Is Credit Repair Right For You?
The Dream
I wish I could have good credit. Does that sound familiar?
You’re not alone. Thousands of people have wished the same thing.
You’re probably reading this because you want to have good credit so that you could buy a house, get a car, high limit/low APR credit cards, etc… Maybe you’ve always had the dream of having good credit, but don’t know if it’s realistic or even possible.
You know there are lots of scams out there but might have also heard that credit repair is a legitimate way of improving your credit.
Well, it is, and the purpose of this letter is to acquaint you with what’s involved in credit repair so that you can determine whether it’s right for you.
If you discover that it is, the information at the end of this letter will show you how to get started so that this dream can become a reality for you.
Okay, let’s get to the questions.
What is credit repair?
Short answer; Credit repair is the process of improving a consumer’s credit report and credit score.
Long Answer; This is done by removing derogatory accounts which are found to be unverifiable, incomplete, incorrect, erroneous, misleading, or biased. Credit repair also refers to the process of increasing a consumer credit score by optimizing the variables which are used to calculate the score itself.
Bottom line: Credit repair is a way of fixing your credit history and increasing your credit scores.
If credit repair is so great, why isn’t everyone doing it?
There are lots of reasons. The following are 3 of the most common.
- They think all credit repair is a scam because they have been scammed or simply don’t know their options.
- They experience information overload and are unable to choose or focus on one effective avenue of credit repair.
- They have unrealistic expectations, and when they are not met quickly, they give up.
You may see yourself in one or more of these groups. But don’t despair, there are solutions for all of these situations. We’re going to address them one at a time.
Reason #1: Scams and misconceptions
There really are legitimate ways to fix your credit, but because scammers have made such a mockery of the credit repair industry, it is often viewed in a dim light. In fact, sometimes I don’t even like to tell people what I do because there’s often an awkward pause before they stammer. “Oh, that’s… nice” followed quickly by “So, how about this crazy weather?” I can almost see what they’re thinking: “I thought he was too smart to get tangled up in those credit repair scams… I guess he got desperate.”
It’s my aim to educate my family, friends, acquaintances, and consumers about credit repair, but it’s a slow process. Those who have come over to the “Dark Side” actually become enthusiastic about what I do. They want to start doing it themselves.
Once you’re able to sort the good from the bad, it becomes clear that in spite of its’ damaged reputation, credit repair is actually a completely effective way of improving your credit.
Reason #2: Information Overload
There are so many different things that you can do to improve your credit and so many different ways to do it, it’s not surprising that a person investigating credit repair only gets more and more confused the more research they do. And no matter what they read, there will be a conflicting point of view from someone else who says their way is best. Whom do you believe?
There are basically two ways to figure that out. One is to spend several months – maybe years – simply reading everything you can get your hands on, knowing that eventually, the cream will rise to the top. You’ll learn who is respected for their methods and ethics and who is just in it for the quick buck and doesn’t care who they cheat or mislead along the way.
But that takes time. It took me a full year to get a handle on who I should listen to for sound advice.
The other option is to hire a credit repair company to assist you in improving your credit. This is a lot less time-consuming, and you don’t have that worry in the back of your mind that you’re on a wild goose chase.
Which way is better? Well, they both have their pros and cons. If you have time to research on your own, go for it! Free can be good, and you will certainly learn a lot.
The downside, in addition to the time factor, is the fact that along with the good, you’ll pick up some ineffective or wrong methods which you will have to unlearn as you get more experience. But some people like to go it alone and that’s their prerogative.
What I and many others recommend, though, is to get some sort of help from an expert, whether by purchasing a course or hiring a professional credit repair company to take care of the legwork for you. This requires a small investment, but when you consider that time is money, going this route will undoubtedly pay off much earlier.
Reason #3: Unrealistic expectations
Again, scammers have had a great influence in this area. They exploit people’s desire or need to fix their credit RIGHT NOW by making them believe that hundreds of points will magically appear in their credit reports, lifting their credit score to perfection after they punch a few keys.
Well, it doesn’t happen that way. Can you increase your credit score? Sure, if you’ve put in the hard work first.
Credit repair is not a quick fix. Those who get into thinking it is, will be sorely disappointed. And unfortunately, this is a big majority of consumers.
People want to believe that there’s a quick fix for everything, and scammers pray on that desperate hope. Even those who may not be outright scammers do this by making unrealistic promises. In a few minutes, we’ll talk about what’s realistic and what’s not.
How long will it take to fix my credit?
If you work at it consistently or hire a competent company to do so on your behalf, you should see positive results within 3-6 months, but it likely won’t be enough time to get you to a good credit score. That’s not to say that you will necessarily be able to reach a good credit score at the one-year point either; this is just a very loose estimate of the time it would take most people to make a somewhat significant impact on their credit.
Everyone’s circumstances are different, and so is everyone’s idea of what constitutes “good credit”, so there are no hard and fast rules here. There are way too many variables to give a one-size fits all answer.
Is it hard to learn?
The concepts aren’t at all difficult, but it does take hard work in order to succeed.
How much effort does it take?
Credit repair takes work, just like any other job or business. However, it’s not like you have to give up eating or sleeping to do it, especially if you hire a legitimate credit repair company to take care of all of the legwork for you. Having said that, if you do decide to go at it alone, be assured that if you treat this as a real job, work hard, and persevere, you will do quite well.
Maybe you would simply like to increase your credit score 10-20 points, it’s very, very doable. Maybe your goal is to increase your credit score 200 points, that will take more work, but, it is still very realistic, IF, yes I’m saying it again, if you treat it like a real job, work very hard, and persevere.
Beyond that, well, you’ve probably seen claims of people raising their credit scores 300 points in 30 days. Are they telling the truth? Probably not.
What are my chances for success?
Let’s be real here: The majority of people who begin fixing their credit on their own will never reach their goals.
Why? Because credit repair doesn’t work?
No. It’s because they don’t have realistic goals and/or they don’t persevere long enough.
But you are different; I can tell because you’re still reading this. If you can hang on through my incessant babble, persevering through credit repair should be a cakewalk.
If you are truly as convinced, as I am, that having good credit is worth the time and effort, you won’t give up easily, and you will reap the rewards of good credit.
But if you think that credit repair is a secret, magical, “easy” button, then you’re not likely to do what it takes to succeed, and your results will never meet your expectations.
Or maybe you’ll give it a good solid month of effort because you know you can fix your credit this way, but then quit in frustration because of a few obstacles.
That would be a real shame because one month is nothing.
This is a common result for lots and lots of consumers. They don’t work hard enough or persevere long enough to attain their goals.
I don’t have much money to invest.
What will it cost to get started?
That’s one of the best things about credit repair, it takes very little to get started. In fact, if you decide to fix your own credit, it’s possible to do it without spending anything at all.
Although I believe those methods are a bit risky for someone just starting out, you don’t want to make your credit worse. Just don’t forget, do your research, treat it like a real job, work hard, and persevere.
Then there’s hiring a credit repair company, which you’ll need if you decide that you’d rather spend the next year of your life improving your credit rather than researching.
CreditFirm.net is a leading provider of credit report repair services for consumers within the United States. Established in 1997, we have helped over 100,000 consumers in all 50 states improve their credit reports and increase their credit scores.
CreditFirm.net is a licensed and registered credit services organization with an A rating from the Better Business Bureau (BBB).
Click below to get started for only $49.99 per month.