I’m planning to apply for a mortgage next month. Any last minute advice?
Good luck with your mortgage application! Your six months of credit repair really paid off and your credit looks great. I’m sure there will be no problem. Having said that, mortgage lenders set interest rates based on scores. And they use a sliding scale which allows for small incremental changes.
Last Minute Opportunity
You should speak to your mortgage lender for more detail, but even a small change in your score can translate into a change in your interest rate. Given the size of the mortgage that you are planning to apply for, a little change could add up to a decent amount of money over the years. I bring this up for a reason. There may be a last minute credit repair opportunity.
Reduce Your Credit Card Balances
I see that you have three open credit cards with balances. The balances are modest, but they are at a level that creates a credit repair opportunity. If you can come up with the money to reduce the balances so you are using under 20 percent of the full capacity of the card you might be able to squeeze an extra 40 or 50 points out of your scores.
Be Careful With Your Cash Too
Given that you are applying for a mortgage you should be careful about running your bank balances down too much. So before you write a check to pay down your balances give your mortgage lender a call and see what he says. You do not want to fix something and accidently break something else.
Consider Creative Financing
I can tell you that a number of our credit repair customers in the same situation have borrowed the money from their parents to reduce their balances. You might want to consider your options. If a little creative financing can find you the money, and the final result is to reduce your monthly payment for the next 30 years, it was worth it.
Seal the Deal with Rapid Rescore
Since you only have a month to do this it is not likely that your new lower balances will get reported to the credit bureaus in time for your mortgage application. There is a solution called Rapid Rescore, which is a cool credit repair tool available only through mortgage lenders. You provide proof of your new balances (in the form of letters from your credit card companies) and your mortgage lender will arrange to have the credit bureaus adjust the score within a few days.