Your personal credit score is the keys to the castle, so to speak, so improving it and optimizing it should be something that you are always working on. You never know when you will need to apply for financing or you will face an emergency situation like needing to hire an HVAC installation company to fix an air conditioning problem, so making sure that it’s always at its highest peak is important.
There are little things you can do that will quickly help you achieve the highest score possible. After all, it’s the number that lenders look at and what most credit approval systems base their decisions off.
Here are a few tips to help you bump your score higher in little time.
Find Authorized User Accounts
If you get added to authorized user accounts it can push your score up because you are inheriting that account’s payment history and age. Now, there are some things you want to be aware of.
If the account has missed payment or late payments that will also transfer over so you need to be certain it’s a flawless account. Also, if the account has a high balance to limit ratio that can actually hurt you. You only want to be added to cards that have high limits, a lot of age and carry little to no balance each month.
Pay Down All Balances Below 20%
You want to try to pay down your debt as quickly as you can. This will help you save money, but also will contribute to increasing your scores. The magic number to always aim to stay below is twenty percent.
“Once you do get your debt under control, always keep your balances on all credit cards reporting below 20% utilization. This is the sweet spot for the highest scores,” says Darryl Howard of NuWays MD.
Dispute Incorrect Information
It’s important that you always monitor your reports for incorrect information. The credit bureaus are know to mistakenly put the wrong information of reports based on previous addresses and other identifying factors.
“If you find errors on your report then be sure to challenge them,” says Chris Moberg of Slumber Search. “There are many companies that can help you do this or you can take the DIY approach. All the information you need can be found easily online.”
If you have negative accounts that are in fact yours, you can try to negotiate directly with the owner of the debt and try to work out an agreement that will see you pay them if they agree to remove the account from your reports.
Limit Credit Inquiries
It is very easy to go an a credit application spree, from reward credit cards to special financing offers. But, every time your credit is checked it results in an inquiry on your file, which also lowers your score.
Limit the number of times you have your credit run, and only do it when it is an absolute necessity.
“Applying for a lot of credit and often gives potential lenders the sense that you are seeking as much credit because you might be predicting a difficult financial situation around the corner,” says Chris Dziak of Pure Nootropics.