If you have a bad credit score, you sure would like to know how long will it take to fix your bad credit. You would like your score to be in the better credit score range than where you are now. You have dreams of one day buying a house and would like to qualify for a low rate mortgage loan.

Or you have a low credit score and you are paying a high double digit interest rate on your auto loan. You want to know how long for your credit scores to improve so you can refinance at a lower interest rate and lower your monthly payment so you can see your principal balance go down from month to month.

There are many reasons why you would want to improve your credit score. It will not happen overnight but with the right financial habits you can get a better credit score and get better interest rates. Avoid credit repair companies that promise they can quickly improve your FICO by 50 to 100 points in 30 days or less.

There are a lot of scams out there when it comes to credit repair. They prey on your desperate situation to save money and qualify for a home or car loan. Do your research before you give any of these companies your money.

So how do you get in the better credit score ranges? Number one is pay all your bills on time. Do not make late payments. This is the worst thing you can do for your credit scores. Over 1/3rd of your credit score is determined by your payment history.

The next biggest factor is how much you owe to your creditors. If all your credit cards and department store cards are maxed out then you need to get these balances reduced to get a better credit score. The goal is to be under 25% credit utilization. So if you have a $1000 limit credit card, you want to keep the balance under $250.

The next biggest factor to get into the better credit score ranges is how long your accounts have been opened. The longer the better. You want to have accounts in your credit report 5, 10, 15 years old and longer.

Working on these 3 credit score factors alone will greatly increase your Experian, Equifax, and Transunion credit scores. The better you get at paying your bills on time then the more your FICO will increase. You can expect to see improvements in your score over a 6 to 12 month period. You can use free credit monitoring tools like Credit Karma and Credit Sesame to keep track of your progress.