Bad Credit Agency

What is the fastest way to repair my credit so i can buy a house?

Public Comments

1. Marry some money fast.
2. You can read "Make Money, Not Excuses: Wake Up, Take Charge, and Overcome Your Financial Fears Forever" and "Pay It Down!: From Debt to Wealth on $10 a Day" by Jean Chatzky
3. A lot depends on what is adversely effecting your credit score (30d lates, 60+d lates, write-offs, repo's, foreclosure, BK, etc). Time to rebuild depends on all these factors. Quickest way to rebuild: Owing nothing (debt to income ratio = 0) is good. Rebuilding by having 2 credit cards (MC/Visa) and paying them off to a $10 balance every month is good. DON'T GET HIGH CREDIT LIMIT CARDS, that will drop your scores. Don't have more than 3 credit cards, that too will drop your score. If your a married couple then no more than 3, 2 is best for a single person rebuilding credit. Don't get credit checks more than once per year, multiple checks will effect your credit score unless it is from a mortgage lender all done within a 90-day period (from the first check). Hope this helps, good luck!
4. If you are carrying balances on your credit cards, pay them off. Carrying balances of more than 30% of your available limit hurts your score. Pay the balances off and you get a quick boost to your score. Get a copy of your credit report (AnnualCreditReport.com) and dispute any errors. Start negotiating settlement of any derogatory items. Start with the newest and work back to the oldest. If you have single entry items like medical bills or utility bills, ask for delete for pay. This will help your score. But it doesn't work as well for regularly reported items like credit cards. The collection agency can only remove what they report. The original creditor's charge off remains. If the debt is over 3 years old, offer 25%; 2 or 3 years old, offer 50%; less than 2 years, offer 75%. Lump sum gets the best deals. Payment plans have to be short term. Get any settlement agreement in writing and keep it, along with your payment proof, forever. Do not give collectors direct access to your bank account. Paying old debt won't improve your score unless you get the time deleted. However, creditors look at more than your score. Mortgage companies will require you to settle all derogatory items before you are approved. You will need at least 24 months of consistent, on time payment history to see improvement in your score. It takes time. There is not fast easy way to fix your credit.
5. Get in touch with a mortgage broker and have them run your credit. Once they run your credit, they should be able to tell you at that point if you qualify for a loan to buy a house. But along with telling you that, when your credit has been run, there is generally a section on the report that will tell you what you can do to improve your credit. It will give you a task and tell you how many points by doing a particular task your score will improve. You typically can do each task and make a significant improvement in your credit score. A good mortgage broker will help you with reading and deciphering your credit report. I would assume that the credit agencies Equifax, etc. have a service that will do the same. Although, if you work with a mortgage broker at the same time you are really taking care of two issues with one stop, repairing your credit and applying for a loan. You may also want to look into working with a private investor that will sell a house on a private contract, there are many options to buying a house with poor credit. Check out my website for ideas http://www.isellpugetsound.com/
6. Get a copy of your credit-report and just start knocking bills off, one by one. You can find more info here: http://debt.knowledged.info/credit_card.html Good Luck.