Getting a great rate and the lowest fees on loans and mortgages often requires a FICO credit score of 700+. Walecia (sweet name) posted a tip to help boost your credit score if it’s below 660.

Pay down the cards that are maxed or almost-maxed first. Naturally, lenders are weary when they see credit cards that are maxed or close to being maxed. You get a black mark on your record if you have a balance on your card that’s over 50 percent. For some supplemental reading, check out Flexo’s Raise Your FICO Credit Score.

3 steps to boost your credit score [Bankrate]

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Keep your lines of credit small. Unless it’s for a Bottle Opener Batman Visa Card.

The number of open accounts and lines of credit affects your credit score. There’s no end-all, be-all equation to calculate how much is too few or too many. No calculation will be applicable to all borrowers and all accounts.

A dozen of open accounts and credit lines is looked at differently for a typical working employee compared to an entrepreneur. It’s expected for the self-employed entrepreneur to have more lines of credit than the typical working employee.

Too many open accounts with high balances lowers your credit score (and thus lowers your borrowing power when you need a car loan or a mortgage). Don’t have an absurd number of open accounts and lines of credit and you’ll be golden.

How Many Credit Cards Are Too Many? [American Chronicle]

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Bankrate has a neat calculator that estimates your FICO credit score. You answer 10 questions about your credit history and it spits out a range of what your FICO score would be (give or take 50 points). They ask simple questions such as “What’s the balance on your credit cards?” or “Have you applied for a loan or credit card within the past year?”

I bought my FICO credit report recently and it pegged me with a credit score of 753. Bankrate’s FICO credit score estimator said that my credit score is between 730-780. That’s damn accurate if you ask me. Be honest when you’re answering the questions or the estimation won’t be as accurate.

FICO Score Estimator [via Consumerist via All Financial Matters]

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