Hi,
I recently received a life insurance check and plan on paying off my mortgage. I would like to do some renovations in my house, but the the life insurance payment covers just enough to pay the house off. My plan is to pay it off and open an equity loan or HELOC to do the renovations. My current scores are EQ 736, EX 742, TU 748.
My fear is that if I pay off the morgate first, my score will drop from not having an open mortgage account (which in my opinion is ridiculous...why are consumers punished for paying debt off while credit reports show the loan for 10 years?) and this may affect the APR I get.
Should I just pay down the mortgage leaving a balance of $500.00 so that it stays on my report, reduces my monthly credit obligation? or should I just pay it off first?
