New Ways Buyers Can Improve Their Credit Score in 2026

Christian: [0:00] Hello, hello, and welcome to another episode of the Awesome in Seattle podcast. This is your host, Christian Nossum with the Awesome Nossum Group at Wilson Realty Exchange, Inc. And today we're talking about credit scores, how to increase your s- credit score, how to potentially use your rental payments and utility payments to increase your credit score, which will increase your ability to purchase a house, possibly even lowering your interest rate, which is just gonna make things less expensive for you. And today we have an awesome special guest, the one, the only, Mr. Dan Keller. Woo.

Dan: [0:32] I thou- I thought you were gonna say Joanna.

Christian: [0:35] I've said that before- Yeah … I'm sure.

Dan: [0:36] The one, the only. Yeah, yeah. No, it's good to be back. I think it's been a while.

Christian: [0:40] I think it has, yeah. So Dan Keller is… Who are you, Dan? Why don't you explain who you are and why you're an expert in this subject?

Dan: [0:46] Well, I'd say I'm the, I'm the right person to talk about credit scores. So I'll, I'll give you a real quick one-minute overview of my career. When I started in the mortgage industry, literally right before I met you, Christian- Yep … almost 19 years ago. Yeah. Um, I was coming out- Whoa … of 2008, 2009, the crash, right? And so there was a lot of people that had adverse, you know, credit reporting, things on their credit report that weren't great. You know, we were going through a financial collapse. And so the first four or five years of my career, I fixed credit. Mm-hmm. I mean, it was the only thing I could do as a mortgage professional to help people get into a home. So I have a background in repairing credit, fixing credit. Then I got actually established and kind of busy, and I'm like, "I can't… I got people that really wanna get mortgages. I gotta…" You know, so I went and found a couple of different credit restoration companies that are credible. That's the key word there- Yeah when you're looking for them. We'll talk about that later. Um, and then, you know, as technology's evolved, a lot of this stuff, Christian, and we're gonna talk about this a little bit more here in a few minutes, we can do in-house now with AI and with technology. So, um, this is gonna be a fun podcast, but yeah, local mortgage professional, background in fixing people's credit. Probably, I don't know how many credit reports I've looked at at this point in my career, but pro- probably hundreds of thousands.

Christian: [1:55] Yeah. A lot.

Dan: [1:57] A lot.

Christian: [1:57] Yeah. A lot. Uh, we also have another special guest, Ms. Joanna Beecher.

Joanna: [2:01] It's me. There she is. Hi, guys. Yeah.

Christian: [2:03] Let's go. She is an agent here, also on the Awesome Nossum Group. So, um, Joanna, let's, let's let you c- start asking some questions.

Joanna: [2:10] Okay. Well, I wanna start with the basics, right? I mean, no place better to start. So why should someone care so much about their credit score if they're thinking about buying a home, Dan?

Dan: [2:21] Well, Christian said it in the intro. It really… So the first domino in the whole, in the whole home buying experience is looking at your credit. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. It's the, it's- It's the first thing a lender's gonna look at. It's one of the first things that we need to pay attention to as consumers too, even if you're not trying to buy a home. You know, it's a necessary evil if you wanna survive financially in America. Yeah. So first and foremost, it's the first things that lenders look at when buying a home. Number two, Christian said this too. It does, it's, it's primarily the largest factor that impacts the rate that you'll get.

Joanna: [2:53] Okay. Yeah. Important.

Christian: [2:55] So it isn't just about getting approved, it's getting approved with the best possible terms. And when I say terms, I mean- Mm-hmm … interest rate, um, down payment amount, all of those things. Um, so- If there were two different buyers, Dan, that had similar incomes- Mm-hmm … if their credit score was different, how would that affect them?

Dan: [3:17] Well, let's look at it this way. Without having an exact scenario, but this is how it could look, Christian. One could end up using, for example, an FHA loan that has a lot of government fees, FHA fees, a 1.75 funding fee attached to the loan, higher private mortgage insurance per month, okay? Versus that same person that has that good income, or the, the same income, if you will, but has that better credit score, might be able to get a Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac backed loan. Uh, 5% down conventional loan, which doesn't have that 1.75 fee. So let's just say an $800,000 loan amount, that's over $10,000. Way over $10,000 in fees.

Christian: [3:53] Wow.

Dan: [3:53] Right? So that's the… I would say, without having that scenario one is X, scenario two, like a case study- Mm … just looking at it that way, it's that big of a factor.

Christian: [4:03] Yeah. That's huge. That's huge. So you can do some things, and that's what we're gonna talk about today. You can do some things to increase your credit score that doesn't cost you anything more- Mm and you're probably already doing a lot of them. So, um, let's break down how credit scores are actually calculated so that the listener can get a better idea- Mm … of, of what's going into this.

Dan: [4:25] Yeah, if you're listening to this on a podcast, you're just gonna have to listen really well. If you're watching this on YouTube- uh, I have a really cool, uh, pie chart for you to see the five factors that, that truly impact your credit score. So the… First and foremost, the biggest one is a, is a no-brainer. It's your payment history. Yeah. Just if you make your payments on time, you're gonna have a better credit score. Mm. So do everything you can to make your payments on time. Now, this is where I will tell you this. If you… Hey, life happens, and we all go through different phases in our life. I certainly did right after graduate school. I was like, "Ah, I don't need to pay off, pay back these student loans." And then three years later, I wanted to buy my first home and I'm like, "Shoot, I should have paid those." Should have probably paid those. So I had bad credit- Yeah … starting out in my home buying, uh, my first time home buying journey. So if you had made some mistakes in the past, the really cool thing about this credit scoring algorithm that we're gonna talk a lot about today, it has a short memory span, okay? So it's really, what have you done for me lately? Yeah. So in the last 12 months, if you've made your payments on time, keep doing that. So number one is payment history. Um, number two, which is right behind it. So number one, payment history, is about 35% of your score is based off of that. Got it. Right behind it in second place, 30% of your score, is your level of debt. Think of it this way. You have a $10,000 limit on your Visa card, your credit card. Mm-hmm. Um, if you get over, you know, 7 to $8,000- Of a balance to that limit, it's considered already maxed out, close to being maxed out. Yeah. So that's gonna hurt your credit score. Now, there's been a lot of legal trials and studies on this where they'll say anything under 20%, so a $2,000 balance- On a $10,000 limit with a $10,000 limit, yeah, has zero impact. Mm. So people are always like, "Should I pay off my credit cards to qualify?" No, you don't necessarily need to do that. Mm-hmm. So your level of debt, your balance to limit ratio, is in second place, okay? Now, the next three factors really don't make a huge difference, but they factor into it. The third one is utilization. This is at about 15%. Think of it this way. You have a mortgage, you have an auto loan, you have a couple credit cards, you have a student loan. So, um, that's kind of like your types of credit- Yep … different types of credit. Yep. At about 15%. Number four, lengths they've been open. So this is important. A guy like me who's had multiple mortgages, multiple car loans paid off and boat loans paid off, so I've got deep roots with my credit history, okay? I could, which I will not do this and I don't wanna do this, but I could literally miss a credit card payment next month. I wouldn't go as far as saying missing a mortgage payment 'cause that would have a more severe impact. But I could miss a credit card payment because this has happened over about three years ago. I'm not gonna throw my wife under the bus, but she does pay our bills- … and one got overlooked, and this is my fault, by the way. One got overlooked and I'm like, "Oh my God, yeah, our US Bank payment." My credit score literally went down like 18 points- Yeah because of the deep roots. So if your roots are deeper- Uh-huh … um, you're gonna have less impact

Christian: [7:16] You

Dan: [7:16] have a deep history of- Yeah … Speaker: of paying on time. Yeah, which most of our clients, first-time homebuyers and people maybe, maybe possibly listening to this, don't have that- Yeah … those deep of roots. Yeah. So length of accounts is really big. And then the last one, which I get this almost with every single client, "Are you gonna make a hard pull or a soft pull? Because we don't want an incre- inquiry." And I'm like, well, it's like you not wanting to go to the doctor because you don't want a doctor to, like, have you maybe take your shirt off or whatever. You gotta do it, okay? Yeah. You guys, you just have to do it. The good news is we don't initially start with a hard pull. Yeah. We start with a soft pull, so it doesn't impact your score. But a lot of people seem to be really worried about these inquiries. Just a quick reminder, your mortgage lender or bank is not like a car dealership. When you go to get a car loan or buy a car, and you go to the finance department and they shop you around. They shop you around so they can make money. Yeah. So they're gonna ha- they're gonna go take you to 10 different banks, and they're all individually gonna pull your credit for the car loan. That hurts your credit score. What we're talking about here doesn't. So a, a mortgage inquiry is not gonna have a, a big impact. But those are the five factors right there, you guys- Okay … that impact your scores.

Joanna: [8:21] Yeah, so traditionally, things helping your score have been, like, credit cards, car loans, student loans, and mortgages. Yeah.

Dan: [8:28] Yeah. Get a mortgage and pay on that for a year, and you're gonna see a massive bump. That's a big one. Mm-hmm. Ooh, love that. Yep.

Christian: [8:35] Yeah, and the funny thing, one of those things, uh, doesn't usually help your credit get built at all if you haven't bought a house yet, and that's your rent.

Dan: [8:45] Mm-hmm.

Christian: [8:45] But there's some changes. It's

Joanna: [8:48] crazy

Christian: [8:48] to me. Yes.

Joanna: [8:48] Sorry. Yeah. I'm like, we worked so hard. Well, I used to- Mm-hmm … for many, many years of renting. You work so hard on being a good renter and paying your rent, and it just felt like-

Christian: [8:58] You got no credit for it.

Joanna: [8:59] Yeah, nothing.

Christian: [9:00] Yeah. Well, that's where things start- Mm-hmm … to get interesting- Mm-hmm because, uh, now you can start to get some help with that or have that help your credit score. Do you wanna talk about that, Dan?

Dan: [9:11] Yeah. So there's, there's companies that you can subscribe to that will actually report to the bureaus for you. Um, we have seen some property management companies report- Mm-hmm to a bureau, so we're starting maybe to see some more of that. And then down the road, we're seeing a new credit reporting algorithm, Vantage, that's coming in where we can upload, um, your rent history, a VOR, verification of rent, to that and have them report as well. That's gonna be w- I don't wanna go too deep in the, in the weeds on the whole Vantage scoring 'cause that's still in beta right now, and mortgage companies and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are working through the kinks there. But I would say come and talk to us again middle, end of 2027, then we should have a better idea of, of, of how that looks in the mortgage industry.

Joanna: [9:54] Okay.

Dan: [9:54] Cool. Mm-hmm.

Joanna: [9:54] If

Christian: [9:54] it can help people, I love that. Yeah.

Joanna: [9:56] Um, and it's huge. Uh, 'cause as you know, we work with first-time home buyers all the time- Mm-hmm … who have rented for years- Mm-hmm and they have a perfect payment history, and, uh, it just, it doesn't get to be utilized. Um- Yeah … but they've demonstrated that making those payments is something that they're absolutely capable of. But historically, that hadn't been helping them, so that is good news that it could.

Dan: [10:20] Yeah. There's, there's, we've identified, just if you're listening and you wanna look up a couple of the companies, um, I've only, I've, I've heard of RentReporters, r- more, probably your most common, and I don't even know how to pronounce this right. Yeah. But Esusu, E-S-U-S-U. Mm-hmm. Um, but there's also Rental Karma, BOOOM, and Self Rent Reporting program. Um, I would go- If you need to do this, that's one thing, but I'd talk to a mortgage professional first- Yeah … to see if this actually impacts your ability to qualify for a mortgage. What we've done is we've actually helped people with this before, so if they're gonna charge you for stuff like this, maybe we can do it and save you some money, stuff like that. So- ' Speaker: Cause these things do cost money. Mm-hmm.

Christian: [10:57] Um, they're not free. Right. And if it's not gonna help you increase your credit score at all, like if you're close to already having a great credit score-

Dan: [11:05] Mm-hmm … Speaker: don't spend the money. I mean, they're, they're generally anywhere from, after just super basic research r- that I just did, anywhere from $25 to $100 up front, plus anywhere from, like, 7 to $25 a month- Mm-hmm every single month, um- Yeah … to get this to continue reporting on your credit r- report.

Joanna: [11:26] So you'd really wanna make sure it's worth it-

Christian: [11:28] Yeah … Joanna: I guess, at this point- Yeah, yeah … to even do

Joanna: [11:30] that. Yeah. But,

Christian: [11:31] um- So talk to a lender first. Talk to Dan first- Yeah … and then see if it's even necessary to do it, but it is, if it is, it's great that that is an option. Yeah. He might be able to help you without having to go through these companies. Mm-hmm. Right. Um, but if he needs to, he's got these in his back pocket as well.

Joanna: [11:44] Yep. Do you know that if, like, if maybe somebody's just renting from an individual landlord, if it could help them there, like not a big management company?

Dan: [11:53] Mm-hmm. Yeah, I mean, it, you're just gonna provide these companies or us proof of rent and that you've made the payment. So oftentimes they're gonna ask for, like, you know, 12 months canceled checks, if people still write checks or- … you know, proof of- I do, I promise. Yeah, yeah. I mean, y- or just proof of payment, right? And then y- um, you'll get the ledger from the landlord. Obviously they'll keep track of that too. Yeah. So yeah, again, I think Christian's best advice is talk to a mortgage professional, um, like myself, to see if you even need that. I- 100% … I'm gonna be, I'll just give you, be very, very clear, I'd say probably 1 out of 200 of our clients, actually, we need to do something more than what we see on paper with their rent. Yeah. So it's, it's not always necessary. But if you have a zero credit score, for example, and, um, and this impacts your ability to qualify for a home- Um, start with us and then we can kinda direct you.

Christian: [12:45] Yep.

Dan: [12:46] Okay.

Christian: [12:46] Who's the ideal candidate for this? You just said someone that probably has- Mm-hmm … zero credit or very, very minimal credit. What else?

Dan: [12:54] Yeah, I mean, if you're a disciple of Dave Ramsey, I mean, he tells you- Yeah … don't take on any debt and don't use credit. Um, which I think a lot of the stuff that he talks about from a budgeting standpoint's good, but a lot of the other stuff is like, come on, man. Um, I did a, a video not too long ago where I actually… 'Cause we can do a mortgage with zero credit score. Mm. And if you take the difference between the rate and the fees associated with a home loan with a client that has a zero credit score versus someone that has, like, a 640 or a 660-

Christian: [13:22] Which is somewhat low on

Dan: [13:24] the credit scale … which is still low, yeah. Yeah. Big difference in fees. Wow. So basically, I challenged him. Obviously, he did not get back to me. I tagged him on social media. But I said, "I'm challenging you that you would rather your clients pay more fees than to spend a little more time building credit history," which credit, just because you have a credit score doesn't mean you have debt.

Christian: [13:42] No.

Dan: [13:42] You know? I mean- Pay off your, have a credit card and pay it off every single month. Yeah. There's no big deal. I mean, strategically we like to encourage, I think you did a podcast on this, where, you know, you live off of a, maybe a credit report or, excuse me, a credit card that gives you airline miles- Yes right? It, that's saving you money.

Christian: [13:59] Yes.

Dan: [14:00] It's not hurting you.

Christian: [14:00] Yeah,

Joanna: [14:01] yeah. I- There's a lot of great, uh, credit cards that you can use points- Mm-hmm,

Christian: [14:04] yes … Joanna: for other things, and it's actually very helpful-

Dan: [14:07] Yeah … Speaker: to use that. Yeah,

Joanna: [14:08] we

Christian: [14:08] did a- Yeah … yeah, that paid for our entire family of five Europe trip last summer. Mm-hmm.

Joanna: [14:13] It's more impressive than what it helped me with last weekend, uh, after the Gorge Show. Yeah. I got to stay at Syncadia.

Dan: [14:20] There you go. Yeah. So, so I would- Yeah … I would just say be cautious of who you're getting your advice from. I'm a huge advocate of carrying no debt, right? Yeah. Paying off your, living within your means. Um, but some of that advice, it, you know, one size doesn't fit all, number one. Okay, who's the other client that would, that this would be kind of applicable to? Um, someone that's newer maybe to the country. Mm-hmm. Right? Has, and starting to build their credit score here in the US. Yeah. Um, or someone that's just younger, maybe right out of college and never really had credit cards and, and anything like that. So there, that's again, when you sit down with a pro, I think a really good mortgage professional is gonna sit down with you and say, "Okay, hey, this is what I see. Let me help you get to more favorable terms, and this is how we're gonna do this." Yeah,

Christian: [15:03] yeah.

Joanna: [15:03] Okay.

Christian: [15:04] Uh, let's talk about another category that most people don't realize that can get, they can get help with.

Dan: [15:10] Mm-hmm.

Joanna: [15:10] Utilities.

Christian: [15:11] Yes.

Joanna: [15:12] How does that work?

Dan: [15:13] It's v- along the same lines. Okay. Almost, almost identical. What you're gonna do is you're gonna take your utilities and you're gonna, you're gonna reach out to the bureaus through these entities or through a lender, and it's the same thing. We're gonna show that you've paid, same thing though. It, we're gonna want more than a 12-month history of you making those utility payments. Yeah. But along the s- the same lines as rent.

Joanna: [15:34] So pay those utilities on time.

Christian: [15:36] Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. Um, are there any other examples, uh, that, that companies that can do this too, especially when it comes to utilities?

Dan: [15:47] You know, um, off the top of my head that we've used, we haven't really had to, okay? Right. Rent. But I will give you the names of a couple. Experian Boost, uh, I think it's, it's experianboost.com. Um, ultrafico.com. These are a couple of them. Mm. Research them. But again, before you go out and subscribe and start paying money to companies like this where you may not need that, um, it's just better that you talk with a pro first.

Christian: [16:12] Yeah.

Dan: [16:13] Yeah. ' Speaker: Cause again- Mm-hmm … Speaker: you might not even need- You may not need

Christian: [16:15] it … any of this stuff.

Dan: [16:15] Yeah.

Christian: [16:15] Don't st- spend money that you don't need to.

Dan: [16:17] Yeah. There is, I mean, there are some other hacks. If you're looking to just build your credit score, there's some credit cards and some strategies that I can get you. Mm. Um, and I don't wanna go into detail today 'cause it'll be off topic, but if you needed a credit score within the next couple, two, three months, between getting a secured credit card and then there's some services online that you can pay for that will start reporting immediately, and you just put $250 into that account, and it starts reporting to the bureaus immediately, within 30 days. So there's some strategies there. I think that's the bigger picture. Like, you would do this to get a credit score. Mm-hmm. Um, I don't think you're doing any of this stuff to qualify for the home loan because oftentimes we can just do this manually. Got it. Hey, yeah, give us your t- most 12 months recent cellphone bills- Yeah stuff like that.

Christian: [17:01] Yeah, yeah. Yeah, the nice thing about doing that, if you do need to do it, it's not costing you any more money. Mm. It's getting you credit for what you're already paying every single month, and that's kinda why I wanted to bring this topic up- Yeah … because if you are in a place where you don't have a very good credit score, you have no credit, um, and you are trying to build that up, these are some options that you could potentially use to increase- Yes your credit score. Uh, let's, let's switch gears a little bit. Let's talk about things that you should not do-

Joanna: [17:31] Hmm … Speaker: uh, in terms of your credit score, so ways that you can hurt your credit score. Mm. Let's talk about those. Um, what's at the top of your list there, Dan?

Dan: [17:40] So debt consolidation. Hmm. So, so the, the, the bureau is very, very… So you have to look at it this way. The bureau is gonna look at you, Christian- Mm-hmm … as, they're gonna assess you as your ability to not repay the debt, but your likability to default on the debt.

Christian: [17:58] Ah.

Dan: [17:58] Okay. So if they see red flags, high balances, low history, a bunch of inquiries, those are red flags that you're in trouble, okay? So I would say payday loans.

Christian: [18:10] Yeah.

Dan: [18:11] You're in trouble if you're getting a payday advance. So true. F- financially in trouble- Yeah … according to the credit- Yeah … reporting algorithm. So payday loans, um- I dealt with this with a family member about 10 years ago, um, where I didn't know this or I would've helped them out financially myself, but they enrolled into a debt consolidation company. Mm. That's almost as bad as a bankruptcy on your credit report. Oh,

Christian: [18:32] wow.

Dan: [18:32] Yeah.

Joanna: [18:32] Wait a minute. Mm-hmm. Is that, like, a SoFi loan?

Dan: [18:35] No. Well, I don't know what a SoFi loan … I know it, it's a company, it's a private third-party company that you pay them a fee, a upfront fee, and then a monthly fee which comes out of your monthly debt payments, and they pay off all of your debt, but now you owe them, and they settle- Debt company what they end up doing is they settle it and stuff. But it's bad. It's bad for your credit. Yeah, it's bad for your credit score. Those are the top two things. Some of the other things I'd say, you know, we talked about it, don't max out your credit cards. Mm. Don't live outside your means. Um- Yeah,

Christian: [19:05] one thing, I'll jump in real quick. Mm-hmm. 'Cause I know this, if you are, say you're just paying off your credit card every single month.

Dan: [19:12] Mm-hmm.

Christian: [19:12] And let's say, again, using the same example, you have a $10,000 limit on your credit card, and every month you're spending 9,000- Mm … 'cause that's just what it costs to live and whatever, and you're paying it off every single month. That's good, but also could be bad- Mm … 'cause it looks like you're using your max every single month. You can actually go to your credit card company and ask them- Yeah … to increase your balance, your, your credit card balance, even though you're not necessarily gonna use more. Yeah. Uh, if they increase it, say they double it, now you're only at 50%. Yeah, there you go. Or, but just below 50% usage. Smart. Yeah. And your credit score is going to improve because of that.

Dan: [19:50] Yeah, that's an easy phone call to you guys. Yeah. Mm. And ask them to raise your credit limit, let's say it's at 10,000, just ask them to raise it to 15 or 20, and then- Yeah … or if it's at five, ask them to raise it to 10- Yeah and that makes a world of difference.

Christian: [20:02] Yeah.

Dan: [20:02] Mm-hmm.

Christian: [20:03] Yeah, and it doesn't cost anything. Mm-mm. It's not a scary conversation to have. They want to actually increase you- Mm-hmm … because they wanna make some more money off of you, 'cause they're hoping that you- That's good, yeah … yeah, 'cause they ho- they hope that you don't pay it off every single month, so then you have to pay interest. 'Cause they love that 20% interest every single month.

Dan: [20:21] Ugh. Yeah,

Christian: [20:22] yeah. Yep,

Dan: [20:23] yep.

Christian: [20:23] Yeah, so. I

Joanna: [20:24] would too if I was them.

Christian: [20:25] Yeah, but don't do it if you're just gonna have a ongoing balance, like, that's not the smart way to go about this. Yeah, yeah. Just pay it off every month, and, um, stay within your means for sure. Um-

Joanna: [20:36] Anything else people should avoid?

Dan: [20:38] Yeah, I would say a- as a, as a, a youngster or in general, um, co-signing is very risky. Mm. So we see this a lot where people co-sign for their partners, you know, or friends or family members. Um, again, talk with a professional first because why are we co-signing? Is it to raise your credit score? Okay, cool, that's fine. Is it to help someone out and help them qualify for debt? Well, now you're responsible for that 'cause you've co-signed. So there are some things that I would rather loan somebody money, like for my kids. My kids have a credit score. I've helped them build a credit score. I will give them money for a down payment versus co-signing on a home.

Christian: [21:17] Yeah.

Dan: [21:18] I s- my philosophy. Um, and plus, I mean, I want them to have that debt. Yeah. I want them to have that mortgage and own that. And if they get into trouble one day, they can come back and maybe ask me for some help, but I'm not on it with them. It's 100% theirs. So be careful with co-signing.

Christian: [21:34] Yeah.

Dan: [21:34] Mm-hmm.

Christian: [21:35] Uh, let's talk about some of the videos that we see on social media promising- Mm like crazy 100-point score increases overnight. What do you know about those? Have you looked into those at all?

Dan: [21:46] Yeah, I've seen a ton of it, and it's starting to burn me out a little. But 'cause I was an early adopter to social media. Yeah. And now it's all, it's all about the likes and the views, and then how many can I get so that I can get a company to pay me money- Yeah for those likes and views. When it comes to making the largest financial decision of your life, identify a pro in your community, I would s- versus going online and getting some advice from a, a reel that went viral. Um- Some of this stuff has merit, um, but if it seems too good to be true, it probably is. 100 point increase overnight. If I could get you 100 point increase overnight, I would do that. I mean, I can get you big increases overnight. If I look at your credit report and you got three accounts that are maxed out, um, for example, um, you paying each one of those down to about 20 or 30% is gonna give you a 50 to 100 point raise. So that video you just watched could be a nothing burger. Yeah. But if they're promising other things, then I would just be cautious of that. Again, we're gonna cover some really great things today that are the fundamentals. Outside of these fundamentals, a pro like Christian and Joanna and myself are gonna know some of these quick fixes. Mm-hmm. Um, so I would just be cautious. You know, like I tell everyone, be cautious. Mortgage, real estate, stuff like this that you see online, um, run it… You, you gotta have a good filter to run it through, and that's a local pro like you guys. Yeah.

Joanna: [23:07] Well, everybody wants the magic pill-

Dan: [23:09] Yeah … Joanna: that fixes everything- True or the magic formula, and it's like, there's so many people working on all- Yeah … of the things all of the time. Yeah.

Joanna: [23:16] If it was there, we'd probably know about it.

Dan: [23:19] Guys, I was a sucker for this last year. I threw out my back, had a herniated disc. And I'll tell you what, once the algorithm sees what you're looking at- Mm-hmm you're exposed to it all the time, and I can't tell you how many… And I subscribed to a couple of these trainers and, and these fixes 'cause I was in so… I was so desperate to be healed. Yeah. Right? And I think people, when they wanna buy a home and they might have bad credit, they're so desperate to get their credit score up that you'll fall for anything, right? Yes. Yeah. So just be cautious. You're listening to three people that know what they're talking about. I'd say start with us, and then see who we recommend you to.

Joanna: [23:49] Yes. Mm-hmm. And I can say from personal, um, just recently being… I've just bought my home, not that long ago. Yeah,

Christian: [23:57] almost a year

Dan: [23:57] ago. It's coming up on a year almost.

Joanna: [23:59] Yeah. Well, November. Ish, yeah. Um, but, uh, I wanted it so badly. I wanted it so badly for years, and the amount of like, just that hunger- Mm … that you have of wanting to speed things were, you know.

Dan: [24:14] Mm-hmm.

Joanna: [24:14] I was just like losing my mind a bit. Mm-hmm. But the problem was like, there is no quick fix for something that I took years to establish, which was- Yeah you know, certain debts that I had to pay down, and you just have to like be steady. It's those consistent habits of- Mm-hmm … you know, making good decisions- Yeah … financially.

Christian: [24:36] Well, that's what the credit bureau wants to see, and I think- Mm-hmm … that's the whole point- Mm-hmm … is you have to have consistent history showing on-time payments. Yes. That's really what they wanna see.

Joanna: [24:45] Yeah, that's it. It's adulting really. Yeah. Yeah. And I was- It's

Christian: [24:47] just adulting 101 … Joanna: really not into that for a very long time. Yeah. But I will say I started- Yeah … that conversation with Dan- Two years, I-

Dan: [24:56] Oh, over two years. Two years. Yeah.

Joanna: [24:57] Yeah, two.

Dan: [24:57] Totem Lake Starbucks- Yep sitting out in the sun. Yeah. I remember that with you. Yeah. But we built a plan.

Joanna: [25:02] We did.

Dan: [25:02] Yep.

Joanna: [25:03] Yep. And I was like- And you followed it

Dan: [25:04] Mm-hmm … Joanna: damn it, this is gonna take two years? Mm-hmm. Ugh. And it was, but I did it. Mm-hmm. And, uh, and I'm very happy that I did, so you can do it.

Christian: [25:11] Well, and we've, we've met so many people- Mm-hmm over the years. I mean, we've-

Joanna: [25:16] That it takes a couple years or more.

Christian: [25:17] Mm-hmm. Yeah. We've done the beers and home buying class every month for over a decade at this point. There's been thousands of people that have come to this class. Yeah. We've helped hundreds of them successfully buy. Mm-hmm. And most of them are two to three years out.

Dan: [25:32] Mm-hmm.

Christian: [25:32] They're not, like, ready to buy next week.

Joanna: [25:34] No.

Christian: [25:35] And the whole point of it is to start the educational process- Mm-hmm. Yes … where you just start, and then we have a one-on-one meeting- Yep … which is not scary. Most people are scared of this one-on-one meeting- … 'cause that's the next step after the class. 'Cause we're

Joanna: [25:50] terrifying.

Christian: [25:51] We're so scary. Yep. But the point of that meeting is to see, give you a reality check. Mm-hmm. Where are you right now? We don't care if you're three years out. We'll help you build a plan so that in three years you can do it, and then we'll check in with you every once in a while. Yeah Every year or so, and see where you're at.

Dan: [26:09] Well, and you guys continue to create content like this often, that you're, that people that come to our class get to actually learn- Yeah … and develop over that one to two-year period, too. So- It helps- Yeah … Joanna: keep you consistent. Yeah.

Joanna: [26:20] Right? Yeah.

Dan: [26:21] Yep.

Joanna: [26:21] It's like that check-in point, but that is one of the things that I valued in that time- Mm-hmm is whenever I did have a question, or, you know, needed to touch base on anything- Mm … you know, financial-

Dan: [26:35] Mm-hmm … Joanna: I knew I could go back to Dan. I could go back to his team.

Christian: [26:39] Mm-hmm.

Joanna: [26:40] And, uh, it was, it made all the difference in the world, and you can do that, too.

Dan: [26:45] Yeah.

Christian: [26:45] So before we move on to some tips- Yeah … on how to increase your credit score, uh, I do wanna throw out some things. So if you are in the process or about to buy a home, there are a few things that you should not do. Uh, and those things are things like opening new credit cards. Mm-hmm. Uh, financing furniture, buying a car, um, or even moving money around, or cashing out things which theory, they, they could actually hurt your, your qualifying ability. Yeah. So, um, if you're going to do any of those things, lean on your lender to help you understand if you can or cannot do that 'cause it could actually put you back numerous steps and delay your purchasing process. So-

Dan: [27:34] Yeah. Yeah. I have a packet called the Dos and Don'ts When Applying- Yeah … for a Home Loan, and, and a big part of that is, yeah, don't apply or open up new credit. You're gonna get, you know, depending on the time of the year, and you might need appliances, you're gonna walk in and 0% interest for 12 months. That's a really, really good offer, right? And that can save you some money, but if you were to apply for that right before your, your mortgage funds, that could throw things off. Same thing, don't be afraid to talk to your lender. Yeah. People ask me all the time. I get texts over the weekends. They're like, "Hey, we're here at Judd & Black, and we're blah, blah, blah." And I'm like, "Hold on real quick. So let me look at your debt ratio. Let me r- look at your credit scores. If there's a buffer there, you're fine." Yeah. "But if there's not, it could really get in the way of it." Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Christian: [28:12] Okay. Let's, let's move on. We're gonna talk about some rapid fire ways that you can quickly increase your credit score, probably not by a ton, but- Mm … somewhat. So as someone that wants to buy a house in the next six to 12 months, what should they focus on, Dan?

Dan: [28:30] Yeah, so I think you just hit it right on the head. Is it six or is it 12 months? Yeah. If it's six months, we're, there's not a lot we're gonna do in six months- Yeah … other than maybe paying down some debt. Okay. Okay? If it's 12 months, maybe depending on… Okay, this is a good opportunity, really, to, to kind of go a little bit deeper. When you're working with a pro, um, we have this software at New American Funding that I love. It's, it's backed, it's AI-backed, but it's a credit analyzer software. Mm. I can upload internally, upload your credit report to that, and I can put in the ideal credit score that we're trying to achieve, and it'll tell us exactly based off of your credit report exactly what we need to do to get you to that ideal score. So I would say start with something like that versus guessing, okay?

Christian: [29:13] So- That could scare some people.

Dan: [29:16] Mm-hmm. ' Speaker: Cause if they're, if they didn't actually hear what you said- Mm-hmm … but they heard upload your credit score or your credit- Yeah … to- Yeah … to AI- Yeah … and ask it, that's not a good idea at all. No.

Christian: [29:28] Don't do that. Don't

Dan: [29:29] do that. Yeah, don't do that

Joanna: [29:29] just on your own.

Christian: [29:30] Don't do that. That's

Dan: [29:31] why-

Christian: [29:31] Lean on Dan … Dan: the key word, I said internal. Yes. We have this internal. Yes. And it's proprietary to, to us, and again, um, there is no credit. Th- we're not upl- we're uploading your credit profile, not your cr- you know, not your social- Yeah and stuff like that or account numbers. Don't put in that. Yeah. Um, but that's a really, that's a great point, Christian. Um, but that's a great place to start. Start with a pro to get great feedback on what you should do in that time period. Um, that will tell you what to do in general, like we talked about. Just go back to that pie chart. Yeah. Make sure your account balances are paid down to under 20% of the balance to limit ratio. Make sure your payments are on time. I would say probably don't go out and open up new, new accounts- Mm … in the meantime. Mm-hmm. Um, but I would take more of that thorough, customized approach, going, all right. I think the- we always tell people in our strategy calls after the home buyer class- Yeah … uh, our strategy sessions, where you're sitting with Joanna or Christian and myself, and we're talking about their goals and their unique profile, uh, buyer profile, and their timelines. A lot of the times we say, "If you're 6 to 12 months out, start the process now. It's not gonna hurt you." Yes, 100%. Mm-hmm.

Dan: [30:39] Have a pro look at your- Well- … credit and your income and your assets … Speaker: and how many times have people listened to us- Mm-hmm … and pulled it a year out- Mm-hmm … Speaker: and they're like, "What the heck is all this stuff on my credit?" Right. Yeah. "That's not mine." Right. "I didn't do that." Right.

Joanna: [30:51] Mm-hmm.

Christian: [30:51] How many times do you see that a week, Dan, where there's something on someone's credit that they, that isn't actually theirs?

Dan: [30:57] Yeah. Misreporting. It's probably 30% of all applicants have something that they didn't recognize, or they're like an, "Oh, crap" moment. Yeah. "Oh, my gosh, that was from an ex," or, "That was from 10 or 15 years ago." And I was like, "Well, it's there."

Christian: [31:10] Yeah.

Dan: [31:10] You know? So-

Christian: [31:11] And there's, if you have time-

Dan: [31:12] Mm-hmm … Speaker: you can clean those things up. Yeah. But if you're doing this, if you're waiting till the last second 'cause you don't want that hard credit pull or whatever, you could be screwing yourself over- Yeah … and costing yourself a lot of money. And I think- So-

Joanna: [31:24] Yeah, that's, like, one of the biggest takeaways of this whole podcast episode- Mm-hmm … is, like, you don't have to guess.

Christian: [31:30] Right.

Joanna: [31:31] The sooner you get in, the sooner you're just thinking about buying a home, and you feel like it potentially could happen, talk to an experienced local lender-

Christian: [31:40] Yes … Joanna: and don't guess. Yeah. Make a plan. The, you know, the earlier the conversation, the clearer your pathway gets, and the better steps you can take. Yep. Exactly.

Dan: [31:51] I think I'll, I'll kind of put a button on this. A lot of lenders aren't willing to put the time in to advise people on their credit, number one, 'cause they don't know, number two, they're, they're not a professional where- I've been teaching first time home buyer classes with you since I started in my career, right? Um, that's kind of an obligation that we have. Everyone that comes to our classes are not ready to buy next month.

Christian: [32:15] No.

Dan: [32:16] Two, three, four years sometimes. Yeah. And so taking that bigger picture approach and that perspective that let's help you right now and let's build a plan, that's what we do. A lot of banks and lenders just won't do that. And so that's where join us is talk with a pro, someone that's local and willing to do this. Um, because there is, it, one size doesn't fiz- fit all. AI's not gonna necessarily help you and neither will a reel on social media. So- Um, just be cautious there. I know. No.

Joanna: [32:43] Awesome. Well, thank you so much, Dan- Mm-hmm you know, for coming in and sharing some very helpful tips and do's and don'ts and things like that with us today. Um, you know, just helping people feeling more confident with building their credit, to be able to get into a home is so important. And I'm excited for whoever's listening, um, to come and see us- Yeah myself, Christian, and Dan-

Dan: [33:08] Mm-hmm … Joanna: at our next Beers and Home Buying class. Yeah. Um, or keep listening to the Awesome in Seattle podcast. But, uh, you know, I think this is a great first step- Yes … for a lot of people too.

Christian: [33:18] Mm-hmm. Yep. And if you are interested in attending one of our free home buyer classes, you can just check it out at beersandhomebuying.com (opens in a new tab). Uh, we host a class every single month, other than December. Um, so check the website to see where, what neighborhood the next one is in. We host them at different bars and restaurants, um, all throughout the greater Seattle area. So, uh, definitely if you are interested, check that out. If you are hoping to do it sooner than later, you might wanna travel to wherever our next class is. Um, and if you're willing to wait till we come to your neighborhood, then just see and keep tracking. So- Yeah … that's it for this episode of the Awesome in Seattle podcast. Thank you so much for listening. Thank you, Dan, so much. Yeah. Do you need to, do we need disclaimers

Dan: [34:05] at all? Let's do that real quick- Yeah to keep us legal. Um, I am a mortgage professional in the state of Washington, so I do need to disclose my license number. It is MLO number 115349. 349.

Christian: [34:17] Yes. And, uh, and all of the products that we talked about- Yeah … we have not vetted any of those, so, uh, use them at your own

Dan: [34:27] Yeah … Speaker: disclosure. Yeah. Like we didn't, we didn't vet these. We just- Like you said, talk to a pro first.

Christian: [34:31] Yeah.

Dan: [34:31] That's the

Christian: [34:31] good pl- That's the- That's the best place to start … that's the number one- Yeah … place to start. And then if you do need to do something, listen to Dan and, and do what he says, 'cause he knows his stuff. So.

Joanna: [34:40] And share this episode with a friend.

Christian: [34:41] Yes, please. Yeah. If you think anyone of your friends or coworkers or family members could benefit from this, definitely share that with them. Thanks so much for listening. We'll see you next time.

Joanna: [34:50] Bye.

Christian: [34:50] Bye.