What price range are you looking at? Typically with only one open line of credit it is going to make the process harder. But with a large down payment it can help off set that, how large the down payment is depends on the price of the home.
@Anonymous wrote:Hi guys - thank you all for the replies. I am eager to order credit scores but wanted to wait until I was sure my recent payoff payments were being reflected. At my most recent free report, one chargeoff was still showing an outstanding balance due.
The good news is that it just updated on CK and bumped my vantagescore fako by 40 points, from ~680 to ~720. Hopefully that action is approximately representative of FICO behavior as well. Here's the current breakdown of where I stand, only balance is a never-late student loan, though no available revolving credit either.
Regarding my initial question, I'm less concerned now, since someone posted that FHA rates aren't influenced by credit score. I'm quite sure I can qualify at 720, but just wanted to wait for all the healing actions to go through in hopes of achieving a lower long-term rate. (Why lock in rates the month before you jump 40 points, right?).
I'll give it another week or two and order my reports and scores through myFICO. I had done this several years ago, but the historic data is no longer viewable in the myFICO account...do you lose all your history once your subscription lapses?
Any other credit maximization advice is greatly appreciated. I believe at this point all I can do is open a CC and keep a low/no balance, correct?
Vantage & FICO scores often behave very differently; so you can't tell a thing from that.
I do believe it would enhance your score and your application to have an active bank card account. So I would move ahead on that.
@Anonymous wrote:SJ, do you think that would still be a wise move even if the OP were looking to take on a mortgage in the next several months?
I can't say for sure but I do think it would be more of a plus than a minus.