What are some simple, realistic ways to build my credit when my score is....ZERO?

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I am trying to buy a house.

Being there a innumerable ways to begin establishing your credit and to buy a house with no credit established, I will offer you a couple ideas for both.
1.The best way to purchase yourself a house with no established credit is either from an owner financed, lease to buy, or first time buyers program.Many people now are selling their own homes or purchasing homes and selling them as investment realty properties.Look in your local newspaper real estate section and contact owner financed offers,in these cases the owners carry the note and generally only want a down payment, and proof of income.Lease to buy offers you the opportunity to purchase by making lease payments to the owner and then deed the property in your name when the purchase price has been paid,in this case make sure lease payments are credited to the purchase price in the event you come into some money at some point and want to pay the full balance before the lease is up,bare in mind the lease option will have a shorter term.The FHA and VA offer first time buyer programs and many homes qualify, you can only use the first time buyer FHA once, to use this method contact a realty agent and tell them you are a first time buyer and want to go with a FHA qualified property , usually only proof of stable income and job history is needed as the government is trying to bolster the economy and help people buy a home.Department of HUD in your state is a great place to look for value properties that qualify for FHA loans.
2.Establishing credit is not near as difficult as it once was,you of course must be over 18.Department store cards like Jc Penney, Sears, Dillard's, ect, are the easiest to get,many banks like orchard and household,and capitol one offer low limit starter cards too (visa & mc).Buying a car and making 6 -12 consecutive payments works well too.The best way is credit cards of any type that are unsecured,secured cards don't mean a thing.Be prepared to maybe pay a little higher interest rates or get lower limits to start with but that will immprove as you make payments.Be sure to make payments on time and at least minimum.Try to pay the balance every month, and never let your balance exceed 50% of your limit.You can also get loans at smaller loan companies like beneficial,american general and such if you have a car or something you can use as collateral,and then make your payments.The important thing is get them reporting good stuff about you to the credit bureaus.Remember your just trying to get in the game and as you build your credit history and score better rates and offers will start coming to you in the mail.Of course you must have a job or proof of income and stable history of at least 6 months to a year to do any of these things we've talked about.There are some ways around this but thats a little to creative to condense into a short yahoo answer.Good luck and try a few of these things they will work for you , we have all been there.

Pay your bills on time.

Get a gas card at your favorite gas station or get a secured credit card. Your bank may offer one. You can also try getting a small personal loan of like 1500 bucks or something from the bank.

You do NOT need to get a credit card to buy a house. In fact, you don't really need a credit score. If you put down a big, fat down-payment (30-50%), lenders will jump through hoops trying to get you to sign.

By SAVING cash, you show that you are able to handle your money well. Pay your rent and utilities on time, keep your checking account straight (no overdrafts), get a debit/credit card (sometimes called a check card) attached to your checking account, and lenders will come looking for YOU when it's time to make that purchase.

Why pay someone to use their money (also called interest), when you can use your own? The only reason to use a loan/credit of any kind is to purchase something that AP-preciates in value (like a house), not something that DE-preciates (pretty much anything else, including cars).

get a credit card. use it to only buy like gass for your car or something and pay the full balance every month.

A secured credit card where you put money on deposit with the credit company in case you don't repay them. Another alternative is to get someone to co-sign with you to obtain credit. Someone like a parent or sibling that trust you. Try asking someone at your local bank if there are other ways such as taking out very small loans and quickly repaying them.

There are plenty of "Secured" credit sources out there - some of the better ones are secured credit cards. Some of them can be a bit pricey, but such is the cost of rebuilding credit. In particular, there is a "Eufocard" that runs about $60 a year in fees, but reports your postive credit to Transunion MONTHLY!

Check out:

If you have a checking account with a bank, get a secured (or unsecured if you can) credit card.

Buy something over $100 in value, and take 3 months to pay it off. Wait a couple of months and do it again. And again.

You can't build a credit rating by paying it off every month - what they want to know is if you make your payments on time every month.

Once you establish that credit card well, take out a couple of others and do the same thing on each of them. DO NOT make the mistake of over-reaching yourself.

It takes a couple of years to build up your credit rating.

Get an apartment and pay your rent on time for 6 months, thne buy a house

I don't think you can get a csore of zero, credit cards from a bank that you have an account in . capital one also has good deals for starters.

Have someone add you to there account...they don't have to give you a card and you don't have to use it...but this will show credit and acct history...

No one's actual score is zero. Best way to start is have a checking and/or savings account that you maintain.

Start with a secured credit card, say $500. Make small purchases with it, and pay just the minimum monthly payments, on time. This will begin to establish your credit.
Try to get an installment loan for an automobile. Given your situation, you will have to pay a higher interest rate, but the points for paying on time will add to your credit score. You really do need to build some credit prior to trying to purchase a home. Just be careful, it is easy to get sucked into getting in over your head once you start with credit cards.

You want to get a credit card of some type. Perhaps it will need to be a secured card, or if you're a college student, there should be some student card offers around. Department stores or gasoline stations might be good if you can't find anything else. Then charge one item once, and pay your bill as soon as you get it, and it will increase your score a bunch. Just never pay late after that, and you'll keep improving.

get a secured credit card, pay bills on time and be patient.. you can't build anything instantly - specially if you had a somewhat negative credit history on your records...

Get a savings and checking account, Get a CD from your bank or you can open one at another bank too. You can even earn credit if a parent has money in a checking or savings account get one at their bank and you will get credit from their money. These are safe simple and slow ways to buid credit but it works. Hope it helps.

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