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Magic #, ie 620, 640, & Credit Score Version?

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coffeepleeze
New Contributor

Magic #, ie 620, 640, & Credit Score Version?

Hoping to be a first time home buyer sometime in the next year or so and these scoring models are making my head spin!  Which ones to do mortgage lenders pull? I ran a couple of tri-merge reports yesterday and the differences are crazy!

 

TU Tri-merge: TU 649, EQ 656 & EX 657 (Vantage models)

EQ Tri-merge: TU 564, EQ 619 & EX 605 (EQ models)

FICO EQ: 629

 

Taking all of the steps to keep util down and working to get a few baddies removed and just improve my overall credit-health but when working to exceed the "Magic #'s" of 620 or 640, I dont know which versions to watch?  Any advice??  

Starting Score: 05/30/13 EXP 597, EQ FICO 605, TU 609
Current Score : 09/06/13 EXP 610, EQ FICO 635, TU 678

Lender Scores: 08/09/13 EXP 643, EQ FICO 629, TU 685


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4 REPLIES 4
Amythyst
Contributor

Re: Magic #, ie 620, 640, & Credit Score Version?

Well unfortunately, you won't like the answer! Smiley Very Happy  If you're not looking at FICOs then your numbers could be all over the place.  When I did my mortgage application, they used the folllowing models:

EQUIFAX Beacon 5.0 FACTA

EXPERIAN Fair Issac V2

TRANS UNION FICO Risk Score Classic 04

 

The only score that matched up exactly to what I had already pulled was my EQ score.  My TU FICO that I had pulled myself was like 75 points off from the score the mortgage company used (mortgage number was higher).  And I have never in my life seen my Experian FICO until they sent me the truth in lending disclosure. Smiley Happy

 

Your EQ FICO you can probably use as a gauge but for EX and TU its a little harder.  I have a Walmart credit card, so I get their monthly TU FICO score but I believe they use version 2008.  For me, I could use this one as a gauge because if my Classic 08 score was above 640 then I was confident that my mortgage enhanced Classic 04 score should be well over 640.

 

For some people, its more helpful to just find a good lender and have them pull their credit and see where they stand then you know exactly where things sit and what you need to work on to get the scores up.  Having to guess with the miriad of credit scores we can pull is just torture. Smiley Happy

Message 2 of 5

Re: Magic #, ie 620, 640, & Credit Score Version?

Almost all mortgage lenders pull these three scores:

 

Equifax "Beacon 5.0"

Experian Fair Isaac v2

Transunion "Classic 04"

 

You can get the Equifax Beacon 5.0 score here at myFICO.

The Experian Fair Isaac v2 score can be obtained if you are a member of PSECU. I've haven't heard of another way that works right now. So, if live or have family in Pennsylvania, that's one way to do it.

There is no way to get the TU04 score right now (unless you're a mortgage lender).

 

Most people who post these scores in their sig are doing it from the last time a mortgage lender did it for them (and when they do it, it is a hard pull, so it affects the score negatively)

 

Each credit bureau has 3 variations of each model and the mortage lenders use the combination above. You will find some of the other scores online. Of the 9 official scores (3 bureaus x 3 versions each), there are 2 more available - myFICO offers the TU98 score and Walmart gives you TU08 monthly to its credit card holders. The 5 I didn't mention are not regularly available to consumers.

 

You can also find a ton of free and paid FAKO scores - custom formulas based on information from the credit reports. Those are good for working on increasing your score and noting progress. But as you will discover, the only formula that matters when you want to get a mortgage is the one the mortgage lenders use.

Message 3 of 5
coffeepleeze
New Contributor

Re: Magic #, ie 620, 640, & Credit Score Version?

Thank you both for your input!  So I guess I'll continue to assume that my EQ Fico score should be somewhat in line with what a prospective lender might pull when its time.  Did anyone have any success comparing your EX & TU mortgage pulls to what you were tracking elsewhere?  Like, were the lender pulls higher, lower, close to what you were following with say TU Vantage or EX Plus?  I've kind of gotten used to credit denials for sometime now and its taken its toll on self-esteem, etc... but now that I've finally gotten the courage up to believe that someday soon, with a lot of hard work to redeem myself from past mistakes and a healthier approach overall to handling my credit, that I might be "worthy" of qualifying for a mortgage, I just dont want to jump the gun too soon and be faced with another blow of denied credit.  But at the same time, I cannot afford to wait till I'm all 700+, so just trying to make sense of the madness and guage when I can safely consider myself eligible based on the scores I can pull online.  They really should just have 1 universal score per bureau so it's all equal across the boards Smiley Happy 

Starting Score: 05/30/13 EXP 597, EQ FICO 605, TU 609
Current Score : 09/06/13 EXP 610, EQ FICO 635, TU 678

Lender Scores: 08/09/13 EXP 643, EQ FICO 629, TU 685


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Amythyst
Contributor

Re: Magic #, ie 620, 640, & Credit Score Version?

Well I think I already provided you an example of that in what my TU score was.

 

The closest paid service that I personally have is from my privacy matters (MPM).  It is a tri merge report and has all three fako scores.  I like it cause I'm on a spouse program and I get my hubby's and my credit for like 16.95 I think it is a month.  For me, these scores are fairly close to what my FICOs were from the mortgage lender.  My EQ score is only off by a few points and my EX score was also only off by like 15 points.  My trans union score was closer to the Classic 08 than the Classic 04 though. 

 

However, you also have to know that just cause they are close for me doesn't mean that they would be close for you.  Some people find that their fakos are less than their FICOs and some are reversed. 

 

And again, once you get closer to being ready nothing is going to be a better judge than to apply with a lender and see where the scores are... yes it would be a hard pull, but your score is only going to suffer a little bit.  I originally applied in January with my lender and 2 others to compare... my score was affected 3 points and they just pulled my credit again as we're closing in two months and it hurt my score 2 points.

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