In this podcast episode, SaCola Lehr interviews Varney Jallah, founder of Structured Credit Solutions and author of "The Not So Secret Guide to Boost Your Credit Score". They discuss credit repair, down payment assistance, and the home buying process. Varney shares tips on improving credit scores, including setting up auto payments, keeping credit card utilization under 10%, and adding revolving credit accounts. He also warns against relying solely on Credit Karma for credit tracking, as it only provides two scores and suggests checking FICO scores for a complete picture. The conversation also touches on the importance of credit education, especially for college students.Check out Varney's Book: The Not So Secret Guide to Boost Your Credit ScoreReach out to Varney Jallah: https://totalstructuredsolutions.com/
The importance of credit score (00:00:53)Varney discusses how credit scores impact various aspects of life, such as job applications, mortgage approvals, and business financing.
Payment history and its impact on credit score (00:01:35)Varney explains that 35% of a credit score is based on payment history and provides tips on how to ensure timely payments to maximize points in this category.
Utilization and maintaining low credit card balances (00:03:42)Varney discusses the importance of keeping credit card utilization under 10% and provides strategies for managing credit card balances to optimize points in the utilization category.
The importance of revolving credit (00:09:08)Revolving credit makes up 65% of credit scores, and not having any can significantly impact your score.
How to get a secure credit card (00:10:01)Advice on getting a secure card from a local bank to build credit, with tips on usage and payments.
Advice for college students (00:12:04)Encouragement for college students to educate themselves about credit, use one credit card responsibly, and avoid excessive debt.
The importance of tracking all three credit scores (00:18:03)Credit Karma only provides two scores, so it's important to track the third score as well for a complete picture of your credit health.
The three FICO scores used by mortgage lenders (00:18:52)Mortgage lenders use the FICO five, four, and two scores to assess creditworthiness, with the middle score being the most important.
How to determine the middle score for mortgage applications (00:18:52)By canceling out the highest and lowest scores, the remaining score is considered the middle score, which is used by lenders for mortgage applications.Connect with SaCola: https://workitliveitownit.com/Follow SaCola on Facebook: https://facebook.com/ workitliveitownit  Follow SaCola on Instagram:  https://instagram.com/ workitliveitownit  Subscribe to Work it, Live it, Own it! On YouTube: https://bit.ly/2lxB1TSRead more about SaCola’s real estate story: https://bit.ly/40T3dntCheck out the Homebuyers Guide: https://bit.ly/3VoOGi5Check out the Sell Your Home Guide: https://bit.ly/3NuHP58