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Current Score: 632 Need: 640+

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wakefield622
Established Member

Current Score: 632 Need: 640+

Just spoke with LO and she told me we will pull the CR in mid-July and hope that in the meantime it increases. Hubby had a $500 CL with Capital One and we paid it down to a 9% utilizaiton last night. Should we see a few points of improvement from that? We just need 8 pts!! Any other suggestions? 

 

We do have one large CC. It has a $5,200 limit and it has about $4,900 on it. I know, it's so bad. We just have never attacked it yet. Last night yrs we paid down around $5k in other debt and just need to get on the wagon again with that. The LO said to hold on that for now. 

 

What are your suggestions? Trying to get it to a 640 for this USDA Guar Loan. 

Message 1 of 8
7 REPLIES 7
jules0580
Regular Contributor

Re: Current Score: 632 Need: 640+

Every little bit of credit card debt paid down helps, what was the credit card balance at before you paid it down to 9% uti?  If it was above 30% UTI before and now you paid that down to 9% that will help some.. even paying down $50 or so on the other would help..its not hard to get 8 points so you may be ok, the credit card company will report it a few days after your statement ends

Message 2 of 8
languedoctor
Valued Member

Re: Current Score: 632 Need: 640+

I don't know this for a fact - so take it with a grain of salt.

 

But my experience backs up what I've read elsewhere on this site. FICO scoring models used by mortgage lenders consider not just your overall utilization but also individual utilization -- do you have any cards that are maxed or close to maxed (utilization > 90%).

 

I achieved what I thought was an excellent score bump by paying my utilization down from 95% to under 30%.

 

But I did that by paying down high APR cards first. I left my low apr credit card maxed.

 

Then I paid my low apr card down from 95% utilization to about 80% utilization, and I got another 10 point bump (656 to 666).

 

So not all credit card paydowns are equal. Hopefully, someone else will correct me if I'm wrong, but my strategy to maximize short-term FICO boost would be:

 

1. Make sure no cards are maxed

2. Then, try to get some cards down to 0 (if possible)

3. Only after 1 and 2, start focusing on high apr cards

 

Under other conditions, this is terrible advice. If you don't need to use credit, do the high apr accts first, no question. But when a mortgage is on the line, it's a different story. A few FICO points can be the diff between approval and rejection, or between a rate that's just okay and a rate that's pretty good.

 

edit:

 

Another way (but a dicey one) is to try to get a credit line increase on your existing cards. Some credit cards allow you to request a CLI afer several months based on your account standing and usage history. If you can do this, great. But whatever you do, don't go through with a credit line increase if it requires a "hard pull." Don't hammer your credit report with revolving credit inquiries right before you apply for a mortgage.

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Message 3 of 8
wakefield622
Established Member

Re: Current Score: 632 Need: 640+

Yes, it had a balance of $450 out of $500 Limit. So, it did have a high balance on it. 

Message 4 of 8
wakefield622
Established Member

Re: Current Score: 632 Need: 640+

Thanks for the detailed post. Hubby only has 2 cards. And one was just paid off...So, just one with balance. 

Message 5 of 8
languedoctor
Valued Member

Re: Current Score: 632 Need: 640+

I imagine that will definitely help.

 

Personally, I'd still feel better if I could get the balance on the 5200 limit card to somewhere below 4700.

 

BUT, if your LO suggested otherwise, I'd listen to them. They have more information (and experience) than I do . . .

Barclay's Aviator Red | Bank of America Cash Rewards | Chase Freedom | Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select | Discover It
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Message 6 of 8
ccubedzx3
Regular Contributor

Re: Current Score: 632 Need: 640+

I had $1900 on my card with a $2700 limit.  I just paid $1000 towards it today so now, I am using $900 of my $2700 limit.   About 33% utilization.  I am curious to see what this does to my score.  I have enough to pay it off, but I want to see my score move in increments.  We shall see what happens.  Anyone have any idea what going from 72% utilization to 33% utilization will do for my score?


Starting Score:2/1/16 565
Current Score: 3/1/16 575
Lender Mid Score: 3/1/16 575

Goal Score: 700


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Message 7 of 8
techgirl
Frequent Contributor

Re: Current Score: 632 Need: 640+

Should help.... don't forget to put some away for downpayment then closing....

05/12: approx 680 across the board
04/08 EQ: 730 TU: 748 EX: 718
03/08: EQ: 713 TU: ? EX: ?
12/07: EQ: 689 TU: 711 EX: 721
Message 8 of 8
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