Free credit report accuracy

[pitweiler]

How accurate are those free credit report sites and the free credit report that some credit card company's give you? Between a credit report site and my credit card company's report. There's about a 75 point difference. How do you know which ones closer to the real one without actually pulling your actual credit report from like trans Union

[austinite]

If it weren't accurate it would be illegal. They are no different than any other report you could get. Only difference is they torture you with offers before they give the report.

Scores vary by transunion, equifax , etc... Because not all companies report to all 3. You need to get the average of the 3.

[Brett N]

Credit karma has always been 100% accurate oy history and any charges I made on my card the last month.


As far as the number. I would say it's within the ballpark. It all depends on which credit bureau it is. Not sure how close it is to what a bank would get if I ran my credit for a loan.

[pitweiler]

A few years ago my credit was in the dumps. Like mid to low 500s. Credit karma says mines about 645 now. Credit sesame says about 625. The thing that throws me off is that my capital one credit card says its a 570. Credit karma seems to be up to date so I'm hoping that it's some where around there. I'm trying to build my credit back up so I can hopefully get into a house by next summer/fall.

What are some good ways to help get my credit back up there. I've been trying to pay off all my dept and paying everything on time

[Brett N]

Debt to income ratio and just making payments on time.

Don't get new debt.

Takes a long time to build credit back up.

Don't cancel any older credit cards. Credit length counts towards your credit report.

Don't get any new cards.

Pay off all bad debt like cards before cars or mortgage.

Make all payments on time no matter what.

Capital one may use a different number than your fico score. There are 3 different agencies.

[pitweiler]

Do you know which agency that mortgage companies use? Or do they average the three together?

[Brett N]

No I don't. It might all vary too. All the companies see the same thing they just interpret it differently. I wouldn't get too caught up in the numbers. Just make your payments and keep your debt down. Your history is your best record. Even if you totally screwed everything 3 years ago, what you have done between then and now matters too. They know people make mistakes, it's whether you learned anything from them.

The biggest thing with bad credit, you will always be able to get a mortgage. You just might need to come up with a larger down payment.

[lovbyts]

Do you know what the best credit is? It's an old fashioned one call CASH.
Believe it or not people still even buy houses and cars with Cash.
Get in the habit of not living beyond your means. Not buying anything you cant pay for in full and putting a little aside every payday and you will be surprised at how much you can save up. Add a little good investment and never investing more than you can comfortably afford to loose and NEVER try to catch back up what you lost you will be FAR ahead of the masses by the time you are 30 and even if you are over 30 it's never to late to start the process.

[pitweiler]

Do you know what the best credit is? It's an old fashioned one call CASH.
Believe it or not people still even buy houses and cars with Cash.
Get in the habit of not living beyond your means. Not buying anything you cant pay for in full and putting a little aside every payday and you will be surprised at how much you can save up. Add a little good investment and never investing more than you can comfortably afford to loose and NEVER try to catch back up what you lost you will be FAR ahead of the masses by the time you are 30 and even if you are over 30 it's never to late to start the process.

The past couple years I've been setting aside money every paycheck. For some reason putting cash away in my safe is the only way I can save money. I guess if its not in my bank account. I'm less likely to use it and when I get home I realize what ever I wanted I don't really need. So I never touch the money. I had a bunch of money saved but had to spend it when I got into my motorcycle accident to pay my bills. Within the last 6 months I've managed to save about 8k. I pay all my bills first and rarely ever buy anything for myself. If I do I always buy it out right. I'm 30 and I wish I had this mind set when I was in my early 20s. Since I was in the military I can get a VA loan. From what I hear their pretty good. Don't most lenders have a first time home buyers program where it helps you buy a house?

[lovbyts]

The past couple years I've been setting aside money every paycheck. For some reason putting cash away in my safe is the only way I can save money. I guess if its not in my bank account. I'm less likely to use it and when I get home I realize what ever I wanted I don't really need. So I never touch the money. I had a bunch of money saved but had to spend it when I got into my motorcycle accident to pay my bills. Within the last 6 months I've managed to save about 8k. I pay all my bills first and rarely ever buy anything for myself. If I do I always buy it out right. I'm 30 and I wish I had this mind set when I was in my early 20s. Since I was in the military I can get a VA loan. From what I hear their pretty good. Don't most lenders have a first time home buyers program where it helps you buy a house?

First time buyer programs dont really do anything for you except let you put less down so it cost you a LOT more in the long run. I know it's hard but everyone should put a minimum of 20% down otherwise you get stuck with whats call PMI. Private Mortgage insurance and it will cost you and extra $200+ a month. What does it do for you? NOTHING. It pay for insurance policy for the bank that if you dont make your payments they are covered and yet they still come after you for it and collect all the PMI. It's just another rip off to consumers.

I wish we could do away with mortgage companies and realators and go back to owner contracts. Then we the people make the money and not the banks.

[Zodiac82]

Credit karma has always been 100% accurate oy history and any charges I made on my card the last month.

As far as the number. I would say it's within the ballpark. It all depends on which credit bureau it is. Not sure how close it is to what a bank would get if I ran my credit for a loan.

Credit karma..is the way to go

[pitweiler]

Credit karma..is the way to go

I hope so. They've been giving me the best score lol

[lovbyts]

I just signed up for Credit Karma to check them out. Good tools and comparison on credit cards for rewards and cash back.

Well I guess all the spending the wife has been doing hasnt hurt us to much, YET.... not until I cant pay the bills anymore that is. lol I pay everything monthly 100% so haven't had any credit card fees in years but have acquired a couple other bills with low interest recently. Trying to get the wife in line to not buy ANYTHING unless its necessity until those are paid off, meaning NO decorating. I know women tend to think it's a necessity to buy new sheets, towels, pictures, vases and such but really it's not.

I would like to get over 820 score but for now I got a 795 and 799

[Brett N]

I sold cars for a while, anything over 800 is just bragging. Someone with a 825 won't have any better oppurtunities than someone with a 799.

Im with you on the paying the card off every month though. Just got my statement emailed to me. $800. Forgot I have to pay for those new golf clubs. Oops.

We have 2 lonas, a car and a house. Car will be paid off 2016. We bought it last January. Just make double payments on it, interest is low but I still hate someone telling me to send them money.

Some first time home buyer programs do not charge PMI if you can come up with 3% down. At least, that's what was out there before the banks crashed. Not sure if it still exists. It was some urban development program by the government.

[pitweiler]

I want to put money down regardless. To me it make you look like your more serious. I heard about a PMI and I definitely want to avoid that. I don't know much about a VA loan but I heard some good things going through them. Obviously the higher your credit score is better but what should your score be before I go talk to a mortgage company. Credit karma says that my score is a 647. Not great but it's a lot better than what it was for sure

[hawk14dl]

Pmi exists on all mortgages now, through 80% ltv.

Pmi exists the life of the loan on an fha mortgage.

Fha requires a 3% down payment

[lovbyts]

Pmi exists on all mortgages now, through 80% ltv.

Pmi exists the life of the loan on an fha mortgage.

Fha requires a 3% down payment

They dont remove it once you get a new apraisal that shows you have over 20% equity anymore? DAMN!!! another new rip off. See, 100% best to avoid PMI and wait until you have 20% down otherwise it can easily cost you $100,000 or more in the life of a loan.

[hawk14dl]

Correct.

I had to go fha with my recent purchase. I put about 17% down. I was told this was a recent change (within the last year iirc).

So, I'll have to refinance my house through a conventional in about 3-4 years. Sucks, especially since interest rates will undoubtedly rise between now and then

[lovbyts]

Well it's good you found out now instead of later when it would cost even more. That should be illegal but I'm not surprised. Nothing about the new regulations do anything to protect the consumer, only the banks.

Again we need to go back to owner contracts and leave the loan companies out of it. Yes they have made it HARD to do it but it's still possible.

[hawk14dl]

Yes exactly. Pmi only protects the banks, yet we have to pay for it. They say it's So they can grant riskier loans and be protected from a default. I had to go fha because of a less then stellar credit score, which occurred after a real rough patch. Credit score went from 730 ish to 600. I had no defaults, low credit utilization but missed (late) two consecutive payments on two accounts (made the mortgage the priority, wasn't late on it). Yet, I'm a risky loan (on a house half the value of the previous).
i don't get it. But I'm not a banker either

[PistolPete33]

They are prob. using two different credit reporting agencies. One my be Experian and the other could be Equifax. Also, know that when you go to buy a car many dealers use what's called AutoFico and it's basically a guaranteed lower score. They do this to show you that you have a lower score than you actually do so they can sell you a higher interest rate. When they upsell the interest rate the dealer gets the extra % so it's a win for them and not you.

[spywizard]

you can do a conventional 97% 3% down, pmi is 1/2 of what fha is and the appraisal is much easier.. 640 credit score.. good times

[Brett N]

Here you go pitweiler -

No down payment: VA loan

The VA guarantees purchase mortgages with no required down payment for qualified veterans. Private lenders originate VA loans, which the VA guarantees. There is no mortgage insurance. The borrower pays a funding fee, which can be rolled into the loan amount.

The VA funding fee varies, depending on whether the veteran served in the regular military or in the Reserves or National Guard, and whether it's the veteran's first VA loan or a subsequent one. The funding fee can be as low as 2.15 percent or as high as 3.3 percent.


Read more: 5 Mortgages That Require No Down Payment Or A Small One | Bankrate.com
Follow us: @Bankrate on Twitter | Bankrate on Facebook

Some others too - 5 Mortgages That Require No Down Payment Or A Small One | Bankrate.com

The no PMI is a big deal though. That would be great. I would make sure you buy a decent home and not one that needs a lot of work. We remodeled our first home and sold it. In remodeling we found the basement was screwed. Cost us almost all of our profit to fix it. Home inspectors and appraisers were oblivious to it. They can't be relied on anyways, they just want the loan to go through.

[pitweiler]

Thanks Brett! I kinda want a house that needs a little work. I'm a carpenter by trade so I can do most of the work myself. But it all depends on what's out there when I start looking too

[Brett N]

I understand. I'm a brick and stone mason. Just saying, don't rely on any so called experts.


Id suggest finding something that needs minor work and then possibly finish off the basement to build more equity. You're gonna do what you want in the end but if I would of taken my time working side jobs instead of on my house I would of came out about $15k richer. Just saying.

[pitweiler]

Yeah that's true. I haven't thought of it that way