Building an 800+ Credit Score

To earn an 800 Plus credit score you must have at least Three Different Credit Sources, No Missed Payments in the last 7 years, Less than a 10% Credit Utilization, and an Average Credit History of at least 6 years.     

An 800 Plus credit score is considered excellent and what most people would like to accomplish.  A perfect FICO or Vantage 300 Credit Score is an 850. The worst is a 300. 

800 Plus Credit Score Requirements

The requirements for an 800+ score are rarely stated but here's what I have found:

• You must have at least three sources of credit, up to five will have a positive affect. An example  might be  two credit cards, two car loans and a mortgage or two credit cards and a personal line of credit.

• You cannot have any thirty day late or MIssed Payments in your credit history in the last 7 years. I have been able to get some missed payments removed. Check out How I removed a Missed Payment.

• You cannot have any Collections in your Credit History in the last 7 years. I have also been able to get Collections removed. Check out Dealing with Collections.

• Bankruptcy, I am certain you cannot achieve an 800+ score if you have had a bankruptcy in the last 6 years however I am not certain if you can achieve an 800+ score with a Bankruptcy in your credit history.  A Chapter 7 bankruptcy will stay on credit reports for ten years from the filing date, while a Chapter 13 bankruptcy generally remains for seven years from the filing date.

•  Your Average Credit History must be at least 7 years old.  If you are 18, You will need help by becoming an authorized user on multiple accounts.  A credit history with just authorized user history will raise your credit score but credit managers will understand it is not your credit. You will have a thin credit history if you only have authorized credit listings in your credit history. Build your own credit history and let it age.

• Your Credit Utilization needs to be under 10%. If you have three credit cards with credit limits totalling $12,000 you will need to have less than $1,200 as the balance on your cards. If any one of your cards has an over 30% balance on your last statement it will probably drop your score below 800.  

  Credit Utilization Changes your Score

  A friend of mine had an 800+ credit score. He received two credit cards that offered zero percent credit for sixteen or eighteen months. He applied for and received both cards. He then used the credit limit on both cards to pay down his highest interest rate loan. His credit card utilization went up to 30%. His credit utilization on the two credit cards went to 100%. His credit score dropped by over 100 points.

My Recent 800+ Experience

I have had an 800+ credit score at different times.

Recently I made an $8500 purchase on one of my credit cards that had a $15,000 limit. I have a little over $100,000 of available credit on credit cards. This put me at less than 9% utilization however it put me at 55% utilization on the card I used. This dropped my score by 28 points. From 822 to 794. A few weeks later when the card was paid off my score jumped right back up.