of /personalfinance and that's how I stumbled across this site.

 

Ok so let's get down to business, I would like to purchase a house within the next 1-2 years, I know credit is a must for someone in my financial situation. Less then a month ago I received my first secured credit card through US Bank. I deposited 300, therefore that is my credit limit. I called and set up my card payments due date for the 22nd of every month. I also read, that ideally my card should be 10%(no more the 30%) utilized and to pay it off in full every month. This won't be an issue for me. I was curious if I have more utilized on my card and pay but pay a portion before my bill arrives, if I risk the chance of credit a high credit utilization being reported to the credit bureau.

 

One more thing, I was also curious if there was a guideline or map (for lack of a better word) of things to do to make my credit score rise the quickest way. I've read conflicting things such as applying/opening new lines of credit quickly or close in date will look bad and reflect so in my FICO score. Because I have no established credit these new lines of credit would of course be secured card options which I don't mind, since I plan on using them as debit cards and not purchasing things I can't afford. On the other hand I heard that it's impossible to raise my score quickly with only one line of credit.

 

Thanks in advance for any comments, advice, or links that might point me in the right direction. I'm looking forward to participating in future post here on CB. Adios

[breeze]

Welcome to CB! Folks will be along shortly to help.

[variant]

Welcome!

 

I would like ask if you happen to know your current FICO scores and if there's anything on your credit reports that would be otherwise considered derogatory.

 

It's important to get the most accurate snapshot now to guide you correctly.

 

Sometimes things can be on your report that you're not aware of.

 

So I'd start there first.

 

Additionally you want 3 revolving trade lines to maximize FICO scoring.

 

Others will chime in, these are my 2c for now.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Edited April 15, 2016 by variant

[credithunting]

Request your 3 credit reports for free once per year from Trasunuion,Experian,& Equifax here at https://www.annualcreditreport.com/index.action have paper copies sent to your home they are the most accurate.

Edited April 15, 2016 by credithunting

[jjamesrico]

Request your 3 credit reports for free once per year from Trasunuion,Experian,& Equifax here at https://www.annualcreditreport.com/index.action have paper copies sent to your home they are the most accurate.

Thanks for the link! About 6 weeks ago before I applied for my secured card I was able to obtain two of the three reports. I believe in It was equifax that had an issue verifying my identity and I was given a number to call, which I didn't follow up with just incase I wanted to check my report after I took care of the one hospital bill I had on there.

 

Welcome!

I would like ask if you happen to know your current FICO scores and if there's anything on your credit reports that would be otherwise considered derogatory.

It's important to get the most accurate snapshot now to guide you correctly.

Sometimes things can be on your report that you're not aware of.

So I'd start there first.

Additionally you want 3 revolving trade lines to maximize FICO scoring.

Others will chime in, these are my 2c for now.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

US bank gives allows me to see a credit score given by transuninion once a month but I'm unsure if it was an accurate FICO score. It showed my score at 553 and also mentioned that I didn't have any negative or positive marks towards my score. Now I know this is not true because of the the $70 dollar unsettled bill through a hospital which was sent to collection a agency. The bill is a result of me not forgetting to pay my copayment. I need to get a hold of them and take care of it ASAP. I will most likely do this first thing tomorrow.

 

Other then what u mentioned above the only negative things on my reports are inquires(which at the time I had no idea it would have an impact on my credit report, yikes!). There's quite a few from oct-Jan of '15. Thanks for the quick responses CB!

[cv91915]

You definitely want to have 3-5 revolving accounts (major credit cards - MC/V/AE) to maximize your scores and build a solid history. Do not assume that secured cards are your only option. After your current secured card has reported for six months, try the Capital One and some of the other prequalifiers. You should be able to pick up a couple of unsecured cards pretty easily.

 

Since your history is short, it's best to get your new accounts reporting sooner rather than later, since your average account age is fragile and adding new accounts closer to your mortgage application date will hurt your scores a lot more than someone with a longer history.

 

Keep your utilization that's reporting low, but not zero.

 

There are definitely ways to optimize your scores in much smaller ways, but they're not worth your time until you've established a foundation.

Edited April 15, 2016 by cv91915

[VintageWillow]

As far as the medical account is concerned, please head over to the medical forum and read up on Why Chat's HIPAA method. Don't just pay it without going through the process, as that will not get it off your reports.

 

I agree with what the others have said so far, so I won't just repeat the same advise.

 

Welcome to CB