Investor · nowhere, TX · Member since 2012 · 242 posts · 84 votes
I'm curious to know especially how the last 20 or 30 points were obtained. If there was any advice you could pass along that would be useful to others. I have good credit in the 770s but I would like to get it over 800.
Investor · Panama City, FL · Member since 2015 · 378 posts · 183 votes
11y
I wouldn't worry about the allusive credit score. It's designed for big banks and online institutions to make quick credit decisions for the average consumer who has 3 credit cards, a student loan, a house payment, and a car loan. My score is 640ish because I have multiple loans on multiple properties never late, several hard inquiries, because new rules on commercial loans require banks to pull your credit every year and I use several different small banks because I shop thier terms and price and have hit thier lending limits per customer on a couple. I also have and a municipality that sent me to collections on three separate utility bills less than $100 total because they sent bills and notices to property address not to my office. The algorithm the credit agencies use does not know how to deal with investors that have 30 or 40 mortgages. I recently got a 300k HELOC at 4% from a credit union with no problem even with a low score because they do "manual underwriting". The funny thing is I probably could not go rent a unit in a complex if they just go off credit score but I can easily get a loan to buy the whole building.
Most small bank's commercal guys know this and actually read the report and all but ignore the score. Good luck!
Rental Property Investor · Dayton, OH · Member since 2014 · 41 posts · 13 votes
11y
800 credit score is like a unicorn to investors(laugh) The only person I have ever known with one is my wife, and she never spends or keeps debt. Mine is like a rainbow from the leveraging and credit inquirys. I think we just dream of the day we dont even need it.
Toronto, Ontario · Member since 2016 · 4 posts · 0 votes
10y
Hey,
Well even my brother was having a problem of low credit score. I had done a research online for ways to boost the credit score. I remember finding this blog (
Rental Property Investor · Alexandria, VA · Member since 2016 · 9 posts · 2 votes
9y
I honestly think credit score determination is a crap-shoot.
My FICO is hovering at 830+, but I have no idea why other than the obvious. My financial situation doesn't really seem much different from the average responsible "Joe":
No revolving credit card debt, but about 50k credit available
Oldest credit card in use (out of 4) is about 10-12 years.
No other debt besides two mortgages on rentals; obtained in 2008 & 2010
Never late on any payments
About 17 years of credit history during which I've had several signature, auto, student loans (all have been paid off).
**Maybe it helps that I have at least a few years since my last big purchase/mortgage loans too.
Investor · Princeton, TX · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
9y
I will never understand why congress has given credit reporting agencies the huge amount of protection from lawsuits they have without requiring them to make all of their formulas public.
Real Estate Entrepreneur / Investor · Chicago, IL · Member since 2016 · 688 posts · 367 votes
9y
You know..... I actually wondered about this it's some good info mention in this thread but it's just speculation. As one person said the credit system is bs and it doesn't take into consideration of many variables. Not to mention that student Loans plummet your credit score.
As long as your above a 720. You are good
Financial Advisor · Atlanta, GA · Member since 2016 · 256 posts · 350 votes
9y
This hasn't been said so I will add it. If you are going to play the 0% interest credit card game, far better to do it with small business cards that don't report balances to credit bureaus as personal debt (e.g., Chase, BofA, Citi). I have made the mistake of borrowing for business with Capital One and they put it on my PERSONAL credit report which negatively impacted my credit utilization and, therefore, my credit score. I challenged this with all the bureaus but ultimately had to pay off my account to get it off my personal credit report because Capital One insisted that it was a personal debt (it wasn't).
Real Estate Entrepreneur / Investor · Chicago, IL · Member since 2016 · 688 posts · 367 votes
9y
Dan M. So you had a business card and they still charged it to your personal? Wow
I also have a question does anyone know if hard money lenders show up on your credit reports? I'm asking since they are private lenders.
Yesterday I attended a seminar in Los Angeles, at The Grand Expo for RE investors. One of the presenters was Merrill Chandler of Credit Sense and Fuunding Hackers sharing eye-opening info about how credit and loan decisions are made. Amazing. It's not at all what we think! Google him.