FICO - The First Step to Home Ownership

The road to home ownership doesn't start with getting pre-approved for a loan or with choosing a real estate agent. In reality, the home buying process begins and ends with your finances. To realize your goal of owning a home, you must consider your FICO score along with the type of loan for which you'll qualify in Grand Prairie.

A FICO score is a collection of your years of credit history based on an instrument developed by Fair Isaac and Company. Most people usually have a score of 600, but scores range from 300 to 850. Job loss has been common in the last few years, but FICO scores aren't necessarily adjusted "on a curve." A low score is just that and often means you can't get credit extended to you via a mortgage loan. Some of the factors in deciding your FICO score include:

• Types of Credit — Do you have a healthy mix of credit cards and loans?
• Payment History — How many late payments have you made?
• Credit to Debt Ratio — How much do you owe versus your available credit?
• Credit Inquiries — Do you have too many open accounts?

In reviewing your credit history, you'll see that you actually have three reports. Experian, Equifax and TransUnion — three of the major credit reporting agencies — use a slightly different models to determine your credit rating. FICO is used by Experian. Equifax's model is called BEACON and TransUnion uses EMPIRICA. Because of this, you have three scores, one for each bureau.

When you apply for a mortgage or any other loan, lenders want to make sure that extending a loan to you isn't a problem. Your credit score gives lenders an insight into what type of borrower you'd be solely because of your credit history. You'll need a score of at least 740 to get a decent interest rate. If your score is lower, you can still qualify for a loan, but the interest accrued over the life of the loan could be more than double the amount of someone with a better credit score.

Improving your FICO score is the first step in owning a home. Call us at (972) 504-8021 and we can help you get on the right track to the home of your dreams.

How do you get a stronger score? Improving your FICO score takes time. It can be difficult to make a large-scale change in your FICO score with small changes, but your score can improve in a year by monitoring your credit report and by using credit extended to you to raise your score, instead of ruin it. The most important thing is to know your FICO score. You'll improve your credit score by using these helpful hints:

• Ensure that your credit history is correct. If you discover incorrect items on your credit report, write to the bureau asking that the item be removed. If you have a common name or the same name as a family member, you'll want to pay extra attention to make sure the activity reported is correct.
• Spread your debt around. At first, this doesn't seem like a good idea. But, you want to avoid of having one card that is at the maximum and have your remaining cards at a zero balance. It's better to have each of your cards at a smaller balance than to have the most of your debt sitting on one card.
• Apply for gas cards or chain store credit. For those who have no credit or less-than-stellar credit, retail credit cards and gas credit cards are ways to repair credit, increase your credit limits and have a solid payment history, which will raise your FICO score. You must always avoid holding a high balance for too long because these types of cards usually have a steeper interest rate.
• Don't let your cards get dusty. Whether you have older cards, or are just getting started with credit, be sure to use your cards so that your accounts maintain an active status. But, pay them off in one or two payments.
• Pay on time. Your FICO score plummets with every account that goes to collections. It's one of the reasons people who have recently been unemployed see the biggest hit in their credit score. Yes, it takes longer to restore your credit with payment history, but it's the most reliable way to prove that you're responsible enough to make payments to a lender.

Now that you're better informed about credit reporting, you'll be able to successfully take the first steps to homeownership, and that is improving your FICO score. Know that when it's time to apply for a loan to purchase a home, you'll want to keep your lender applications within a two-week window to avoid adverse effects on your credit score. With the help of Target Cost Realty, LLC, the loan application process is sure to go more smoothly so you, too, can become a homeowner.

To learn more, visit myFICO.com, Fair Isaac's informational site and review your credit history for free at annualcreditreport.com. And, for a small payment, you can get your FICO score from each bureau on their websites: equifax.com, experian.com and transunion.com.