BiggerPockets

I am just starting out in investing here in atlanta. I want to take advantage of the real estates market out here, but my credit score is hurting me. (High 500's)
I Need to find a legitmate credit repair company that can remove negative items / inquiries, to help me qualify for a loan.

If anyone knows of a such company, contact me. And can we make it affordable, one that does not want my arm, leg and unborn child.

:D

with a score that low be prepared for it to take a year or more. It takes time no matter WHO does it. So it might as well be YOU for free.

If you are going to be in this business, KNOW how to do it yourself. Also to keep in mind, this is your most valuable information. Credit repair companies come and go with YOUR most valuable DATA.

No point in having decent credit if you don't know where your data has been....

Of course no one asked you the most important question in my opinion...

Are these negative items legitimate? I am not being a jerk, I know there are legitimate reasons many people get themselves into trouble with credit. But, if these items are legitimate they are going to be much harder to remove.

One thing these credit repair companies don't share is they can often get a legitimate item removed because the creditor does not respond with proof within the allowed time. However, there is absolutely nothing preventing that legitimate item from returning at some point in the future if the creditor does decide to get off their butt and resubmit with proof. Historically, most who fail to respond in the allowed time never go through the steps to get them resubmitted.

But, times they are a changin' and that practice may go the way of the dinosaur.

You got some really good advice here and there is absolutely NOTHING a credit repair company can do that you can't. Submit the disputes, do it in writing and HAND WRITE the letters. Dispute one item per letter and DO NOT mail all of them all at once. If you spread them out they are more likely to assume you have actually researched each of these on your own.

There is a good chance if you are persistent you can get most if not all negatives removed.

However, the bureaus are offering a fairly new product allowing creditors to see what your FICO "was" at intervals depending on what level of service they buy from the bureau. Responsible borrowers don't have large or cyclical swings in their scores. More and more creditors are starting to look back to see if there has been a large upward movement in the FICO and asking the buyer to explain why it happened.

The best of the best in credit repair and also best dollar value is by far http://www.lexingtonlaw.com/

I've sent my clients there since 2003 and I have looks at tons of repair companies. This one is hands down the best.

With scores in the 500s your going to need to invest some serious time to fix it.
Imo take the time to learn about fico/credit, it will help you in other areas as well.

Do some googling there are some really good help sites out there that you can learn from.

I would look for alternatives while fixing my credit...try to find deals using owner financing or land contracts.

Maybe look at some of the stuff offered by the turnkey people.

Maybe try to partner up with someone who has good credit but needs something you can offer.

SPAM REMOVED

Well i have been taking everyones advise on doing it myself, and i started yesterday disputing negative items on my credit report from all 3 bureaus. I read somewhere that the first thing i should do when disputing, is to make the creditors prove that the account or negative item is mine !!!!!! Anyone have any suggetions on verbage i can use to dispute the negative items.

Thank you frank i didn't know i had to send in that information as well.

The credit bureaus could care less if you have researched anything, follow the money trail. There is no money in verifying disputes , they make their money selling your"s and my information and we don"t profit from it.

You can dispute as many line items as you want and you don"t need to handwrite anything. Persistence is the key.

This is not my opinion but fact, as I used to do this for a living and have proof of multiple line items being deleted at one time.

Good positive marks can out shine negative marks though,
and there are strategies to do this, here is one.

Open a savings account for x amount of dollars ( let"s say $1000 as an example ) , go back to the bank the next day
and get a loan from them using your savings account as collateral, they will loan you about 85% of that, take the money that they loan you and repeat the process at 2 other banks. You will then have 3 different banks reporting on your credit report that you have a loan with them.

It will cost some in interest over 6 month period or so,
but could be well worth it. But remember that you have to leave the money in the savings account while you do this. :D