Virily Editor
Your credit score gives a fair idea to the lenders whether you are making your repayments on time or not. In short, it determines your creditworthiness. It’s one of the most critical numbers in your life and needs to be looked after. Credit scores usually vary from 300 to 850. The higher your credit score, the more likely you will get accepted for credits and even get a low-interest rate.
A square credit score of 800 is considered very good. Such a score will help you get quickly approved for your loan or credit applications and may even help you qualify for lower interest rates. But how do people get such a perfect score? How long does it take to build up that kind of credit history? Here’s everything you should know about the 800 score-
How long would it take to get an 800 credit score?
Depending on how long your credit history is, it can take at least a few years to build a perfect score of 800. To have this score, you would need at least a two-year history of positive credit record and a good credit mix.
An ideal credit mix would include a home loan, an installment loan, and a few credit cards. All these would also have to be at least a couple of years old to prove that you can handle multiple debts. New credit accounts won’t have as much an impact.
How do you build a credit score of 800?
The score isn’t reserved for people with substantial monthly incomes. Anyone with a good credit history can reach the 800 scores by maintaining their record a bit. Here are some tips-
- Avoid too many hard credit inquiries:
Hard credit inquiries affect your overall credit score to a great extent. To achieve the 800 scores, you need to avoid hard inquiries. On the other hand, a soft inquiry has no impact on your score. To avoid getting too many hard inquiries in a short time, you should research properly before applying for a credit or loan and avoid using too many loans simultaneously.
- Negative information ages off eventually
Negative information like late payments has an inverse effect on your credit score. However, most negative information disappears from your credit record after seven years. If you currently have any negative information on your report, be patient and keep trying to make all other repayments on time.
- Promptly clear up errors
Even the credit bureaus can sometimes make errors. Your credit reports are made as per your entire credit history information. It would help if you kept an eye on the reports via the numerous free and paid resources that allow you to check your credit history. If you spot any mistakes, don’t second guess yourself and promptly use the report dispute option to clear up the errors.
- Low credit card balances
People are generally advised to keep their credit balance below the 30% mark of their credit limit. For example, if you have a limit of $10,000, then your balance should be less than $3,000. If your goal is to get an 800 score, your credit balance should always be even less than this mark. According to Experian, people who score 800 usually utilize only 11-12% of their credit limit on average.
- On-time repayments
Your payment history affects your credit score the most. Especially if you want an 800 score, you will need to have at least 2-3 years of positive and clean credit history. This would mean you have been repaying everything on time for a few years and can juggle between loans without any issues.
Bottom line
The 800 scores may seem pretty daunting to most people. The good news is that 760 is considered the general cut-off to get approved for loans and credits. So even if you miss the 800 mark, as long as your credit score is above 760, you will still enjoy the same perks and benefits as someone with an 800 score. You may have to wait a little longer for approvals, but you will still get approved by most lenders and credit bureaus.
