Best way to shop around for a mortgage

[teton]

I would like to do some 'comparison shopping' for a mortgage. How badly will the inquiries on my credit reports hurt me? My scores are marginal right now for FHA approval so can't take much of a hit. Is there an best way of going about this?

[Anonymous]

Just keep them close together and they'll only count as one inquiry. Some people say 14 days, others say 30. I kept all mine within 14 days of each other just to be sure

A single inquiry is like 3-12 points. Usually in the 3 or 4 range from my experience.

[Anonymous]

This is useful information. I had my Credit pulled today but would like to comparison shop, althuogh my credit already has multiple "dings". How do they count as one?

[Anonymous]

It's a time thing with the way credit report agencies calculate scores. Multiple inquiries for the same thing (like a mortgage) will all be considered as one inquiry if it's within a certain time frame.

On your report they'll show up as several inquiries but in the actual CRA's calculations they only count 1

[Anonymous]

Good to know, Thanks!!!

[Anonymous]

It's good to note though that it doesn't work that way for credit cards, just cars and houses.