Wednesday, December 31, 2008

If You Want A Better Mortgage Rate Read Credit Scoring Basics

By Rob Kosberg

Mortgage pricing is now paying more attention to credit scoring. Since credit scores are now more important , it is vital that you locate and review your credit score. If you learn how the credit scoring system operates, you can make it work for you. The web site my FICO.com is a great place to start.

Equifax is one of the primary credit bureaus and is the publisher of my FICO.com. This site provides a wealth of suggestions, tricks and tips that will help you figure out the credit scoring system.

Here are some basic pointers to get you started:

Use your credit or lose your score: You need to get on the credit "bandwagon" if you want a credit score assigned by the credit agencies. Even if you charge a small amount and pay it off each month, you'll be on the radar and have a score.

You Have A Friend In The Trend: The credit bureaus smile on "on time" payments. If you have a record of paying on time, you are likely to continue the pattern . If you're late, catch up right away. This is the biggest portion of your credit score at 35 percent.

The Trend Is Your Friend: A track record of paying accounts on-time means that you're likely to continue paying on-time. Credit bureaus like on-time payments. If you've been late, catch up immediately. At 35 percent, this is the largest component of your credit score.

Learn From History: Your "credit history" is 10% of your score. So, to hold that history, don't close credit cards that you don 't use.

The web site mentioned can provide more suggestions to help you. Take a proactive approach because this year it is expected that there will be added credit score adjustments to mortgage rates You need to find out what the issues may be with your current credit score and take the appropriate steps to fix your score.

Credit scoring is not always intuitive so if you're not getting the personal information you need from general Web sites, ask your loan officer for an in-depth analysis. The mortgage rate you save may be your own.

About the Author:

No comments: