Credit advice, ask questions or just get some. - Page 3

Alan · 05/02/2005, 09:05 AM

Sorry, I hadn't checked up on this in a while....

untballer here are the answers:

1) How often can I pull my credit? The answer is as much as you want but you do risk hurting it. Although each pull is coded a certain way. So say you pull your own credit once every 3-4 months, you won't hurt your credit by much, 1-2 points. Say you pull it everymonth, then you risk hurting it by much more depending on the bureau (TransUnion is vicious)

2)Student Loans are a unique loan with credit. The difference is you don't pay on it right away and there is no actual start date till about a month before you start paying them. On your credit student loans have a note next to them *Deferred* which tells loan officers that you do not currently owe that debt, so they don't hold it against you. But once you are paying on them that note goes away and some places count it, some don't but payments are usually small in comparison so it doesn't hurt you that much anyways.

Did I miss anything?

PornFlake · 06/04/2005, 11:56 PM

Our state just opened up for the free credit report at annualcreditreport.com On Jun 1 so I decided to get one. Anyways, I looked at my credit score, and I thought I had a pretty good score until I saw it was out of 925. That put me in the fair to good category. This shocked the shit out of me because I've ordered credit scores before, and it was on a scale with a maximum of around 820.

This score was from TransUnion. What gives? Does each agency report scores differently?

*edit* I just read the first page and Alan thinks the max score is around 852 which is much closer to what I thought. My credit looks golden on that scale. I'm still confused as to why they're different.

Alan · 06/19/2005, 03:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PornFlake

Our state just opened up for the free credit report at annualcreditreport.com On Jun 1 so I decided to get one. Anyways, I looked at my credit score, and I thought I had a pretty good score until I saw it was out of 925. That put me in the fair to good category. This shocked the shit out of me because I've ordered credit scores before, and it was on a scale with a maximum of around 820.

This score was from TransUnion. What gives? Does each agency report scores differently?

*edit* I just read the first page and Alan thinks the max score is around 852 which is much closer to what I thought. My credit looks golden on that scale. I'm still confused as to why they're different.

Sorry it took so long to respond. In this thread I used the FICO score which is the most widely used. Each bureau in fact actually has it's own score and scale, but the most commonly used was FICO, which is Experians. Now even Experian is moving towards a new scoring system called the New National Risk Score which is 0-1000 with 0 being the best. The benefits of the system are that new credit isn't instantly considered bad credit as well as a couple of late payments won't throw your whole score off by that much. But a lot of companies are opposed to it and will take some time to come around. When I am at work again I can grab the scales and let you know what all of them are.

np2fast · 06/19/2005, 03:21 PM

I just got a studnet credit card yesterday. I was told that this was a good way to build credit. So exactly what should i purchase with it? Would every day items be fine or should i only use it for bigger transactions? I will be able to pay off all the withdrawls i make with the card within the sameday. I dont plan on buying anything that i dont have enough money to pay off with.

PornFlake · 06/19/2005, 11:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alan

Sorry it took so long to respond. In this thread I used the FICO score which is the most widely used. Each bureau in fact actually has it's own score and scale, but the most commonly used was FICO, which is Experians. Now even Experian is moving towards a new scoring system called the New National Risk Score which is 0-1000 with 0 being the best. The benefits of the system are that new credit isn't instantly considered bad credit as well as a couple of late payments won't throw your whole score off by that much. But a lot of companies are opposed to it and will take some time to come around. When I am at work again I can grab the scales and let you know what all of them are.

Cool. I thought all credit agencies reported using a standard number. That's why I never understood the 3 agency score reports. I thought it was just a plot to get more money.

FLiPMaRC · 06/20/2005, 11:29 AM

Awesome read Alan

My wife and I applied for a pre-qual for a mortgage with GMAC. GMAC pulled my credit report and my wife's. We both averaged out 740

Alan · 06/20/2005, 11:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by np2fast

I just got a studnet credit card yesterday. I was told that this was a good way to build credit. So exactly what should i purchase with it? Would every day items be fine or should i only use it for bigger transactions? I will be able to pay off all the withdrawls i make with the card within the sameday. I dont plan on buying anything that i dont have enough money to pay off with.

It is a great starting off point. Keep between a 15-25% balance on it and keep that same amount in an account to pay it off if you ever feel the need or get a better card. As far as purchases go it really doesn't matter but a good rule of thumb is to ask yourself "Do I want to finance that?" Do you really want to finance a McD's meal? Do you want to finance a bunch of school books? Do I care, I am just trying to keep a steady balance? I don't care because I am more worried about the balance. For all I know I am financing a Taco I ate at TCB 2 years ago

Xeon · 08/02/2005, 01:13 PM

How much do I need to make to get a $150-$200k loan for a house?

edit: In the Washington DC Metro area

00Z · 08/02/2005, 02:38 PM

How long does it take for a person to rebuild his credit (let's say from 550 to 700s). Is there any kind of formula to calculate an estimate?

Anus! · 08/02/2005, 07:49 PM

hey alen I have a couple questions.

1) I currently have the following.

one CC with a $10K limit and I just paid it off. I had about $3K on it consistantly for about 2 or 3 years. buying stuff like camera gear, vacations and then paying like $500 each month. so hopefully that will have helped my rating.

one savings account, one checking, one money market, and my car loan though my credit union.

one Checking account at BofA because I needed a local bank, the CU is only in a few cities.

Cell phone

AMEX gold card. Might be upgrading to platinum,

my questions are this.

Should I call and have the limit lowered? I like having that limit but I doubt I'd ever need that much. maybe $7500

can you have too many bank accounts? the one at the local bank only has like $1K in it because the limit is $750. I use it for expense checks from work, people send me check on my birthday, I get rebate checks...

How do the credit places deal with AMEX. no limit and you pay it off every month? if it doesn't help that's fine since their customer service is still great. but if they are hurting me in some way maybe I'll rethink it.

I'm going to pull my credit now on the experian site.

Anus! · 08/02/2005, 08:13 PM

ok I pulled it and I have a couple more questions. simple ones though.

I think I might have a problem like someone else. It still shows a couple accounts from 1992 that I got when I was in the airforce. one was dillards and one was JCPenny. I thought I had closed these but I guess not. I will have to call again.

next, I have some that show ND under them on someo f the months. it's no data reported. one was my last car loan.

does that hurt me in any way?

I have a BB card that I must have signed up for to buy a computer. 1 year same as cash, then I used to pay it off in like 8 months and close it. well this one I guess I ddidn't close. but the weird thing is that it shows a 30 from like June of '01.

why is that still showing?

I have to say this is good. I don't kow how much I paid for this

forgot to look at the price but I did find out I still have the BB card, the JCP, dillards and a structure and pier1 card. I also have an old discover card that I thought I closed and some citibank card that I know I never signed up for. all of these show $0 balance. Oh and I forgot to tell you on my last post I also have a nieman marcus card. they don't take MC or visa so I can't use my debit card and I don't usually carry $1500 in cash so when I go there I need their card. plus they give you some added perks which is nice. it's only a $1500 limit so I'll keep it.

now for the big question. on the main personal info it has my name and shit but then it says "also known as" Richard Pickett. I have know fucking clue who that is. the only thing I can POSSIBLE think of is that my friend when I was in the AF was buiying a ring for his girl. i co signed for his CC from the jewler. no problem, he paid it off and closed the account but his name was Robert Pickett. some retard maybe somehow put my name in as Richard Pickett and my social? I guess this would fall under disputes. I'll have to re reasd that part in your first post.

oh and btw, my score was 771.

Xeon · 08/02/2005, 08:33 PM

twice on the last two pages I read positive things on keeping a balance on a credit card

better than not paying, or better than paying it off completely?

Alan · 08/02/2005, 08:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xeon

How much do I need to make to get a $150-$200k loan for a house?

edit: In the Washington DC Metro area

Washington DC area, you can find one that you would actually want to live in

Anyways, to answer you question. There really is no simple answer, but here is a good way to tell. Go to Yahoo, or any financial site really, and use a financial calculator. Enter in the loan amount and use 7.5% intrest rate to give you a buffer. That should tell you about how much the payment will be. Then you can determine if you make enough to pay the mortgage. That help?

Alan · 08/02/2005, 08:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anus!

hey alen I have a couple questions.

Damnit bastage, the name is spelled Alan!

Quote:

one CC with a $10K limit and I just paid it off. I had about $3K on it consistantly for about 2 or 3 years. buying stuff like camera gear, vacations and then paying like $500 each month. so hopefully that will have helped my rating.

As I have stated many times, having a balance is better than no balance. And since you have had a balance on it for so long explains your credit score, very nice. I would suggest putting some of a balance on it to continue building your credit score.

Quote:

Should I call and have the limit lowered? I like having that limit but I doubt I'd ever need that much. maybe $7500

This is a smart move. I don't tell people to do this often because chances are the moment I do something tragic happens and they do

But realisticly chances are that you won't and lowering the overall limit is a good way to make a smaller balance look bigger. 1000 balance on a 10K card vs 1000 balance on 7.5K card. The percentage is obviously larger.

Quote:

can you have too many bank accounts? the one at the local bank only has like $1K in it because the limit is $750. I use it for expense checks from work, people send me check on my birthday, I get rebate checks...

This doesn't affect your credit, so it is your personal choice. The only downside I can potentially see is needing to move funds around and intrest. More intrest on larger balances.

Quote:

How do the credit places deal with AMEX. no limit and you pay it off every month? if it doesn't help that's fine since their customer service is still great. but if they are hurting me in some way maybe I'll rethink it.

Amex is the exception to the rule. Since this is how their card works and about 25% of their customers can't pay thier full balance each month you get full credit for just making your payment. It is a very good card and very respected card.

To be continued...

Alan · 08/02/2005, 08:49 PM

Quote:

I think I might have a problem like someone else. It still shows a couple accounts from 1992 that I got when I was in the airforce. one was dillards and one was JCPenny. I thought I had closed these but I guess not. I will have to call again.

Yeah, call and close them and there shouldn't be any problems

Quote:

next, I have some that show ND under them on someo f the months. it's no data reported. one was my last car loan. does that hurt me in any way?

No it doesn't hurt you. Financial Institutions have to pay every time they report to the bureaus. So sometimes they cheap out and don't report 2-3 months a year unless you are late. It's a buisness, what do you expect

Quote:

I have a BB card that I must have signed up for to buy a computer. 1 year same as cash, then I used to pay it off in like 8 months and close it. well this one I guess I ddidn't close. but the weird thing is that it shows a 30 from like June of '01. why is that still showing?

Is this one closed or open? Does it show a last report date? One of the bigs things I always advise is once you know how the reports work then you should take advantage of it. If you closed that account and within that 2 year period and there is a 30 day late then it is going to stay on till 7 years when the whole line goes off. But even then it isn't affecting your score anymore, so it is more of a pride thing.

Quote:

I have to say this is good. I don't kow how much I paid for this forgot to look at the price but I did find out I still have the BB card, the JCP, dillards and a structure and pier1 card. I also have an old discover card that I thought I closed and some citibank card that I know I never signed up for. all of these show $0 balance. Oh and I forgot to tell you on my last post I also have a nieman marcus card. they don't take MC or visa so I can't use my debit card and I don't usually carry $1500 in cash so when I go there I need their card. plus they give you some added perks which is nice. it's only a $1500 limit so I'll keep it.

For all the accounts with a $0 balance, I would make sure they are all closed. My advise is always to send it in writing, when you close the account ask for a letter, file letter. 1 store card is not going to kill you, so keep the Nieman Marcus card and buy me some cool clothes for all of this advice! As for the cards you never signed up for those probably happened like 4 years ago when they could open an account for you just by sending you the card, whether you activated it or not. With a lot of the new federal guildelines they can't do that now.

Quote:

now for the big question. on the main personal info it has my name and shit but then it says "also known as" Richard Pickett. I have know fucking clue who that is. the only thing I can POSSIBLE think of is that my friend when I was in the AF was buiying a ring for his girl. i co signed for his CC from the jewler. no problem, he paid it off and closed the account but his name was Robert Pickett. some retard maybe somehow put my name in as Richard Pickett and my social? I guess this would fall under disputes. I'll have to re reasd that part in your first post.

You had an idiot who entered the application wrong for the jewler

This is very common, more than ANYONE would believe. It will go away with time, I am suprised it is still on there. But you can dispute it off as well. It doesn't directly affect your score.

Quote:

oh and btw, my score was 771.

Follow my advice and it will go higher

Alan · 08/02/2005, 09:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 00Z

How long does it take for a person to rebuild his credit (let's say from 550 to 700s). Is there any kind of formula to calculate an estimate?

Sorry, didn't skip you on purpose.

It really depends on your situation and how much time and money you are willing to put forward to rebuilding. I have known people to go from 550 to 625 within 6 months just by cleaning up the credit. As I have stated many times, getting to 650 is easy. It's getting above that gets hard. There really is no formula other than how long will it take you to fix all the negative.

06/04/2005, 11:56 PM	#122 (permalink)
PornFlake Money for Nothing Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Between the legs of KS & TX. Posts: 1,675	Our state just opened up for the free credit report at annualcreditreport.com On Jun 1 so I decided to get one. Anyways, I looked at my credit score, and I thought I had a pretty good score until I saw it was out of 925. That put me in the fair to good category. This shocked the shit out of me because I've ordered credit scores before, and it was on a scale with a maximum of around 820. This score was from TransUnion. What gives? Does each agency report scores differently? edit I just read the first page and Alan thinks the max score is around 852 which is much closer to what I thought. My credit looks golden on that scale. I'm still confused as to why they're different. Last edited by PornFlake; 06/04/2005 at 11:59 PM.

08/02/2005, 01:13 PM	#128 (permalink)
Xeon Darkwing Duck! Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: When theres trouble-yoo Call D-W, Darkwing Wing Duck, Let's Get Dangerous! Vehicle: 03 Eclipse GTS Posts: 3,667	How much do I need to make to get a $150-$200k loan for a house? edit: In the Washington DC Metro area Last edited by Xeon; 08/02/2005 at 01:17 PM.

05/02/2005, 09:05 AM	#121 (permalink)
Alan Credit Guru Join Date: May 2003 Location: Vegas Bitches Posts: 5,323	Sorry, I hadn't checked up on this in a while.... untballer here are the answers: 1) How often can I pull my credit? The answer is as much as you want but you do risk hurting it. Although each pull is coded a certain way. So say you pull your own credit once every 3-4 months, you won't hurt your credit by much, 1-2 points. Say you pull it everymonth, then you risk hurting it by much more depending on the bureau (TransUnion is vicious) 2)Student Loans are a unique loan with credit. The difference is you don't pay on it right away and there is no actual start date till about a month before you start paying them. On your credit student loans have a note next to them Deferred which tells loan officers that you do not currently owe that debt, so they don't hold it against you. But once you are paying on them that note goes away and some places count it, some don't but payments are usually small in comparison so it doesn't hurt you that much anyways. Did I miss anything?

06/19/2005, 03:21 PM	#124 (permalink)
np2fast Hunky New-Comer Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Australia Vehicle: 01 eclipse GS Posts: 7,508	I just got a studnet credit card yesterday. I was told that this was a good way to build credit. So exactly what should i purchase with it? Would every day items be fine or should i only use it for bigger transactions? I will be able to pay off all the withdrawls i make with the card within the sameday. I dont plan on buying anything that i dont have enough money to pay off with.

06/20/2005, 11:29 AM	#126 (permalink)
FLiPMaRC Joo luk like' a man Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: NJ Vehicle: 2001 Silver GS Posts: 23,341	Awesome read Alan My wife and I applied for a pre-qual for a mortgage with GMAC. GMAC pulled my credit report and my wife's. We both averaged out 740

08/02/2005, 02:38 PM	#129 (permalink)
00Z music man. Join Date: Jun 2001 Posts: 542	How long does it take for a person to rebuild his credit (let's say from 550 to 700s). Is there any kind of formula to calculate an estimate?

08/02/2005, 07:49 PM	#130 (permalink)
Anus! I Wangs Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: 1-888-9-ASSHOLE Vehicle: duh Posts: 33,197	hey alen I have a couple questions. 1) I currently have the following. one CC with a $10K limit and I just paid it off. I had about $3K on it consistantly for about 2 or 3 years. buying stuff like camera gear, vacations and then paying like $500 each month. so hopefully that will have helped my rating. one savings account, one checking, one money market, and my car loan though my credit union. one Checking account at BofA because I needed a local bank, the CU is only in a few cities. Cell phone AMEX gold card. Might be upgrading to platinum, my questions are this. Should I call and have the limit lowered? I like having that limit but I doubt I'd ever need that much. maybe $7500 can you have too many bank accounts? the one at the local bank only has like $1K in it because the limit is $750. I use it for expense checks from work, people send me check on my birthday, I get rebate checks... How do the credit places deal with AMEX. no limit and you pay it off every month? if it doesn't help that's fine since their customer service is still great. but if they are hurting me in some way maybe I'll rethink it. I'm going to pull my credit now on the experian site.

08/02/2005, 08:13 PM	#131 (permalink)
Anus! I Wangs Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: 1-888-9-ASSHOLE Vehicle: duh Posts: 33,197	ok I pulled it and I have a couple more questions. simple ones though. I think I might have a problem like someone else. It still shows a couple accounts from 1992 that I got when I was in the airforce. one was dillards and one was JCPenny. I thought I had closed these but I guess not. I will have to call again. next, I have some that show ND under them on someo f the months. it's no data reported. one was my last car loan. does that hurt me in any way? I have a BB card that I must have signed up for to buy a computer. 1 year same as cash, then I used to pay it off in like 8 months and close it. well this one I guess I ddidn't close. but the weird thing is that it shows a 30 from like June of '01. why is that still showing? I have to say this is good. I don't kow how much I paid for this forgot to look at the price but I did find out I still have the BB card, the JCP, dillards and a structure and pier1 card. I also have an old discover card that I thought I closed and some citibank card that I know I never signed up for. all of these show $0 balance. Oh and I forgot to tell you on my last post I also have a nieman marcus card. they don't take MC or visa so I can't use my debit card and I don't usually carry $1500 in cash so when I go there I need their card. plus they give you some added perks which is nice. it's only a $1500 limit so I'll keep it. now for the big question. on the main personal info it has my name and shit but then it says "also known as" Richard Pickett. I have know fucking clue who that is. the only thing I can POSSIBLE think of is that my friend when I was in the AF was buiying a ring for his girl. i co signed for his CC from the jewler. no problem, he paid it off and closed the account but his name was Robert Pickett. some retard maybe somehow put my name in as Richard Pickett and my social? I guess this would fall under disputes. I'll have to re reasd that part in your first post. oh and btw, my score was 771.

08/02/2005, 08:33 PM	#132 (permalink)
Xeon Darkwing Duck! Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: When theres trouble-yoo Call D-W, Darkwing Wing Duck, Let's Get Dangerous! Vehicle: 03 Eclipse GTS Posts: 3,667	twice on the last two pages I read positive things on keeping a balance on a credit card better than not paying, or better than paying it off completely?