Thank you Lexington Law Firm for sponsoring this post. A high service partner and consumer advocate that will help you fight for the credit you deserve!
Becoming a homeowner has been a goal of mine ever since college. R. and I have been planning on getting married for a long time now, and moving in together seemed like the next logical step once we got engaged last year.
Looking at houses was more exciting than I even imagined, and we were lucky enough to stumble upon our dream home pretty early on in the search. It checked all the boxes, and it was the perfect place to grow into over the years as our family expands.
Sounds great, right?
You can only imagine my horror when I found out the bank wouldn’t even consider giving me a loan.
What do you mean I don’t have any credit? I have a credit card and I pay all my bills on time every month like clockwork…please just trust me already!
You might roll your eyes at my naivety, but the truth is I didn’t know the first thing about building credit back then. I just assumed that since I had a sizable down payment and a well paying, steady job that I’d be in the clear.
The whole process of buying a house young became a lot more complicated at this point. Luckily it wasn’t impossible, but it certainly was stressful.
Instead of getting excited about our new house, my goal instead became figuring out how to build my credit score. I’ve learned so much in the past year, and thanks to my friends over at Lexington Law Firm I’m going to be sharing a few of my top tips with you guys today!
How to Build Credit (Even When You Have None)
Open a Credit Card
One of my biggest mistakes in building my credit score was not opening up a credit card soon enough. When we went to get a loan for our house, luckily R. had great credit. He had gotten a credit card in high school, and a he had a long history of paying his bills on time for years.
If I could go back, I would’ve definitely opened an account sooner. I’m not sure if I would have been responsible enough in high school, but I surely should have considered this while I was in college.
Pay Bills on Time
One of the things that’s helped me increase my credit score has been paying my bills on time. This is a strategy that I was taught at a young age by my parents, and it’s something that I’ve been lucky enough to be able to do ever since I first opened my credit card.
I think this has been incredibly helpful in building my credit score relatively quickly.
Pay Bills in Full
Another thing that’s helped me along the way has been paying my bills in full. I never spend more than I can afford to, and I don’t let bills carry over from month to month and collect interest.
Check for Errors
Don’t forget to check for errors on your credit report! Every year millions of Americans are denied loans for homes and cars due to errors on their credit reports. Don’t let this happen to you, since these errors can take four months to correct on average.
Get Educated
Believe it or not, the credit repair industry has grown tenfold in recent years. Unfortunately, this has created a lot of fact vs. fiction information. Errors can and need to be fixed though, so don’t be discouraged!
Seek Professional Help
Sometimes you just need to work with a professional. Lexington Law Firm is the oldest and most respected name in credit repair, and they’re also the only ones with the legal experience and technology necessary to both advocate and drive results for consumers. Not to mention, Lexington Law Firm has long-standing relationships with all three of the credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. These relationships plus a deep understanding in knowing how to get errors removed, enables the team to communicate efficiently for clients.
Wait it Out
Sometimes, you can be doing everything right to build your credit score and yet still not see much improvement. For me, the biggest thing hindering my score is the fact that my account is still relatively young. It’s just a waiting game at this point, as long as I keep up with my good habits of paying off bills on time and not spending more than I’m able to.
To get more help with repairing your credit score, make sure to get in touch with Lexington Law Firm!
