There is a good chance that when you are moving to United States you haven’t heard about credit scores, as it didn’t exist in your country. Well, you will learn it fairly quickly in US, as soon as you try applying for a phone, buying a car or renting an apartment. In this article, we will explain how to establish your credit score.
It’s important to learn about this concept beforehand and have the right strategy for establishing your credit history as soon as possible. Good news, when you get started, you will begin with a score of 300 and don’t have any mistakes to correct. Your goal is to increase this to above 700.
What to do first to make it from 300 to 850?
1. Go to the bank and apply for secured credit card.
‘Secured’ means you are going to secure it with down payment. Most probably, the bank you are applying at has $300-500 limit; it’s a good start. The bank will report your monthly payments (payments) to the credit bureaus. After 6-12 month, bank will evaluate your account and if all payments were made on time. Then bank will return your down payment and your card will become unsecured.
2. Make your payments on time.
I can’t stress it enough as it’s absolutely crucial on establishing your credit history. As soon as you make a late payment, it will affect your credit score especially that your credit report is new and so susceptible for even little mistakes as one-day late payment. Simple advice to avoid late payments is setting automatic payments from your checking account.
3. Become authorized user with established credit holder if you can.
If you moved to the country and you have someone close and trustworthy, see if you can be added to the credit card account.
4. Apply for a car loan.
After about 12 month working on your first credit card, try applying for a car loan and another type of loan that will be necessary in your life and helpful to get your credit history established more.
5. Keep your credit card balances low
Keep your credit card balances low, if possible under 40%.
6. Make higher payments than requested or just pay it off every month.
Once you have a credit file, guard your accounts and personal information. Keep monitoring and improving your credit score. It will change through entire life and hopefully one day you will be in 0.5% of the population and have a perfect 850 score!
Call us for a free consultation on how to establish your credit score 727.251.5089 or for more information visit our website.
