First time buyer - help please...

Karinalou_2

Hi All

I'm new to this but have been looking around various threads on and off for a couple of months now (working up the courage to properly post something, theres some mean people on some of the threads!!)

Basically I'm 25, on a pretty good salary and saving to buy a house with my OH. We're doing ok on the saving front but I'm getting abit worried about the prospect of applying for a mortgage because when I was younger I wasnt as sensible as I am now. I took out a couple of cc's when I was 18, used them and then defaulted quite abit. They are all cleared up now and when I checked my credit file the other day was happy to see that they are no longer on it. The problem is that now my score has dropped from fair to poor because there is nothing on my file. At the moment I have no credit at all. An overdraft with my bank which is rarely used, no credit cards, no mobile phone bill (on a company account), and no car finance/loan (company car)

Last night I applied for an aqua and a vanquis card following the posts about sub-prime credit cards and been told that they will make their decision within 7-14 days. I'm not too bothered about the actual credit rating - as in how much they can offer me- just actually getting the card to try and build up some history. I wanted to apply for these cards as about 7 months ago I was declined for a normal card (prob because I would have still had info on my credit file that went against me) and I didnt want to risk another black mark on my file when it is clean for the first time in 6 years.

Have any of you got any idea of how long (if I pass and get the cards) it takes for history to update and how many months I would have to wait before attempting a mortgage application (dont really want to attempt and then get declined as dont want it on my credit file) We were hoping to try and buy towards the end of the summer but will wait longer if its better.

Thanks for reading and sorry its such a long post

K

Robert_Sterling

I wondered whether the mean people you referred to were the original posters like yourself or the people who give advice.

Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.

So I am saying nothing ... at present ..... other than :-

Well done for getting back on the straight and narrow and the very best of luck for the future.

ciano125

Your credit file is updated monthly, so if you get the card and spend on it, then pay it off each month for the next three months, in three months time you will have three green zeros on your file, which means you have paid on time. The longer the have them, the better your credit history (as long as you always pay it on time of course!)

Karinalou_2

Thank you both for your advice so far...

In response I will say that by 'mean people' I have found a few threads where people who have posted have received replies that dont seem to be very helpful and the whole idea of posting on MSE is to get advice from people in similar situations. On the other hand I have also followed posts/threads from people who post loads and the advice given is second to none.

I am hoping to get approved for both cards as I want to spend on both and pay both off each month. Am looking forward to seeing lots of green zeros!! Its just made more difficult as myself and my OH are both selfemployed so already have difficulty proving wages - I have only been self employed for 18 months so only have one years tax return. My business is doing well though but not sure how much that will matter to the bank manager...