Whether you are planning on buying Steamboat real estate or looking for a new job, your credit score matters more than ever in this challenging economic environment.

Everyone–high income earners to first time home buyers–needs higher scores now to qualify for loans. High net worth individuals may think that paying cash and keeping money in the bank qualifies them for a high credit score, but that’s not the case.   Not using credit will actually hurt your score (it sounds counter-intuitive but it’s true.)

The higher your score is, the less you will pay for a Steamboat mortgage. For example, getting out of the 600’s and above 760 can save you almost $350 a month on a $500,000 loan.  (30 yr fixed)

Credit scores range from 300-850 points.  FICO recently changed their scoring to be “more sensitive to high usage” of credit while not putting as much weight on a single missed payment.

Here is how credit scores break down:

• 40% of the population has a score higher than 750
• 27% of the population has a score between 600-699
• 15% of the population has a score under 600

Here is how your credit score is calculated:

• 35% from payment history
• 30% on how much you owe
• 15% on how long you have been using credit
• 10% on the types and varieties of credit you have

You can check your credit for free at www.annualcreditreport.com.  You won’t see your score, but you can see if anything is on your report that shouldn’t be there.

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