TWO WAYS TO BE MORE STRATEGIC WITH YOUR CREDIT 

April 29, 2024 | Kevin Brierton Team |

THESE 2 TIPS CAN IMPROVE YOUR CREDIT SCORE BY UP TO 25%

BE STRATEGIC ABOUT YOUR LENGTH OF CREDIT HISTORY

1 – Your length of credit history looks at how long your accounts have been opened. This has a 15% impact on your score. The longer your accounts have been opened, the higher your score will be; newly opened accounts will bring your score down. Here are three practical steps to improve your score in this area.

  • Don’t close your credit accounts. If you must, close the newest ones instead of the oldest ones. Your score will improve over time if you keep accounts open and use them every once in a while.
  • Think twice before jumping on that latest 0% credit card offer or opening a new card just to get a 10% discount at a department store.
  • If you don’t have much credit history, and are planning on taking out a mortgage in the future, it may be a good idea to establish a few open credit lines with little or no balance on them. Although newly opened accounts tend to lower your score initially, they will improve your score once they’ve been open for a while, somewhat active, and paid off with little or no balance.

2 – BE STRATEGIC ABOUT YOUR TYPES OF CREDIT MIX

A good mixture of auto loans and leases, credit cards, and mortgages is always best. That’s because your types of credit mix have a 10% impact on your credit score. Too many credit cards are not a good thing, and having a mortgage does increase your score. Here are two practical steps to improve your score in this area.

  • Having 3-5 revolving credit cards open is optimal; and,
  • Having a good mix of auto loans, credit cards, and mortgages is better than having only credit cards.

25%

THAT’S HOW MUCH YOUR LENGTH OF CREDIT HISTORY AND TYPES OF CREDIT MIX IMPACT YOUR CREDIT SCORE

Source: Momentifi

Kevin Brierton Branch Manager NMLS: 599873 NEO Home Loans Corporate NMLS: 150953 [email protected] https://www.kevinbrierton.com 4805538770 6991 East Camelback Rd., Ste D-300 Scottsdale, AZ 85251

NEO Home Loans is a registered DBA of Luminate Home Loans, Inc. NMLS# 150953. Corporate Headquarters 2523 S. Wayzata Blvd, Suite 200, Minneapolis, MN 55405. This advertisement does not constitute a loan approval or loan commitment. Loan Approval and/or loan commitment is subject to final underwriting review and approval.