National Get Smart about Credit Day falls on the third Thursday of every October and promotes an opportunity to discuss finance. 

This year, Proxima reached out to Bulelwa Freer , Best Selling Author of 'Romancing your Money", Director at Absolute Advantage Properties and a very valued member of the Proxima community for her advice on how you can stay smart on your credit and finance. 

Here are Bulelwa's top 5 steps to better credit and smarter property investment. 

1. Understand Your Credit Story

Instead of just focusing on your credit score, think of your credit history as a story lenders use to assess your reliability. Actively shape this story by consistently paying bills on time and keeping your account balances low. Understanding the “why” behind your credit actions helps you moderate your spending and enhance your saving for a more creditworthy financial position.

2. Managed Your Credit Activity Timing

Before your mortgage application, avoid making large financial moves, like applying for new credit or shopping for rates. Each credit activity impacts your score. Lenders prefer stability. A flurry of enquiries signals financial unpredictability.

3. Always be Mindful when Cosigning

Cosigning on others’ loans affects your credit score and debt to income ratio, making future mortgage approvals tougher if not impossible.

4. Start with Mortgage Pre-Qualification over Pre-Approval

Start with pre-qualification to understand your potential borrowing capacity without registering an inquiry on your credit report. This way you address any necessary credit improvements before committing to an application.

5. Partner with a Broker

The best way to achieve this whilst protecting your credit score is working with a broker.

Your Broker is your Advocate: Treat your broker like a lawyer. Tell them everything except where you buried the body.

Your Broker is like your Surgeon: Like a surgeon, your broker armed with ALL the information you disclosed reassembles the good, the bad and the ugly to present a coherent story to the funder. If your finances are in seriously bad shape a good broker places you in a rehabilitative facility for 12 -24 months. It costs more but will have you looking great again to graduate to better treatment and competitive rates.