Tips to Boost Your Credit

Posted by Amanda Hicks

Updated on August 20th, 2018

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Published in Real Estate 101

Many people don't have the right impression about what factors actually attribute to credit scores, but having a better understanding of credit is very helpful for planning and budgeting.

Your credit score is factored upon missed payments, high balances and personal bankruptcy. It does not include factors like age, marital status, tax liens, medical bills less than 6 months old or civil judgements. 

FICO Score breakdown:

Payment History: 35%

Amounts Owed: 30%

Length of Credit History: 15%

Credit Mix: 10%

New Credit: 10%

You can improve your credit score by taking the following steps:

Pay bills on time every month.

Keep your balances below the credit limit. Try not to go past 40% and start paying off bills with the smallest first.

Keep credit inquiries to a minimum. Try checking just once a year from a reliable site like annualcreditreport.com.

Have variety of credit but keep it a small pool.