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5 Ninja Credit Moves to Improve Your Score

The Real Estate Show builds on its Thursday Credit series with "5 Ninja Credit Moves to Improve Your Score". In the business world, and in the real estate world, credit is a part of life. You can fight it all you want, and in some cases, you can even get around it, but having a good credit score certainly doesn't hurt, and in many cases can really help. For this reason, we wanted to share with you 5 Ninja Credit Moves to Improve Your Score, several of which may be counterintuitive. Here goes:

1. Get more credit! This is probably the first counterintuitive tip and also one that may give you the most bang. Do this right, and you could boost your score by as much as 50 points. You see, your credit utilization ratio, that is your debt compared with credit limits, accounts for 30% of your score. Therefore, a real credit ninja looks to keep their balances at 30% or less of the total limits. Bottom line, you can call your current lender and request a limit increase in order to make your current balance be 30% or less, or you can open a New card that you rarely, if ever, use.

2. Build up positive information on your credit report. Accounts with a long history and or good payment history will help boost your credit score. So look for accounts in good standing or that have positive information that is not listed on your credit report. Then call the credit bureau and ask to have them added back on. Examples of this might be old credit card accounts or mortgages, even collection companies where the balance was paid in full or there is a long history of good payments

3. Pay your credit cards more than once a month. Another counter-intuitive move, but it can I have significant effects on your credit score. You would think that paying your credit card off every month would lead to zero balances on your credit report, but that's not necessarily the case. That's because your credit report shows your balance on A specific day that your lender reports it. That means that even a temporarily high balance could be reported and result in a poor utilization ratio and therefore a lower score. So a more frequent payment assures lower balances and a better score. Also, if during the month you make an unusually large purchase, send a payment to reduce the balance immediately, or at least as soon as possible.

4. Shop and compare new loans within a short period of time. That's because every time you apply for credit, potential lenders hit your report with what is called a "hard inquiry". If you have too many hard inquiries it could signal that you're scrambling for credit, that you could be desperately in need of financing, and perhaps a risky applicant. Each hard inquiry lowers your score a few points. Even if the inquiry is a "soft inquiry", which do not hurt your credit score, this advice will protect your score. There is an exception, which is designed to allow people to wisely shop for the best loans, particularly for mortgages, cars, and student loans. In this case, credit bureaus may allow and combine inquiries within a tight timeframe, like14 to 45 days. This is to protect smart consumers looking to compare loan terms, that way your score won't get negatively affected by being a wise consumer.

5. Communication. Communication is probably one of the most overlooked techniques to help maintain and even boost your credit score. Don't just ignore a bad situation, contact someone who can make your life a little easier or better. Negotiating with creditors or even collections agencies can help soften the effects of a negative item on your report. Although creditors are not obligated to remove accurate items, you can ask for "a goodwill adjustment". Especially when you had previous good payment history, contact your lender and ask them that they give you a one-time courtesy to remove the blemish from your report. You can also contact debt collectors to ask if they'll stop reporting collections if you pay the bill in full. Again they don't have to, but it doesn't hurt to ask. Bonus ninja tip: always put any agreement in writing before submitting your payment.

Learn more about Credit helps your Real Estate Investing, so learn HOW by listening to The Real Estate Show with Eric Willner, Live every weekday morning at 8 o'clock (EST) on Florida's Money Talk Radio station WSBR AM740, FM 96.9, and FM 103.9. Then contact us at 888-595-7779 to see how we can help you with your real estate goals. You can also hear us on the free apps: iHeart Radio and TuneIn and the WSBR AM740 app. If you miss the live show, Recorded Rebroadcasts are available 24/7 on Facebook.

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