Hello,
I'm about to pay off both my wife's and my own credit cards. We've got scores in the mid-700s (not quite 760, but close). The goal is to prepare ourselves for home ownership. However, at the same time, my wife's car is getting old and unreliable and we'll need to get her a new vehicle.
The question is what to do -- limp along with the current vehicle? Go ahead and take out the auto loan? How would that negatively affect our scores (if at all) prior to looking at mortgages in six months?
Also, will paying off the cards improve our scores? We had pretty high balances before (in the multiple thousands).
We've both got good base incomes, so our debt won't be a high percentage of our income. But obviously, if an auto loan will make it harder to get a good rate on a mortgage, then we'll have to come up with a plan B.
Advice appreciated!
THANKS!!!!!