Credit Scores That Impact Your Ability To Buy A House

There are a lot of steps and requirements involved in getting yourself into a new home.  Making sure your credit is as good as it can be is one of them.  If you’re looking to get in shape for a low interest loan of 3.5% down, having good credit is key in locking down the best rates.  There are 5 factors involved in calculating your FICO credit score, each weighed by importance.

Payment History ~35% weight

This is the heaviest weighed consideration when considering your credit score.  Paying your debts and bills on time is paramount to keeping your credit healthy.  Recent late payments will weigh heavier than delinquency in the past.

Amounts You Owe ~30% weight

Try to keep the amount that you owe as low as possible.  Your recurring debt, such as credit card payments made monthly help keep that number low, reflect well on your credit and can increase your score.

Credit History ~15% weight

Having debt that you have continually paid down over a length of time shows consistency.  It sends a message to potential creditors that you are an excellent candidate for a loan.

New Credit ~10% weight

If you’ve recently opened a new line of credit, that can reflect negatively on your score.  Credit is like a fine wine, you need it to be aged a little to have value.

Types of Credit ~10% weight

It goes in this order as far as most impactful: 1. Mortgage Debt,  2. Installment loans, such as a car payment,  3. Revolving debt, credit cards, etc.  As long as you pay these debts in a timely manner or as requested these kinds of debts improve your credit score the most.

You don’t have to be entirely debt free to have good credit.  Following these guidelines when it comes to boosting your FICO score can either maintain or improve it.  Not everyone can have a perfect credit score, but they can certainly reach for the highest they can attain to earn the best mortgage loan available to them.

To learn more about your Fico credit scores, visit MyFico.com