Working on first time home buyer loan and would like to run my number just so I know the bank is giving me a fair number. Any websites any of you guys are familiar with I could use to get a general number online?
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Working on first time home buyer loan and would like to run my number just so I know the bank is giving me a fair number. Any websites any of you guys are familiar with I could use to get a general number online?
DANGER! DANGER! DANGER!
There are MANY fake credit report sites out there that are designed to grab your SSN and other critical data!!!!!!
Proceed with extreme caution! To get your credit report, you must provide all the data that is needed to steal your identity.
I’m posting this right now just as a quick be careful warning. More later.
Grouse
Any bank you are dealing with can show you the credit scores, however they cannot give you a copy of the actual report. No need to double check their work, just ask them to see the report
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Working on first time home buyer loan and would like to run my number just so I know the bank is giving me a fair number. Any websites any of you guys are familiar with I could use to get a general number online?
OK, now for the longer response. The ONLY safe place to get your credit score is provided here by the Federal Trade Commission: http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0155-free-credit-reports
To use any of the thousands of other sites out there is a major risk because you have no idea who is behind them. Be very careful because there are many spoof sites designed to look like the real one.
It’s a good idea to review your report and make sure it is accurate. The FTC site does a good job of explaining what to look for.
As to the number itself, there is no such thing as a “general number”. The three main rating agencies use different methods so you will actually have three different numbers. What most people think of as “their score” is usually some combination of these three ratings.
And then your bank will have their own “score” based on their own evaluation of your risk. Credit score plays a role, but every bank and mortgage company has thier own home-brewed blend of what they are looking for and as usual, it isn’t simple. It’s a mix of credit score, credit history, emploment and income/employment history, financial transaction history, and other black magic factors that they believe indicate how likely you are to pay.
So knowing your number doesn’t really tell you that much as far as what the bank is looking for. The biggest benefit will be for you to review your report and look for and correct any items that are wrong or false.
You also may find things you’ve forgortten about. For example, when I first reviewed my credit score 10 years ago or so, I saw an open line of credit for $5000 listed with some bank I had never heard of in Ohio. Danger!!!! Major warning sign!!!
I investigated and it turned out that that was the line of credit I had opened at a fruniture store 8 or 9 years earlier to take advantage of a “2 year interest free” offer to furnish my apartment. I had gladly used the company’s money to get a free loan and had paid it all off, but the line of credit remained open. So I went through the steps and shut it down.
Grouse
Is there a fee to check your score?
I believe they are all required to give you 1 free one a year.
I have been paying for FreeCreditReport.com now for quite sometime. I don’t use it often, but it is nice to know I can go there when I need to. There it monitors from just 1 of the 3, I think it is actually part of Equifax or one of the bureaus. Once a year I can get all 3 scores and nice tips and charts showing the history and how I can improve it.
your score=yes
your history=no
http://www.annualcreditreport.com
you will be allowed to view your history from each of the 3 reporting agencies once every three years. Go through and dispute anything which is out of line. If I’m thinking correct the lender/creditor has a certain amount of time to prove your dispute is unjustified, other wise they are forced to remove. Had one thing fixed 6-7 years ago that showed up in my history which was preventing me from getting my job, it was cleared up quick.
I knew a guy who disputed his truck payments that were past due/ in collections and the creditor never responded, so he ended up getting it off his credit score and keeping the truck.
That was a long time ago and I don’t know if I ever believed it.
Back then I check on free annual credit report or something like that and I got the info but to get a score you have to pay….I’m on freecreditreport and I see mine offen. Not that I needed but just to check…should cancel it tho I’m not into buying anything…plus I’m almost perfect as to credit that I won’t need it for a while…but good site tho…email me all the time when it goes up or down and or anything change…..
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I believe they are all required to give you 1 free one a year.
You get one free report each year, but you will likely have to pay to see the score. I monitor my Experian score through my bank’s credit monitoring (USAA). It costs me $5 a month but helped me bring my score from 610-740 in about 6 months when I was preparing to buy my house a few years ago. By using the tools in the monitor I was able to plan and achieve my credit score goal and push it over 800 in the process. I chose Experian because its score places between the other 2 companies and almost always reflects the average of the 3; as many firms take the average of all 3 to calculate your credit worthiness to them.
I also would Not suggest paying someone to “clean your credit” as none of those companies can do anything you cannot do yourself. It is a process you work on over time and if you are diligent in it and you pay your bills on time you will see results.
*Edit: whatever your bank tells you your number is will reflect your score based on how they search your credit, a monitoring system calculates differently than certain firms may. Your Experian score may show 670 by your search methods, but by the factors used by the bank it may show to them as 690 or 650 using the same company.
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your score=yes
your history=nohttp://www.annualcreditreport.com
you will be allowed to view your history from each of the 3 reporting agencies once every three years.
You are now entitled to one free report every year. This report shows the data from all 3 major agencies.
Knowing the numeric score isn’t really that helpful. Your bank’s loan officer will almost certainly let you see it when your loan app comes back, but so what? Everything depends on how it was calculated and what meaning a lender attaches to a given score.
Don’t forget, that as with everything else in life, interest rates and terms ARE negotiable if you have the combination of cridit and a positive financial history. I belong to a credit union and the last time we went for a mortgage, they came back with X.XX% and I told them that that was a rack rate that anybody could get. Given my history with them, deposits on hand, 4 car loans, etc, etc, could they do better? They did better.
The banking world has gotten some hard lessons pounded into them over the past 5 years. One thing that they now understand that there IS competition out there. The other thing that they understand is it pays to hold on to your good customers.
Grouse
I work with Credit reports every day.. The bank will give you the number but nothing else…That’s what the reporting companies tell us we can do anyways..
I was how many times your credit scores are checked can effect your score to? 
Hard hits affect your score. Soft hits do not. When you check your own score it is a soft hit
I use a app called credit karma. It gives me my score free from trans union and updates it free every two weeks
It also tells me how my score is calculated very specifically and it is also a great educational tool
Highly recommend
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