If you want to improve your credit score, you should first gain an understanding of how credit scoring works and what process must be taken to bring improvements.
Several months ago, I launched a case study with "John Smith" (a fictitious name for an actual client of Century 21 Manausa and Associates), to determine if it was possible to improve credit scores by using a credit repair company.
Like all specialties, you don't necessarily pay somebody because you cannot do it yourself, you consider hiring somebody because they might be able to do it faster or better or perhaps they will just save you a whole lot of time and effort.
Today, we interview John Smith to find out his impressions of the credit repair company he hired to improve credit score results for him to buy a home.
Improve Your Credit Score By Outsourcing
As a reminder, this is a continuation article that serves as a series on the validity of hiring a credit repair company to improve your credit score for the purpose of buying a home. If this is your first time here, you might was to first read the following articles:
- Does Credit Repair For Homebuyers Really Exist?
-
Do Credit Repair Companies Reduce The Time It Takes To Buy A Home?
The following is my recent interview of John Smith, who has been working with USCCRA for about two months.
Me: You have been using this credit repair company for just over two months now, what are your initial thoughts or opinions about what they do?
John Smith: It's been great. Much better and the results have been far faster than I could have dreamed.
Me: Tell us why.
John Smith: As was mentioned in your first article (Credit Repair For Homebuyers), my credit score was terrible when we started. I had done a short sale a few years ago, gone through some tough personal issues, and have recently just rebuilt my business. My middle credit score, reported on April 1, 2013 was "568". Two weeks ago (mid July), my middle credit score was 671 and that is high enough to get a home loan. So after roughly two months of work, they have put me in a position to buy a home.
Me: So would you say they are miracle workers?
John Smith: No, not at all. I have come to learn that credit repair is a process, and it must be worked diligently. It's a war of attrition, and the people at the US Consumer Credit Restoration Association are very good at fighting that war.
Me: Did you consider doing this on your own?
John Smith: Yeah, for sure. I had done some research online and figured out the process. It's all about sending tons of documents and requests to every lender that has reported negatively. That's why I say it's a war of attrition. Of course, what I discovered by watching Jim Hogle and his people work is they know every nuance of the business. They know how to respond when a lender is not being forthright. The amount of money I paid them is nothing compared with the knowledge and the work they bring to the table.
Me: Now that you are "lend-able," are your credit repair days over?
John Smith: Not at all. It still hasn't been three years since my short sale, and I want to get an FHA loan to keep my down payment low. I'm hoping we can get my credit score back up into the 750 range so that I can get the best rates. I plan on buying a home in the Spring of 2014, so we still have work to do on the credit repair.
Me: Great, thanks John. We'll check back in with you from time to time.
Improve Credit Score Results Immediately
If you have completed a short sale, it's never to early to begin to improve your credit score issues that might slow your borrowing power in the near future.
You can go it alone, or you can outsource it to an expert. Either way, you should get started right away. If the powers that be ease lending standards or reduce time after short sale requirements, you want to be ready to take advantage of low interest rates as soon as possible.
On the issue of doing it yourself or going it alone, I don't think it is a hard choice at all. Either way you can improve your credit score, but I suspect the experts know more of the "angles." Just as you don't pay a plumber $500 to tighten a nut, you pay him $500 to know which nut to tighten, so too you hire an expert to use his/her experience to guide you to success.
To me, it's like a game of poker. If you've never played, you might understand the basic concepts, and you certainly know the cards and the relative value of a hand, but it takes experience to play the bluff. If you send a letter to a lender and they "bluff" you with a response, will you know how to react to their response? That's why I advocate the use of an experienced credit repair company like the one that John Smith is using.
Regardless of whether you outsource or got it alone, you should work to improve your credit score in order to be a homebuyer using low interest rate loans.
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