There is no magic to improving your credit
score. Credit scores automatically improve
as your credit profile gets better.
Improving your credit profile is not always
a quick fix, however. Here are a few
things to remember:
Pay down
all your credit card
balances to below 30% of the
available credit balance.
Do not consolidate
accounts on to one or two
cards and close other
accounts. Low balances on a
few cards are better than
high balances on the one or
two credit cards you still
have left open.
Consolidation of your
balances will artificially
skew the appearance of your
credit utilization.
Keep the number of credit cards
you own to a conservative number,
but don't close accounts without the
advice of a knowledgeable mortgage
broker.
Review your credit report for
accuracy at least 90 days before you
intend to apply for a mortgage. Have
any inaccurate information on your
report corrected at the repository
that is reporting the erroneous
information on your report.
Understanding that paying off a
collection account or judgment, for
example, will not eliminate it from
your credit profile. Paid or
satisfied negative credit items will
show a zero balance, but will not
disappear from your credit profile
for seven years - they still reflect
a late or a collection account even
if you paid it off.
