FICO - The First Step to Home Ownership

You might think that the home buying process starts with getting pre-approved for a loan or with choosing a real estate agent. The quality of your wallet begins the home buying process. Without a reasonable FICO score, purchasing a house is harder and, you could find yourself renting for another couple of years in Alexandria until your FICO score is acceptable.

A FICO score is a review of your years of credit history based on a model developed by Fair Isaac and Company. The score ranges from 300 to 850, with the majority of people traditionally having a score of 650. Even though more people these days are experiencing job loss and delinquent credit cards, FICO scores aren't necessarily adjusted "on a curve." A low score is a low score and that often means you can't get credit extended to you via a mortgage loan. Some of the pieces in reviewing your FICO score are:

• Types of Credit — Do you have a healthy mix of credit cards and loans?
• Payment History — How many late payments have you made?
• Credit to Debt Ratio — How much do you owe versus how much credit you have available?
• Credit Inquiries — Do you have too many open accounts?

In reviewing your credit history, you'll discover that you actually have three reports. Experian, Equifax and TransUnion — three of the major credit reporting agencies — use a slightly different models to determine your credit rating. FICO is used by Experian. Equifax's model is called BEACON and TransUnion uses EMPIRICA. As a result, you have three scores, one for each scoring model.

When you apply for a mortgage or any other loan, lenders want to make sure that extending a loan to you isn't a risk. Your FICO score gives lenders a view of what type of borrower you are based solely on your credit history. You'll need a score of at least 740 to get a acceptable interest rate. If your score is lower, you can still qualify for a loan, but the interest accumulated over time could be more than double that of an individual having a higher FICO score.

Staying on top of your FICO score is the first step in owning a home. Contact us and we can help you get on the right track to the home of your dreams.

How do you get a better score? Building your FICO score takes time. It can be hard to make a significant change in your FICO score with small changes, but your score can improve in a year by monitoring your credit report and by using your credit wisely. The most important thing is to know your FICO score. You'll improve your credit score by using these helpful hints:

• Don't let your cards get dusty. Whether you have older cards, or are just getting started with credit, use your cards so that your accounts maintain an active status. But, make sure you pay them off in one or two payments.
• Pay on time. Your FICO score plummets with each account that goes to collections. It's where people who have recently been unemployed see the biggest hit in their credit score. Yes, it takes longer to build up your credit with payment history, but it's the surest way to show that you're responsible enough to make payments to a lender.
• Ensure that your credit history is correct. If you discover mistakes on your credit report, write to the bureau asking that the item be removed. If you have a common name or the same name as a family member, you'll want to give extra care to make sure the activity reported is correct.
• Even out your debt. At first, this doesn't seem like a good idea. But, you want to avoid of having one card that is at the limit and have your remaining cards at a zero balance. It's better to have each of your cards at about 30% of their credit limit than to have the bulk of your debt transferred to a single card.
• Apply for gas station cards or retail credit. For those who have non-existent credit or less-than-stellar credit, chain store credit cards and gas credit cards are ways to establish your credit history, increase your spending limits and keep up your payments, which will raise your FICO score. You must always avoid keeping a large balance for more than a couple of billing cycles because these types of cards more than likely have a surprisingly high interest rate.

Now that you know more about credit reporting, you'll be able to successfully take the first steps to homeownership, and that is improving your FICO score. Know that when it's time to apply for a loan to purchase a home, you'll want to keep your credit inquiries within a two-week window to avoid a negative mark on your credit score. With the help of Avenue Realty Group, the loan application process is sure to go more smoothly so you, too, can achieve home ownership.

Get more information by visiting myFICO.com, Fair Isaac's informational site and review your credit history for free at annualcreditreport.com. And, for a small payment, you can get your FICO score from each bureau on their websites: equifax.com, experian.com and transunion.com.