Increase FICO

[fruitbowlk]

I checked my fico score and it is below 700. I would like to get it to 700. So that I can have a decent house payment. I plan to get my house 2012-2013 time frame. I am debt free and don't use credit cards. I pay my bills on time. Is ther anything I can do?

[Pansori]

use credit cards.

[Hector]

Apply for a credit card or two and start using them. Its great that you are debt free. Make sure to pay off your credit card in full every month. Also make sure that you are not using more than one third of your total credit limit.

Educate yourself about credit score break down. Reading this should help you understanding credit score breakdown: How to improve your credit score? - Let’s discuss everything about money

[papa_squat]

I was in the same position as you about 2 years ago still fairly fresh out of college. Paying my student loans on time gave me a leg up in my FICO score in the beginning, but I was sad to see it wasn't going up. I hated the idea of getting a credit card, but I applied and got one with a $4,000 limit over a year ago and paying it off every month got it to jump about 10 points in a couple of months. When I noticed it wasn't going up much more after that, I read that same advice not to use more than 30% of your credit limit each month (I was paying virtually everything I could with it to the tune of about $1400 per month). I switched to only using it for a few things (about $400/month) and paying it off. My FICO really ramped up after that. You want to use a card or two, but keep your debt-to-credit ratio in mind. You defintely have time to build your credit history before you buy a house in that time frame.