What makes a good credit score?

[CZroe]

I never know my credit score. The free credit reports gave me everything but not the credit score. Did you guys pay for the report to get the score?

Some credit cards come with free FICO score reporting that is updated frequently (Discover, for example). Some free credit reporting services approximate your FICO score and give you that (CreditKarma). Even though we call this a "FAKO" score, it is still very useful and is usually very close to your actual score. Mine is over 56 points off currently, but I am sure it is a fluke that will settle on my next billing cycle.

 

[CZroe]

Those free annual credit reports will give you a score if you pay for it, but its not a FICO.

To get your FICO, you need to get it from myfico.com or have a Discover card, which gives you it for free monthly FICO from Transunion alone.

I used to get my FICO every year for the three reporting agencies and there was always discount to be found. Awhile back (5-10 years ago), Experian dropped out of the FICO to use their own credit score. And for awhile FICO would give only two scores from Transunion and Experian. It now looks like Experian is back at Myfico, as I see you can get all three again, for 59.95
http://www.myfico.com/Products/FICO-Score-3-Report-View/

Looks like they have a 20% promotion from the homepage of FICO

Use myFICO promo code
S1403STL20FST during checkout.


Experian still has an iteration of a FICO that they are using at places that aren't myfico.com, as they call it FICO® 8 Bankcard Score. It's max is 900 as opposed to the true FICO scores max of 850. I also get this "FICO 8" score every month.

From their website.
https://www.firstnational.com/site/personal/credit-card/benefits/fico-score.fhtml

If someone wants to read further into FICO, here are links to some more info from FirstNational about FICO
FICO FAQs
https://www.firstnational.com/Marke...t-library/assets/site/documents/fico_faqs.pdf

FICO Consumer education
https://www.firstnational.com/Marke...ts/site/documents/fico_consumer_education.pdf

So TransUnion must be the one with something negative is Discover is reporting the low score. Pulling my TransUnion report from AnnualCreditReport.com now...

 

[Tweak155]

I think I had like 780 when I bought my first house, but like someone said anything 760+ is the same. I did get a bad ass interest rate of 2.75% though, that was nice.

 

[Blanky]

My credit score was 840 when I was 18 because I'm just so awesome, but yeah 748 is fine.

Truthfully though I think it's in the high 700's now, and might have been 809 last time it was checked. I've never put much attention to it other than a near obsession in not missing bills. I have never had a single bill paid late such that it caused a hit on my credit score. Not once for any reason.

 

[CZroe]

I was wondering: Is there a such thing as a short-term credit-building mortgage? For example, a mortgage would easily have pushed me over 800, which is where I would want to be if I was buying the house I wanted. Now it's a chicken-and-egg problem. I wouldn't want to spend 30 years paying more interest if a smaller mortgage first could have boosted me to over 800 and secured a lower interest rate for the mortgage I really wanted.

For example, living in GA, can I buy one of those $4,000-$8,000 houses around Detroit or wherever, put like 50% down, pay it off in a few years even though I could pay it off in full almost right away, then buy the house I want with the credit boost?

In the same vein, my family has some property in Alabama with no home on it. Perhaps I could throw a cheap trailer on it to accomplish the same thing?

 

[nk215]

I just open a credit karma. My karma credit (transunion) score is 757. It gave me [A] in the first 4 categories (credit utilization, payment history, derogatory marks and age of credit history) in the last 2 categories (Total accounts, Credit Inquiries).

It said I have 19 accounts total, 4 of which are opened. Many of the 19 accounts I don't even recognize.

 

[96Firebird]

Is it best to always accept any credit limit increase for a credit card? I opened my card back in 2011 with a $4k limit, and despite many e-mails asking if I want to increase my limit, I haven't increased it at all. If I increase it, will that lower my % utilization and therefore increase my score? I put pretty much all my purchases on the credit card, which usually amounts to $800-$1200/month that I pay off when the statement shows up.

 

[OverVolt]

I am in the 600 club as well.

 

[nk215]

Is it best to always accept any credit limit increase for a credit card? I opened my card back in 2011 with a $4k limit, and despite many e-mails asking if I want to increase my limit, I haven't increased it at all. If I increase it, will that lower my % utilization and therefore increase my score? I put pretty much all my purchases on the credit card, which usually amounts to $800-$1200/month that I pay off when the statement shows up.

I think you should accept the credit increase. I always payoff my balance, however credit karma shows that I have a $495 balance on one of the 4 cards. It must be the balance between statements.

 

[ultimatebob]

I had 820 score at one point, before my short sale showed up on my credit report. That dropped it to 690

 

[skull]

I was wondering: Is there a such thing as a short-term credit-building mortgage? For example, a mortgage would easily have pushed me over 800, which is where I would want to be if I was buying the house I wanted. Now it's a chicken-and-egg problem. I wouldn't want to spend 30 years paying more interest if a smaller mortgage first could have boosted me to over 800 and secured a lower interest rate for the mortgage I really wanted.

For example, living in GA, can I buy one of those $4,000-$8,000 houses around Detroit or wherever, put like 50% down, pay it off in a few years even though I could pay it off in full almost right away, then buy the house I want with the credit boost?

In the same vein, my family has some property in Alabama with no home on it. Perhaps I could throw a cheap trailer on it to accomplish the same thing?

Most lenders have a 50-75k minimum. Quite a few can do 25k+, I think you have to get another type of funding for anything lower. There might be a few that do 20k

I just got an offer accepted for 43k on a 2 family. I've been using capitol one credit tracker thru transunion to keep track of my score. Its had me at 710 for awhile, when I had my mortgage pre-approval pulled. The mortgage company had me at like 680 685 695. Mortgage FICOs are calculated different so I don't know how that compares. I'm up from 580 7 years ago so hopefully the mortgage goes through.

 

[Svnla]

Is it best to always accept any credit limit increase for a credit card? I opened my card back in 2011 with a $4k limit, and despite many e-mails asking if I want to increase my limit, I haven't increased it at all. If I increase it, will that lower my % utilization and therefore increase my score? I put pretty much all my purchases on the credit card, which usually amounts to $800-$1200/month that I pay off when the statement shows up.

If you use up to $1.2K per month which is about 30% of your card limit, you are pushing the line because you should not go over 30% of your card limit. But if you ask for a limit, you will get a little ding on your score because of the hard inquiry, only a few points IIRC.

 

[Svnla]

I never know my credit score. The free credit reports gave me everything but not the credit score. Did you guys pay for the report to get the score?

Some of the credit card companies give out free score, not always FICO score.

For example, my Capital 1 Quick Silver Visa Signature gives me free score from TransUnion. Other posters said Discover gives them free score too but I do not have that card so I do not know.

Credit scores seem like a game that isn't very fun and I don't want to play.

If you know how to play it right, you can make decent money/miles/points from CC.

I just received a $350 check of cash back (that's only for 1 month) from my Citi MasterCard Double Cash CC - 2% cash back from all of my purchases and no annual fee, no limit. Not bad at all. The Cap1 Quick Silver CC I mentioned above pays me 1.5% cash back, same as Citi (no limit, no annual fee, nothing but money back).

 

[skull]

I thought I was doing good with my quicksilver 1.5 % cashback getting $300 in 5 months. My mastercard quicksilver has credit tracker. I got hit on my mortgage pre-approval because of over 40% utilization. I only have a 3.5k limit and I sometimes rack up 4k in a month on job materials. I end up paying the card like 3x a month to keep it paid off yet I got hit with too high utilization.

 

[Svnla]

I thought I was doing good with my quicksilver 1.5 % cashback getting $300 in 5 months. My mastercard quicksilver has credit tracker. I got hit on my mortgage pre-approval because of over 40% utilization. I only have a 3.5k limit and I sometimes rack up 4k in a month on job materials. I end up paying the card like 3x a month to keep it paid off yet I got hit with too high utilization.

I should make it clearer that cash back check from Citi 2% cb CC was from my business spending, not just my personal spending alone.

I am not that rich.

 

[Humpy]

If you know how to play it right, you can make decent money/miles/points from CC.

I just received a $350 check of cash back (that's only for 1 month) from my Citi MasterCard Double Cash CC - 2% cash back from all of my purchases and no annual fee, no limit. Not bad at all. The Cap1 Quick Silver CC I mentioned above pays me 1.5% cash back, same as Citi (no limit, no annual fee, nothing but money back).

I have a couple cards that give back a small percentage, and I'm happy to take it, but I have a hard time seeing it as making money. It feels more like spending just a little less.

 

[Svnla]

I have a couple cards that give back a small percentage, and I'm happy to take it, but I have a hard time seeing it as making money. It feels more like spending just a little less.

You have to do it the right way.

I am NOT saying let go out there and buy buy buy just to have cash back. NO, not at all.

What I am saying is if you know how to do it right, you can make decent money. In my case, I have my own businesses on the side beside my regular day job. I use ONLY the 2% cash back credit card to purchase goods for my business, pay off everything BEFORE/ON due date. ALWAYS.

That's how I make money. Credit cards (cash back) are just like very sharp knives. If you know how to use them properly, they could be very helpful. If you do not, they can cut you very bad. My 2%

 

[BarkingGhostar]

My FICO is 835 and my credit scores is 990 across all three reporting agencies.

Please don't hack me. Please.

 

[Humpy]

...What I am saying is if you know how to do it right, you can make decent money. In my case, I have my own businesses on the side beside my regular day job. I use ONLY the 2% cash back credit card to purchase goods for my business, pay off everything BEFORE/ON due date. ALWAYS.

That's how I make money...

Be careful with that. Credit card cashback is not taxed as income because it is considered a discount. Your business expenses have to be reduced by the amount of the discount. You can't (rightfully) claim the full amount of the expense and just pocket the cashback.

In the end all you have is slightly reduced expenses, which is usually a good thing.

 

[CZroe]

Well, my FICO I get from Discover jumped back up to around 720 some time last month and now it's down in the 670s! CreditKarma's FAKO score still says around 750. WTF is going on?!

 

[RossMAN]

Some credit cards come with free FICO score reporting that is updated frequently (Discover, for example). Some free credit reporting services approximate your FICO score and give you that (CreditKarma). Even though we call this a "FAKO" score, it is still very useful and is usually very close to your actual score. Mine is over 56 points off currently, but I am sure it is a fluke that will settle on my next billing cycle.

Has anyone received an e-mail from Citi?

http://www.citi.com/creditscore

Congratulations – Citi® is giving you 24/7 online access to your free FICO® Score. Citi cardmembers can now view their FICO® Score based on information from their Equifax credit report. We’ll share it for free each month. We’ll also give you credit education to help you understand how credit affects your financial life.

 

[Svnla]

Has anyone received an e-mail from Citi?

http://www.citi.com/creditscore

I haven't but I did follow the same link from FWF and I did have a free FICO score. Not too shabby.

Edit - I do have the Citi 2% cash back Double Cash World Mastercard. I wonder if only certain credit cards have this new benefit (for now).

I have two minor dings on my Citi/FICO score - 1) no installation loans (car or mortgage - only credit card and student loans in good standing) and 2) my average credit length of time is not too long.

 

[RossMAN]

I haven't but I did follow the same link from FWF and I did have a free FICO score. Not too shabby.

Good to know, any other Citi credit card holders confirm 1) if they received the e-mail and 2) if the below link works for you?

http://www.citi.com/creditscore

 

[CZroe]

Good to know, any other Citi credit card holders confirm 1) if they received the e-mail and 2) if the below link works for you?

http://www.citi.com/creditscore

Warning! Phishing scam!

I logged in to my Citi credit card account like I normally do at citi.com and poked around. I found that same page when I clicked "Card Benefits" on my "Accounts" page. Don't recall getting that email but I will check.

Edit: Not finding that email. What was the subject line?

 

[RossMAN]

Edit: Not finding that email. What was the subject line?

From: "Citi Cards" <citicards@info9.citibank.com>
To: <RossMAN@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Citi's Giving You Your Free FICO Score
Date: Wed, 21 Jan 2015 17:44:40 -0600 (6:44 PM Eastern)

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