Bob

They only report if you fail to pay on time...but never to improve your score.

BritGuyTN

there is no difference between a 'loan officer' and a 'mortgage sales person' they are one and the same. their primary job is to sell mortgages

I appreciate you telling me about the difference between a mortgage sales person who works for a broker and and a mortgage sales person who works for a bank ; I own nearly 50 rental units so I am reasonably au fait with how the mortgage process works but you weren't to know that

they are mostly both useless, people working directly for the financial institution being a bit less useless (in my personal experience)

I had a mortgage sales person at wells fargo tell me there was no way I could increase my wifes credit score by 30 points in 30 days since 'its takes months for it to change', after paying down credit card balance and reducing utilisation less than a month later her score was up 30 odd points....

scot free

I am a risk director for a major lender; I build scorecards, lending systems etc. I'm consider enough of an expert to be offered international assignments. In your experience what I've stated may not be true, but I'm 100% confident it happens.

tamms_1965

You sound like a modest person too! Some friends of mine are into that too (mass rentals). I figured you had personal experience such as you said, but it does not mean you know all. Point is everything we do now involves credit....your credit is affected by a lot more than it used to (good and bad) and your credit is used for things other than loans (jobs).

NC Penguin

One major factor taken into consideration when getting a mortgage is your credit score. The higher the score, the better so I don't understand why you would take action to reduce avenues to getting a better credit score.

tamms_1965

That's why you reduce the number of revolving accounts you have. I was told (by more than one "expert) that officially closing your accounts that you do not use looks better when you're applying for a mortgage. They do look beyond the score. Many people buy things on 6/12 months same-as-cash, pay them off within the time limit and never think twice about having a credit account with the store. They never use it again but do not cancel them. These add up and it may prevent you from getting that last $20,000 you need to buy your dream home even though you can afford it.

I have an above average (excellent) credit rating and I have always closed these types of accounts as soon as I pay them off. I do keep 2 major credit cards for traveling, emergencies, though.

I could really care less about other people's credit rating, just offering my opinion from 24 years of credit accumulation and 6 home purchases.

BritGuyTN

well i'm 100% confident that utilities don;t qualify as an installment load/revolving credit and don't report as such on your credit report

go to www.freecreditreport.com, pull your reports and see if you electric/water/gas company is listed as a creditor

I'll paypal you $100 if they are

scot free

I didn't say they counted as an installment loan/revolving credit, I just said they could generate a FICO score. Some utilities companies report trades some don't. Under certain circumstances some utility trades that are reported will generate a FICO score. I have my theories on the algorithms involved, but this is really going off-topic. The original point I was trying to make is that FICO scores are a bit quirky and that this can sometimes work to your advantage.

Bob

They only report bad payments, thus only useful for lowering your score and can't be counted on improving it.

Bob

Aye, that's sound advice, though there's nothing wrong with having one or two store cards, but it's not much use having more than that.

Giantaxe

This is a good point, particularly in the current environment where underwriting standards have changed from giving every live body a loan with little or no verification to where there are actually, well, underwriting standards... in particular, having a gob of available credit lines can affect the size of loan you can get as they will take this credit into account when considering what percentage of your total income you can devote to a mortgage payment.

Otoh, closing accounts can affect your credit score in that payment history will - eventually - disappear off your record. Given this, my strategy is not to open these "same as cash for x months" accounts, but to keep a stable set of credit cards that I regularly use. This keeps my total available revolving credit at a reasonable limit, and avoids closing any such accounts.

gazzpfc

Well I have just applied for a low value limit visa after being here 4 months which I will only be using for work.
Had no problem getting a car loan but as its secured against an asset no surprise really there.
Have couple of checking accounts running smoothly so lets see.

BritGuyTN

whos the credit card compamy?

let us know how you get on

checking accounts have no bearing BTW....