Aug. 11, 2007 - Average Credit Scores

Over at Trulia Voices, some asked what the "average" credit score was and we Trulia Voices all started guessing at answers. Our guesses weren't half bad.  But I decided to go a step further and find the actual answer.  Not sure how up to date that first chart is, but it seems to be fairly recent as I found a previous one that had scores a little higher.  This one has 42% of the population at less than 700.  The previous one had 40% of the poplulation at less than 700.  Still, I'm surprised that 60% have over 700...

Until you look at the per age group break down.  While this chart is old from back in 2005, it would suggest that the average age of an area might also give a clue as to the average credit score.  Also, if most of the younger people are the ones buying property and getting mortgages, than the average credit score of a person applying for a mortgage, might be less than the average score of people generally.

So it looks like old people have better scores and the average score for someone buying a house might be 620 to 660.  This is important as some lenders will use a cutoff of 660 and others 680 for the best interest rates.  So maybe shopping lenders as to rate is not as important as finding lenders who lower the interest rate at 660 if your score is between 660 and 680.

It's like when you go to Kinkos and want 25 copies until you find out it's cheaper to run 30 as 30 is a price break point.  Same with mortgages.  Different lenders have different price break points.  Once you know your score, find the lender that will give you the best rate for that particular score.

That means the MEDIAN score of the three credit bureaus...not your high score.  Go to MyFico.com for more detailed info on Fair Isaac and your credit score and how it impacts your interest rate.

Aug. 15, 2007 - re: Average Credit Scores

There are a few items I call "credit report killers" that your clients should be aware of that can adversly affect their credit report and credit scores.

There really isn't too much room here to explain in detail but I have actually made a video about the top 10 credit report killers. This video was made form the .pdf version which I wrote.

In this video I answer the most common questions I get about information that appears on credit reports.

Specifically I cover information on Charge-offs, Collection Accounts, Judgments, Inquiries, Bankruptcies, Delinquencies,and more...

In the video Your clients will learn what each of these items are and how they can affect their credit report, as well as how long each item can remain on your credit report.

The video is very informative and is solid content for your readers and clients.

<a href="http://www.disputedemon.com/credit-score/">The Video is Free to Watch Here</a>

<a href="http://creditscorebooster.com/Credit-DNA-Booster.pdf">The .pdf version you can download here Free</a>

Sincerely
Credit Expert Frank Bruno
<a href="http://www.DisputeDemon.com">http://www.DisputeDemon.com</a>

Nov. 21, 2007 - RE: Average Credit Scores

Jun. 13, 2008 - RE: Average Credit Scores