Introduction and rebuilding my credit

[Casey Laarkamp]

Hello all! I have been an on-and-off BP user for the better part of a year, but this is my first time posting.  I started getting interested in real estate investing last year after attending the FortuneBuilders 3-day weekend event in Nashville, but soon got a full-time job afterward and haven't really given the necessary time to pursue my real estate goals since then.  As you probably guessed, The FortuneBuilders route of getting into the game was way out of my price range, and based on everything I've seen on BP, it looks as though I would get a way bigger bang for my buck here anyway.  I have an interest in both rental properties as well as flipping, but ultimately my goal in life is to pursue my dream as an independent filmmaker and I believe real estate is the optimal path to take in realizing that ambition.  

However, I got a long way to go to get there, and it all starts with my credit history.  I graduated from film school in 2011, and started repaying my student loans in early 2012.  But purely due to my own negligence as opposed to an inability to afford to pay what I owed, one of my loans went into default and I was put on a rehabilitation plan for 9 months.  I got my loans back on track, but even several years since then, I am still middling my way toward having a good credit score.   Additionally, since graduating, I have not held any sort of significant job in my desired career field and have been working a normal 9-5.  

I want to start attending as many local REI meetings as I can to network and get the education, but I also want to get as much of my loans paid off before getting my feet wet in the actual investing. Of my two student loans, one's balance is significantly higher than the other with a bigger interest rate on top of it. In an ideal world, it's the loan I would like to focus on first to pay off, but on my budget and current salary, I just don't think it's realistic. Even if I paid quadruple on what I owe monthly, it would still take years to pay off while the other could conceivably get knocked off by 2017 with a lot of determination.

So ultimately my question to you, especially for those who have been in my shoes in the past, what you feel is the best way to rebuild credit so that I can start pursuing my REI goals sooner than later? I have a couple monthly payments that are through my parents as well as my sister, which are my phone bill and car insurance - according to what I was just reading on my most recent credit report is that the more accounts I have the better it will be for building good credit. So I was thinking that maybe I should transfer both of these payments under my name, if they qualify as additional accounts that would be reported to credit agencies. Do I have this wrong? Look forward to chatting with you all, especially the Nashville/Middle TN folk!

Best,

Casey