Mid mortgage score 698: should we wait?

[joshall]

We are ready to get ourself pre-qualified. My mid mortgage score is 698.

Two questions:

(1) Mortgage scores are the scores mortgage lenders are using, aren't they?  The reason we asked is because our FICO scores are considerbly lower, and my mid FICO score is only 685.

(2) Should we wait until the mortgage score hit 700 to pull the trigger instead?  We remember seeing somewehere that with a mid score of 700 it makes a huge difference in the APR.

Please help!!

Thanks,

Joshall

[StartingOver10]

What type of mortgage are you looking for - conventional or FHA?

For FHA your mortgage scores are fine. 

For conventional if your score is over 680 then it is better, as a general rule, to go conventional. Conventional mortgage rates are score sensitive. If you are going to put down less than 20% you may have mortgage insurance - depending upon the type of loan you select. Mortgage insurance is also score sensitive.  The higher your LTV and the lower mid-score, the higher your interest rate will be on the loan and the mortgage insurance rate will be higher too. conversely the higher your score, the lower your interest rate and the lower your MI rate. 

Take a look at this MI rate card for an example: https://www.mgic.com/rates/rate-cards.html

[joshall]

Thanks.

This is for conventional.  Is 698 good enough, or should we wait until it reaches 700?

[joshall]

This is for conventional.  Is 698 good enough, or should we wait until it reaches 700?

Thanks.

[Anonymous]

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@joshall wrote:

This is for conventional.  Is 698 good enough, or should we wait until it reaches 700?

Thanks.

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If you check out the link posted above it shows the breakdown in PMI rates based on score (698 vs 700).

[StartingOver10]

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@joshall wrote:

This is for conventional.  Is 698 good enough, or should we wait until it reaches 700?

Thanks.

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You can apply at 698 but if you can get your mid-score to 700 or more it will save you considerably in PMI rates.

[Revelate]

To be clear do you mean your mid FICO 8 score (the main set found on this site) is a 685?  (from your original post)

I only ask because 15 points is a longer walk if you're anywhere close to optimized than 2 points; which begs the question have you optimized your file already?  I know you had some revolving debt and an auto loan from your post early this month, especially with regards to revolving utilization that may be a short walk if you're not at optimal anyway.

[joshall]

Hi Revelate,

Yes, 698 is my mid mortgage score.  685 is my mid FICO8 score.

I thought lenders are using mortgage scores, not FICO8 scores?

What do you think, Revelate?