When it comes to buying a home, having a good credit score is extremely important. Figuring out your credit score can be confusing if you’re not sure what causes your score to grow or drop over time. A Waltham Realtor put together a handful of reasons why your credit score might not be where you want it to be. Read through these reasons so that you can work to improve your score and be able to purchase the Waltham home you’ve always wanted!
1. Late or Missed Payments
Your payment history has about a 40% impact on your score, which is huge! This means if you’re late or miss any payments, it’s going to greatly affect your credit score and not in a positive way. Waltham Real Estate Agents encourage you to make your payments on time so that you can build your score and be able to successfully receive a mortgage loan from the bank.
2. Poor Debt to Income Ratio
Your debt-to-income ratio is the total amount of debt you have compared to your annual income. So in this case, your credit score will drop if the debt you owe is greater than your income. A Waltham Realtor's best advice for this issue is to focus on paying down your debt before acquiring new debt so that you can improve your debt-to-income ratio.
3. Too Many Credit Inquiries
Every time you apply for or open a new credit card the creditor pulls your score. When they do this, it actually lowers your score. If it’s only a couple inquiries it won’t lower your score too much, however, if there are too many inquiries you score will be negatively impacted. Waltham Real Estate Agents say to avoid credit inquiries for a period of time and be particular about how often your credit is being pulled in the future.
4. Closing Credit Cards
Around 20% of your credit score is determined by the length of your credit accounts. If you close credit cards that you’ve had for a while, your score will drop. Keep your accounts open even if you’re not using them too often. Even just using them periodically will help your score. Waltham Realtors say to focus on keeping your credit usage below 30% and keeping your accounts active rather than paying the credit card off completely and then closing the account.
Contact A Waltham Realtor
To learn more about your credit score and how it can impact your ability to purchase your Waltham home, contact a Waltham Real Estate Agent today! Waltham Realtor’s have years of experience working with clients who have a wide range of credit scores. We’ll assist you in every way possible so that you can purchase the Waltham home you’ve always wanted! Give us a call today at 617-968-0022 or fill out a contact form and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible.