Improve Your Credit Score Quickly

By L. K. Hughes

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If you are like lots of people these days, you are thinking of shopping for a new home or new vehicle. Why? Because interest rates are still the lowest they have been in 40 years, and now is a better time than any to get financing. I just bought an RV myself, and I remember the nervous feeling while they pulled my credit score at the dealer. 668 *whew*. Not bad as it turns out.

Many people don’t plan ahead when shopping for a loan to get the bestcredit possible. A lower credit score (one below 620 or even 650) can mean thehighest interest rate and highest monthly payments. A score of above 720 meansthe lowest rates possible. Having the best credit score you can have meanssaving thousands of dollars over the life of your loan. How can you raise yourcredit score in a quick period of time, and save?

There are several ways to improve your credit score in a week or less. One iscalled the "rapid rescore" process, offered through your mortgageofficer only, by a company called Access. With this system, you must do legworkto change your credit report contents yourself, within a week. So for instance,you might have to pay off certain collections or liens within a week to changeyour credit report contents. The rapid rescore process gives your credit score asecond look at the end of a week so any improvements will show on your secondcredit score. The drawbacks of this process if you can only do it through amortgage broker, and also, you must have something that you can improve quicklyon your report such as paying off a collection or a card balance.

Another way to improve your credit score quickly is to use techniques totemporarily "bump up" your credit score. I talk about these in myebook "Improve Your Credit Score In 24 Hours". I also provide special phone and faxnumber info. Depending on which creditors and credit bureaus you use you canmany times cause your credit a temporary "boost". Techniques like thisare a great "survival skill" in your credit career.

For "do-it-yourself" credit repair, here are some tips: first, payoff your collections. Even the smallest collection item like a $40 parkingticket can bring your score up 15-30 points. Get a letter from your creditorthat says "collection paid" or "collection deleted". Fax theletters to the bureaus if possible, talking to them on the phone andcoordinating a quick change in your scores. Second, you should have 3 unsecuredlines of credit but no more, so if you have extra credit cards you’ve beenmeaning to close, close them. You’d be surprised how these can boost yourscore as well.

People are getting more financial savvy these days with gurus like Suze Ormantelling folks about their FICO score (another term for credit score). I think itis good because having credit knowledge before you make large purchases like forhomes or cars can save you thousands of dollars and put more money where itbelongs, your investment future.