My latest FICO review shows that my “negative” now is that I don’t have any revolving lines of credit. For those that know/don’t know my story, I paid off all debt, and I am accumulating cash. My fico is up, but not where I’d want it to be for the best rates… now this. sigh
I have never seen a FICO which didn’t have multiple “negatives”, i.e. too many inquiries, too many accounts with balances, etc. If your score is in the high 700’s you still have negatives.
you will always have "negatives.
as far as i’ve seen, anything above 720 for FICO puts you into the “best rate” catagory subject to how much commission your loan broker wants to make
I’m debating whether I will open a credit card. I dread it.
Cash on hand or in the bank does not improve your FICO score, responsible use of credit extended to you does. As for the reviews provided by the credit bureaus they are generic computerized categorizations. Even if you have mulitple accounts, paid as agreed and in hand for decades these standardized reviews will still say things like, credit not established long enough etc…yet your FICO might be 750.
Hey realnew…
I see you posting all over the place here. What’s your story? I would love to hear it! 
Where’s a good place to get a FREE credit score, if that’s possible?
I know of several ways to get free credit reports…but I’m curious about the score. =)
Thanks!
I’m not certain about free FICOS, Ceo, I use www.myfico.com I signed up for the Suze Orman “kit” and there’s a discount for the FICO purchase. about $13.00 per.
You can get discount codes for myfico.com from creditboards.com message board, free of charge.
myfico.com gives accurate credit scores which, in my experience, are consistently the same as the score which a lender will pull up. Some of the businesses which can offer you an accurate credit report can not offer you an accurate three digit score. My “score” from freecreditreport.com a few years ago was 30 points different from my real scores. Thirty points can make a big difference.
Get yourself a credit card, put all of your gasoline purchases on it, pay it in full every month. And find one with a 5% cash back bonus or something like that. Since you’re paying it in full there won’t be any finance charges and if you get a 5% bonus you’ll be getting paid to use the card (just watch out for annual fees). Just keep using it and keep paying it, your credit score will show an improvement.
I thought lenders were going to dump the FICO system and switch to a new system?
Hasn’t happened yet. Until then we’re all slaves to the system.
Just be forewarned that your FICO score is only one measure lenders use to determine your financial worthiness. Another one is your DTI (debt-to-income) ratio. I have excellent credit (760+), but my DTI is hovering >40% now due to some debt I plan to wipe out very soon. Therefore, IF I can get a conventional loan right now, I’d probably still have to pay higher-than-average interest rates even though my credit score is excellent.
What are the details of the new system?