Money Smarts Blog

Life’s full of tough choices. I mean, just look at the popularity of the Would You Rather game. Would you rather …

Eat ranch or ketchup? Read a book or watch the movie? Rent or buy? (See what I mean? Tough choices.)

I’m an eat-the-ranch, watch-the-movie sort of girl, but that rent or buy thing didn’t come as easily for me. Honestly, I was a landlord’s dream tenant with a solid 20-year history of renting before I even considered buying my own home. Not to mention I was working with a credit score of 428, which isn’t super ideal for anything unless you’re looking for astronomical interest rates (no thank you).

By September 2020, I was ready to get out of my lease and into my own place, which meant I was signing up for the marathon of raising my credit score. I say marathon, because I knew it would take hard work, patience and time. But I was finally ready to make that commitment for myself and the future I wanted.

Now, I’m not a seasoned marathoner, but I’m pretty sure everyone starts their training slow and steady. You have to be intentional to stick with it and make it to the finish line. The same goes for digging yourself out of a bad credit hole.

To start the process ...

... I met with Sherry Herrick, a mortgage loan officer at IHMVCU. She sat with me to figure out where to start, then connected me with GreenPath Financial Wellness. Through their debt counseling and management program, I was able to create a personalized action plan to help me reach my homebuying goal. Along the way, I learned a bunch of financial tidbits that helped me stay focused on my future goals.

Together, the Sherry/GreenPath combo gave me all the right tools to get me closer to one day owning my dream home (or, for you Barbie lovers, my mojo dojo casa house). I followed every single piece of advice I was given because I trusted Sherry. After all, she had the knowledge and the experience — not me.

Fast forward two years, and you know what happened? I saw my credit score climb to 740. I could hardly believe it! My preapproval secured a conventional loan at a much lower rate than I would’ve had two years prior, and because I was a first-time homebuyer, I was also fortunate enough to qualify (and be approved) for the Down payment Plus Program (DPP). The program helps income-eligible borrowers by providing down payment and closing cost assistance of up to $10,000 — a big piece of my puzzle that would never have been completed without the help and guidance of Sherry and the mortgage team.

So, one preapproval letter, a lot of sweat and tears and 39 houses later (remember what I said about patience?!) I finally found my home. And that DPP grant? Because of it, I was able to use the money I had saved for a downpayment to help me remodel everything, including a full revamp of the kitchen and bathroom, tearing out decades-old carpet to expose beautiful wood floors, adding a privacy fence in my backyard, landscaping in the front and more.

I couldn’t be happier with the financial moves I’ve made these past two years to complete the move into my new home. It’s beautiful, it’s mine and I love it.

Here are a few steps I took to raise my credit score

Pay those bills on time, every time: Payment history makes up the biggest chunk of your credit score, and years of missed payments saw my credit take a pretty spectacular swan dive. It was time to get serious, and once I was on a roll, I never looked back. I had my eye on the prize ­— buying my own home — and committed to making payments every two weeks.

Start with the smallest balance: When debt’s staring you in the face, it can seem overwhelming. There are a ton of different strategies out there to start paying it down, but I chose to start with my smallest balances first. That way, I felt like I was making progress. It’s those small wins that can sometimes make the difference and give you the motivation to keep going.

Use that tax return to your advantage: During tax season, every single penny of my return went toward paying down my debt. That’s how important it was to me to keep working toward better credit and, eventually, being a homeowner.

Listen to your financial institution: That’s what they’re there for! Your financial team has a wealth of resources available to help you succeed. They want to help. Let them.

Ready to find your dream home? Meet with one of our Mortgage Loan Officers today! Still need to work on your credit? Meet with one of our Financial Coaches.