Credit score info

[cjsmith]

Courtesy lifehacker_rss, one of a few feeds I've recently started to follow.

7 Simple Tips And 5 Secrets to Increase Your Credit Score [link goes to Follow Steph]. Some of it's common sense, but there's also some information that's not well known (eg when a lender pulls your credit report your credit score goes down by a small amount). It's handy to have it all in one article.

Comments

[ashiegrrrl.livejournal.com]

w00t! Thanks for that link!

I just checked my credit score and was pleasantly surprised that it's higher than I thought it would be with only 3 years of credit. I guess I'm doing something right. :)

[firecat]

That's all fairly good advice, but I'll note that I had no problem getting a mortgage even when I was self-employed (and had been self-employed for only one year). Of course, that was dot-boom years.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

We refinanced when I had no job at all and Rob was self-employed, too, after the crash. There are no hard and fast rules. Still, it's useful stuff to think about.

[rfrench.livejournal.com]

Although we didn't get the best rate available as a result, and got stuck with a 5-year prepayment penalty. Most lenders didn't want to talk to us - it took some searching to find one who was willing to do it.

That real estate seminar I went to echoed the "get all requests within 2 weeks" rule. When you start shopping, shop seriously and quickly.