Mortgage pursuit - Have questions about credit monitoring

[Anonymous]

Hello all,

I'm in the process of getting prepared to apply for a home loan and I'm trying to make some changes to my FICO scores right up until the last second and I have some questions about a couple of products many of you currently use.

1)  It is my understanding that the EQ-04 score that is apparently provided by way of the Equifax Score Power product.  Using that product, how frequently is that score updated?  (i.e. - once a month; everytime you look; etc.)

2)  Here on myFICO I can't find any way to purchase the Premiere plan that everyone was somewhat delicately still purchasing a month or two ago, but if I've considered another option for a two report comparison in a short time based on your answers.  Help me understand what "quarterly" means in regards to the full 28 score report associated with the Ultimate 3B plan.  What is defined as a quarter, meaning does it count quarters from the time you signed up or does it see the normally accepted calendar quarters?  (e.g. - If I signed up now and pulled a quarterly report, would I then be able to pull another at the beginning of July as it would be the beginning of Q3?)

As you might have figured out I'm simply trying to figure out the most cost efficient method of checking the most used score from a mortgage standpoint over a 30-40 day period.

Thanks in advance for your answers, all!

[Anonymous]

Congrats on your journey!

There's been some talk that myFICO no longer offers the Premier 3B subscription that provides the monthly updating to all versions of your scores. The next best option is to purchase the Ultimate 3B, which provides you with updated reports and score versions every 3 months aka "quarterly". Also to answer your question, the reports will update every 3mo from when you first signed up. If you register an account today, your next report update will be September 2nd. 

Having the Ultimate 3B will also give you an updated FICO 08 score for all three bureaus when certain events happen like balance changes or late payments. There's a list of things that will "trigger an alert" in the Products section. 

At this point, if you want to check your scores every 30 days, you will have to purchase new reports every month since it's the mortgage scores you are after. If you do it that way, I would suggest waiting until everything reports for the month so you aren't wasting your money. For example, my credit cards report on the 4th and 19th of the month, so for me, I wouldn't purchase new reports until around the 25th of the month just to make sure everything is updated. 

[Anonymous]

Thank you very much for your in depth response.  You have definitely answered my questions/concerns.

Thanks!!

Blake