12345 WHAT ARE THE 4 BIGGEST THINGS YOU CAN DO TO IMPROVE YOUR CREDIT SCORE?

What are the 4 biggest things you can do to improve your credit score? We asked Shane Whitteker, owner of State College mortgage company Principle Home Mortgage. He is an expert in helping his clients get the best mortgage, navigating them through the process step-by-step.

One of the top things he assists his clients with is how to raise their credit score, a critical indicator mortgage lenders look at in determining mortgage eligibility.

"The biggest thing in raising your credit score is managing your credit cards properly," Whitteker said. "Don’t get discouraged if you don’t see results immediately, keep at it and be as disciplined as possible in the steps you take to raise your score.”

Keep your balances low!

Manage the balances on your revolving debt (credit cards). A good rule of thumb is to keep your balance at 50% or less of your credit limit. So if your credit limit is $1,000 you shouldn’t owe more than $500 on the cart at any one time.

Whitteker has a trick he shares with his clients to help up that percentage.

"The lower your balance is compared to your credit limit the more it helps your credit score to increase. One way to do this is ask for a credit limit increase but don’t turn around and use that limit increase to charge more debt," Whitteker says. Using this method, you will be able to achieve that 50-50 balance (or better), without having to pay down the debt as much.

Too many lines of credit is a bad thing

The next thing to keep in mind is that having too many revolving lines of credit can hurt your score.

Two or three credit cards is fine, and if you’re making regular on-time payments while keeping tip #1 in mind they’ll help you raise your score. Having 4 or more credit cards though will not help your credit score and may in fact hurt it.

Get A Mortgage!

Want to achieve the highest credit score possible? According to Whitteker, a mortgage is a must. "To achieve a maximum credit score you need to have a mortgage on your credit. Getting a mortgage has a significant impact on improving credit score as long as you pay on time," Whitteker says. It is the ultimate show of responsibility, which is why credit agencies regard it so strongly.

Maintain a balance

Don’t pay off all of your debt and assume that this will help your credit score, Whitteker says. "You need to have trade lines on your credit report that are paid on a monthly basis in order to maintain a credit score. You can actually lose your credit score by not keeping active accounts open."

If you’d like to learn more about ways to get a great mortgage, contact State College mortgage broker Principle Home Mortgage. They specialize in helping customers with interest rates of all types get the best possible mortgage for them.