3 Simple Steps You Can Take to Improve Your Credit Score

Chris Colgan is a seasoned real estate agent whose familiarity with the Northern Virginia area spans his entire life. If you're a prospective buyer who wants to survey all the listed properties in Northern Virginia, click here for a full home search, or if you're considering selling you property, get a free home value report right here. Feel free to contact Chris at (703) 485-1435 for any questions you have about your own property, or the current state of the Northern Virginia real estate market.

Chances are, at some point in the near future, you will want to make a large purchase of some sort. Whether you're looking to purchase a car, a new home, or pay for college - you're going to need a good credit score in order to qualify for a loan. But what if you don't have a good credit score: is there anything you can do to improve it? By following these 3 simple steps, you can fix your credit issues and feel more confident applying for loan:

1. Join a credit watch program: There are many good credit watch programs available online. If anything suspicious happens on your credit card - such as it being used in another part of the world - you are notified immediately. These programs are helpful in preventing your credit information from being stolen and having a stranger run up the balance on your card.
2. Always make your payments on time: This is the big one. Every time you're behind on payments or miss them altogether, you're credit score takes a hit. Sometimes you can work with companies to set up a payment program through which your payments are made automatically. There is no better way maintain or improve your score than simply paying on time.
3. Keep your credit cards no higher than 10% of balance: Avoid the common mistake of maxing out your credit card. It often becomes too much of a burden to pay off and hurts your score when you miss payments on it. By limiting yourself to 10% of your credit limit, you make your monthly payments much easier to pay. In addition, it looks better to credit bureaus, who don't like to work with someone who runs their balance up. 

If you have any further questions about how you can improve your credit score, don't hesitate to give us call. We want to make getting a loan as easy an experience as possible.