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It used to be that “people” made decisions about your credit worthiness. You knew your banker and your handshake was all the collateral you needed. Those days are long gone, and now a single number – your FICO score – determines your credit worthiness.

Several credit models can be used for this article, however we are going to focus on the Fair, Isaac Company model. Better known as FICO.

Your FICO score is the method used to determine the interest rate as well as how much credit a bank or lender is willing to give you. the cleaner the credit…the lower your rate and larger the sum you qualify for.

Getting and improving your credit score is not hard at all, just takes time. Here is a tip or two that will help you improve and increase your score.

FIRST: You need to get a copy of your credit history

There are many reasons you may have no credit history. Maybe you’re just starting out, maybe you pay cash for everything and have never needed a loan. In any case, if you have no credit history, your FICO score is likely to be low.

The easiest way to raise your score is acquire a loan, and pay it off on time. In general, installment loans are weighted more heavily than credit cards. In other words, you will improve your credit score faster if you buy goods with an installment loan, rather than acquiring a credit card.

Another option is to take a $1000 and open a 6 month CD at a bank. Now turn around and get an installment loan using the CD as the collateral. You then take that $1000 loan and do it again at another bank. Do this for a total of 3 times.

Now what you have is 3 loans. Pay the minimum payment for 6 months. In the last month, cash out your CDs and pay the loans off. You now have a credit history, and did not go into long term debt to get it.

SECOND: Keep your credit history clean.

Ok…now you have a good history. No major debt…now to keep the FICO as high as you can.

You don?t need to close old accounts. (Unless you?re being charged a fee to keep the account open.) Part of the FICO formula is based on the amount of credit available vs. how much you have used.

Another thing to be aware of is how you manage your money. Here?s the scenario: you have a $2000 credit card. Every month, you charge about $1800 to that card. And, every month you pay it off. But here’s what happens – your credit card company reports your credit information monthly to FICO. However if they report it on the day before you pay it off…the credit agency sees you carry a balance every month. If you can try changing the days you pay off your credit card.

THIRD: Fix your bad credit

At some point there is a very good chance you will have something that causes your credit rating to drop. Don’t panic…poor credit can be fixed. Understand however that the process takes time. In some cases you may need to talk to a credit counselor to assure you address the reasons for the drop as well as remove any future habits that may cause it to drop again.

The most heavily weighted part of your score is based on your payment history. The first thing to do to start repairing your credit history is to pay your bills on time. The mortgage is the most important, followed by installment loans, and finally credit cards.

The next largest factor on your credit is how you have used it. You can improve it by paying off your credit cards.

One final thing to look for is errors in your credit report. Get a copy of your credit report from all three primary agencies, and look at all the entries. You can find the agencies here: experian.com, equifax.com, and transunion.com. If there are any errors, start the process to have them removed. Call your creditors – sometimes they will remove negative information.

A strong, healthy, and clean credit score is a major part of your financial world. Keep it clean and don?t risk it. A good score can factor into things you can’t imagine. Don?t damage your score if you can help it.

One of the most common bits of information the Real estate investors always ask each other is “What tricks of the trade or inside tidbits can you share with me??” I always answer this question with a question…”What tools do you have in your investment toolbox?”

OK…Hey Doc..what do you mean “Tool Box”. Okay…let me explain it ad tell you the 3 important areas that make it up.

1) Grey matter tools: This is the in your head part of the tool box. It is the manner in which you think about investing, the guidelines you use to select investments as well as ALL the information you call on every time the prospect of an investment even shows its self. It is the investment filter you have developed for yourself.

It is the resaults of the information you have taken in about investing.

IMPORTANT ELEMENT. While we all know that a zillion books have been written about investing. It is important to understand that you MUST have some knowledge from that book…WHY? Because if you understand what other investors are reading?it actually makes it easier to work with them since you understand where they are getting their basic tactics and understanding from, that helps steer them to the investments THEY are making.

2) Online tool box: This is one of the most over looked elements…when I say over looked I am not referring to being not utilized…but more to the fact it is not utilized to its overall potential. For example do you have one site you go to more often than not for investment information? If so why? Your answer is most likely because they have the best info I can use. This maybe the answer however, a little side note to this. Most of us get some sort of tunnel vision thinking that one or even a few sites will cover us for all the info we want…but in all honesty we normally close down other avenues of “information input” when we do this. How do we get around the “Info input” shut down???

Ok so how do you avoid Info input shut down? You have to open your tool box up to get some fresh tools.

Simply put you create an email address and when you come across a site you think may be a useful reference you join up for the newsletter they email out. They send it to your “Info email account” and you can go thru the emails as you choose. I must warn you however.

Once your on a email list I suggest allowing a few weeks before opting out of it. Just because it doesnt give you the “diamond in the rough” on the first email doesnt mean the newletter your getting is worthless. Newletters to look can originate from RE investment clubs, Blogs, News sites…etc

I ,myself, avoid most ad based emailing lists. however, that doesnt mean that all of them are a waste of time. review a few and decide for yourself if they are worth keeping.

The most inportant sites to me are the ones that make the investing game easier. sites that offer me something for free or VERY little cost out of my pocket. Some websites have tools that you just cant wait to try out. (I will admit I have a few sites I visit daily just to play around on and try out the tools they offer) When you find them you will know it…once agian bookmark them.

3) And last but not least… actual physical, hold in your hand, tools. It can be a great “go by list”. A solid flash light. anything that makes the time in the field looking at investments easier.

So there it is..the outline to your toolbox. Build one…update it often..and USE IT DAILY.