What is the best way to raise your credit score and what is the minimum you need to buy a house in Ga?

Public Comments

1. It is difficult if not impossible to significantly alter your credit score in the short term. In the long term, always pay your bills on time. Keep your credit card balances to a minimum. Do NOT close any unused credit cards. As for buying a house, that depends on your income level. For FHA loans, you need 3% down payment. As a rule of thumb, you usually need 10% if you can't get an FHA loan.
2. 30 - 35% of your credit score is your debt to credit ratio. this just means how much you owe relative to how high your credit limit is. if you have a credit card limit of 1,000 and owe 900, you have a very high ratio. if you only owe 50, you have a low ration. pay off debt on credit cards where ever you can, starting with the balance on the card with the highest intrest rate. don't close old cards that you've paid off because this will increase your debt to credit ratio. this is the only way to significantly alter your credit score in the short term. payment history, length of credit history, new credit and types of credit also make up your credit score. these are much harder to adjust in the short term. bad credit can stay on for seven years and you just have to wait it out. as for a down payment, until this past spring, you could get a home with 0% down as long as you had great credit. with the recent credit crunch and all of the foclosures on homes, a mortgage is going to be much harder to come by.