Building US credit from zero

If you moved to the US in the last couple of years, you may have a good income, money in the bank, and no credit score at all. Your history from India, the UK or anywhere else does not transfer.

This is one of the few genuinely solvable problems in the mortgage process. It takes months, not years, and the steps are mechanical.

What a lender needs

Conventional financing generally wants two credit scores from the three bureaus. FHA can sometimes work with less. If you have none, that is the gap to close.

A usable score typically appears four to six months after you open your first accounts. Not two years — this is the single most common piece of bad advice newcomers receive.

The sequence

Open two secured credit cards today. Not one, not four. Two gives you the tradeline count bureaus want without looking like you are opening everything at once. A secured card requires a deposit — often $200–500 — which becomes your limit. Most major banks offer one, and your existing bank is the easiest place to start.

Use them for ordinary purchases. Petrol, groceries, a subscription. The point is activity, not amount.

Pay the statement balance in full, every month. Not the minimum. Never late — a single 30-day late payment does more damage in the first year than anything else you could do.

Keep utilisation below 30%. On a $500 limit, that means keeping the balance under $150 when the statement closes. Utilisation is measured at statement date, not due date, so paying it off after the statement cuts still shows high usage.

Do not open anything else. No car loan, no store card, no "buy now pay later." Each application is an inquiry, and new accounts lower your average account age precisely when you have none to spare.

What also helps

• Being added as an authorised user on a spouse's or family member's established card. Their history can report on your file
• Rent reporting services, which report on-time rent payments to the bureaus. Useful, though not every lender weighs them
• A secured loan or credit-builder loan from a credit union, which adds an instalment tradeline alongside the revolving ones

What to avoid

Anything that promises to build credit fast, for a fee. Credit repair companies cannot do anything you cannot do yourself, and "tradeline rental" — paying to be added to a stranger's account — is fraud that lenders increasingly detect.

Start the clock now

The frustrating part is that this is pure waiting. Which is exactly why it should start today rather than when you begin house-hunting.

If you want to buy in spring, open the cards now and use the months productively — work out what price your income supports, and read what else you'll need so the file is ready when your score is.

Already have scores and unsure where you stand? Tell me your situation — no credit pull at that stage.