Tag Archive for: bad credit

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Investing with Bad Credit: How Can You Raise Your Score Fast?

Real estate investing with bad credit is tough. Here’s how you can raise your score.

Loans fuel your real estate investment business. The easier, faster, and cheaper you can get money, the more successful you’ll be. How can you guarantee you’ll get money from lenders easily, fast, and cheap? Having a great credit score is the best place to start. 

But if your credit score isn’t what it should be, how can you succeed?

Why is Your Credit Bad?

First of all, why is your credit bad? Knowing the answer to this question is the key to your investing success.

Who Won’t Succeed in Investing with Bad Credit

Habitual bad credit is a problem. If you’re the type of person who:

  • Doesn’t pay bills because you “don’t want to”
  • Refuses to believe that improving your credit score is important
  • Can’t or won’t keep track of personal finances

…then real estate investment probably isn’t for you.

The money side of investing is huge. If you’re unable to pay attention to the numbers, pay your debts, and prepare your money, you won’t succeed in real estate. And if you aren’t willing to improve your bad credit, it will be nearly impossible to get money to buy properties to begin with.

Who Can Succeed Investing with Bad Credit

However, many people have the potential for a great credit score. But maybe your credit was impacted by a major life event:

  • A divorce
  • Medical bills
  • Lack of credit education

Any number of life events can turn a responsible, willing individual’s credit bad – including never being taught the importance of credit.

Whatever your situation is, now is the time to focus on your credit score. You can come back from any dip in credit if you’re willing to put in the time and effort.

And if you want to invest in real estate, credit is vital. Your credit will either propel you to success, or drag your career down. Let’s get it fixed.

How to Raise Your Credit Score

Improving your credit score is relatively simple – anyone can do it, if they’re willing. All it takes is getting educated, then spending 30 to 90 minutes per week.

It could take you up to six months to bump up your score in the long-term. But if you don’t start now, it’ll keep getting harder to raise it. The best time to start fixing your credit is now.

Lenders look at credit to see how you paid people in the past as a clue to how you’ll pay them in the future.

If your credit is just “dinged up,” there are three quick solutions to improve it.

1. Get Your Credit Balances Down

We often see investors and contractors put all renovation costs of a job on their credit cards – especially for BRRRR projects. They use more and more of their credit, which drags their score lower and lower.

This is a tempting yet dangerous pattern as a BRRRR investor. You put your money into the property from your credit card, which you expect to get back with your refinance. But if your credit score is too low, the refinance might not go as planned. With bad credit, you won’t be able to get the refinancing loan as easily or for as much money as you expected. This will make it harder to pay off the card balances you built up during the rehab.

A tip to get around this problem is to go private. If you can get a private loan that won’t show up on your credit, you can use that money to pay down your balances. 

A better score will give you better rates for your long-term, credit-based financing. A lower credit score could make your loan rate a point or two higher, which could snowball into you paying an extra $50,000 to $70,000 over the life of the loan.

2. Get Authorized 

Another quick fix for a low credit score is using someone else’s good credit to help your bad credit. Find a family member or friend who has good, long established credit, and ask them to add you as an authorized user. Their good credit will show up on your report and boost your score.

3. Pay Your Bills on Time

If you can’t keep up with your bills, that may be a sign to get rid of some of your credit cards. Some of our clients have over 20 credit cards open! Consolidate your accounts as much as possible.

But when you stop using an account, don’t close it. As long as it has a good history, an open, unused credit account will continually add a little boost to your credit.

Turn Bad Credit to Good Today

To get into investing with bad credit, the best step is to focus on raising your score.

It can be overwhelming, but just dive in. Ask for help – from trusted family, friends, or Hard Money Mike.

Or, if you have major credit issues dragging you down for the long-term, you may need to reach out for advice from a professional. Spending a couple hundred dollars now will pay for itself later in your great real estate investments made with a high credit score.

To start working on your credit score today, download this free credit score checklist

Watch our videos on credit here.

Let’s fix your credit score fast! Happy Investing.

Low Credit Score: A Quick, Easy Solution

Low Credit Score: A Quick, Easy Solution

Low Credit Score: A Quick, Easy Solution

Do you have a low credit score? If you do, then it’s likely making a big dent on your cash flow. Because a low score means paying higher rates. And higher rates mean less money in your pocket.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At Hard Money Mike, one of the main questions we hear from real estate investors is, “What credit score do I need to get a loan?” And when they hear the answer, many of those investors are unhappy about it.

Because they have a low score…too low for a traditional loan, at least. And traditional loans have some of the lowest interest rates available.

But, why is your credit score so low?

Well, there’s some common issues you probably already know about (ex: unpaid bills, late payments, etc.). But did you know one of the biggest issues is high credit card balances?

 

Yes, even if you pay some of your credit card off each month, as long as you maintain a high balance, then it’s going to ding your credit score.

For example, if you have a maximum credit line of $8,000, and you maintain a $6,000 balance, then creditors think you’re a high risk. Therefore, they penalize you by taking points off your credit score.

To make matters even more frustrating, many real estate investors have to use their credit cards to pay for renovations on a value-add property. Otherwise, their project might stall.

What can you do?

Well, technically, the best solution is to get a loan to pay off your credit cards.

But, if your score is too low, you won’t be able to get a loan.

AHHH!

Yeah, it can be a real conundrum. And we’ve seen it impact our clients countless times. So, here’s our suggestion:

Take your loan private.

Don’t go to a bank or another traditional lender. They will just reject your application. Instead, find someone (like Hard Money Mike) who can help you repair your credit score by setting up a private loan. That way you can:

  • Pay off your credit cards
  • Raise your score
  • Get an affordable loan AND rate

After you pay off your credit cards with a private loan, you can resume normal business. Just remember to keep your credit card balances as low as possible. In other words, don’t use more than 20-30% of your credit line. If you exceed that threshold, then quickly pay off what you can to drop it back down and protect your credit score.

Because a good credit score will lead to the best loan products. And the best loan products will produce the highest cash flow possible.

Happy investing!