If you have ever wondered about how to get an above average credit score then you want to read this article. Specifically, we will be discussing what a good credit score in today’s market and simple strategies you can implement to improve your score regardless of whether your credit is poor or fairly good. After reading this article you should have a good idea of where you stand and deal able to develop a plan to ensure that your credit score is as strong as possible.
What is a good credit score?
Many people find out what their credit score is and have no idea what the number really means. What is a good credit score? While once anything 680 or above was considered good and would qualify you for most any loan you wanted, and today’s tightening lending environment you need to have a score of at least 700. Ideally, a score of 720 or more is preferred. Because lending guidelines have tightened so much, even someone with fairly good credit should pay special attention to the credit score before making an application for a loan.
Simple Ways to Raise Your Score
The good news is that regardless of what your credit looks like now there are many strategies that you can implement will improve your score. Let’s look at some easy things that you do.
- Pay your bills on time
Payment history accounts for the largest portion of your overall credit score. In fact, 35% of your credit score comes from how you have managed your bills in the past. For this reason, the most important thing you can do to have a credit score is to get organized and make sure that you pay all of your bills on time.
- Clean Up Errors
If you have errors in your credit file, you will want to get them cleaned up immediately. Common errors include payments being incorrectly reported as late and revolving credit lines being reported as less than what they are. By giving getting these things corrected you can improve your credit score dramatically.
- Pay off Debt
Paying off revolving credit card debt is one of the quickest ways to improve your credit score. 30% of your credit score is derived from what is called credit utilization. This means how much you owe versus your overall of available credit. By giving your credit utilization below 25% of your available credit you can improve credit scores by up to 50 points.
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