Middle Mortgage Score 717, Help me increase over 720

[Anonymous]

Hello all,

The tips on this forum have helped my scores tremendously. I am now in the process of getting a jumbo mortgage and my current score of 717 is standing in the way of me having to put 20% versus only 10% down. I need a 720 so that I can get better rates and lower downpayment.

Last month, my score reached 720 but it has come back down to 717. The only thing that changed since then is that the number of mortgage inquires and I paid off 1 bank card and 1 retail card. I also have student loan debt that was in deferrment. The retail card has a late payment back in March of 2015. I have written the bank to ask for courtesy removal of the late payment.

The retail and bank cards  currently have zero balance. When I had 720 last month, they both had less than 5% utilization. What can I do to help with bringing up my score? My student loans are pretty much growing faster than what I am paying, If I pay down my student loans will that help or hinder my score? (I have heard conflicting information on student loan debt)

[Anonymous]

If all of your revolving accounts are at $0, that is hurting your score.  Much better is to have exactly one card reporting a positive balance.  When doing this All Zero Except One approach, you want the one card to be:

(a)  A true credit card (not a charge card)

(b)  A card in your own name (not an AU card)

(c)  A card with a balance of $5 or more

(d)  A card with a credit limit of less than 29k.

[Anonymous]

Thanks! That would explain the drop after paying the cards off. I will put something on the bankcard. The limit is only $1050. What amount should I stay under?

[Anonymous]

$5 - 8.9% is ideal. However, I stay around 5% or under just to be good. That is ~ $5-$55.