How Long Does it Take to Build Good Credit?
You want to have instant good credit, but it does not work that way. It would also defeat the purpose of the whole credit score idea. More to that later…
You will need about six months of on time payment history to have a decent credit score. The reason is that the most heavily used credit scoring system FICO requires at least six months of timely payments to produce a score.
VantageScore will do it in only a month or two, but since most credit checks involve FICO, this is less important. One of the main components of a credit score involves how long a credit history you have, which means that your score will improve over time with on time payments.
Another way to build credit history faster is to take advantage of parents with good credit. Your parents can add you as an authorized user. As an authorized user you will benefit immediately from the length of their credit history, which increases your score. This could also diversify the type of credit that appears on your report, similarly boosting your credit score.
Keeping accounts open that you do not use will also help to boost your score. You should avoid running cards too close to the limit as there are penalties for doing this. Instead try staying under 30 percent of your available limit to get the maximum points for this category.
Obtaining your first credit card or two is exciting. It does not automatically give you an over 800 point score. You need to make building good credit both a short and long term goal.
Know that good credit history stays on your report forever.
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