Building a good credit history is difficult, but it isn’t nearly so difficult as trying to repair a bad credit history. Some high schools and universities are just now trying to teach our children what credit and credit history is all about. There is quite a long way to go still, but there is some achievements that can be seen.
One of the first accounts of credit a young person receives is often times buying a car. This first credit account is where it all begins. If a mother or father has a great credit score or FICO score and cosigns with the child, it helps substantially to receive a low interest rate on a car loan. But, sometimes the single most important factor of building up good credit is to make sure the loan is paid on time every single month it is due. If possible, pay a little in advance.
Credit cards are easy to get. They are far too easy to get, in my opinion, but that’s another story. The point here is that they are easy to get, but that is a story for another day. Anyway, the point is that there are easy ways to build a positive credit history quickly. Most credit worthiness is determined by the level of available credit you have opposed to the amount of debt.
If you have a credit card that has a $5,000 limit but your balance on it is, say, $400, it would be a very good credit-to-debt ratio. Lenders like good credit-to-debt ratios. Credit reports that have great ratios are very nice to have. Having a past history of making payments and paying off a full balance on a card by each billing period due date will help greatly to build that great rating quickly.
Keeping up a positive credit history is somewhat hard. Unexpected things do happen. People can get sick or even injured at time which can have a negative impact. Others may get laid off at no fault to them. When these bad things do occur, the best thing to do is to immediately talk to your creditors. Let them know what your situation is and most of them will work with you and not give bad marks to the credit bureaus that will in turn give you damaging marks on your report.
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