Pulling My Hair Out!!! Please Help Clarify.

[Anonymous]

Hi all. I'm looking at purchasing my first home in about 6-9 mos. I'm trying to get my credit score up and also save for a down payment. While I have heard you should get pre-approved as early as possible to make sure you don't need to do anything to clean up your credit, I don't want to get pre-approved now since I'm not buying for a while and I don't want to take the hit on my report when I actually go to get pre-approved in a few months.

What credit scores do Mortgage Lenders normally use? I have signed up for the free services Credit Sesame and Credit Karma and ran my TransUnion report a while back. I have seen mention of something about a Vantage Score which I also see on Credit Karma. What do lenders actually use and how can I know what they will see (I don't mind paying for it)? I understand that what report they pull may vary but let's say they use TransUnion...will they see what I see on Credit Karma or myFICO or if I go to any of the other credit scoring sites? 

I'm trying to determine if I should put more money towards paying down credit card debt or towards down payment but I really want to understand where I am with my credit score and monitor it. Thanks. 

[HoldingOntoHope]

The mortgage lender will pull a FICO credit score from all three bureaus (TU / EQ / and EX). They normally use a consolidated report commonly referred to as a tri-merge. They will base your approval and rate on the middle of the three scores. In other words they throw out your high and low scores. You can get your FICO EQ and TU scores from this site. You can not readily get your FICO EX score but if the EX report is similar to the other two then you are ok. Or you can just assume that your FICO middle score is the lower of the two available at least. If EX is higher then the mid score is better. If EX is lower then the mid score is the lowest of the two you know.

If you are not confident in your ability to qualify then it may be worth talking to a loan originator now. There is a lot more factors than just the score and their assesment may tell you what you need to do to be prepared and not surprised. The inquiries may be very worthwhile.

[tammyjk]

As far as scores, only FICO scores.  I use Credit Karma,Quizzle and Credit Seasme to monitor only.  They are not fico scores but will give you a heads up when there are changes.  I also use Walmart credit card site and that is TU FICO.  I use Scorewatch for EQ FICO.  Only the lender can get you EX fico. Again the free sites are not FICO scores, which is what you need to look at.  I aimed for 640 at least because of rate ect.  Most but not all will want at least 620.  Whichever you choose, give yourself aprox 5-10 point leeway for credit pulls.  

Not knowing your score or situation, it would be hard for anyone to say "pay off cards" or......?  But look at it this way, if you dont get the scores, a down payment isnt needed because you wont get a loan   From the time you get a pre-approval to the time you close can be months so you will have time to save then as well.  You will need to find a home and trust me sometimes thats not as easy as you think.  Ive been in the process aprox 6 mos now and just had my offer accepted.  Sometimes it can take months to get an offer accepted if its a short sale. 

[Anonymous]

So is it ScoreWatch from myFICO that I want then? I don't see anything about TransUnion on there. 

 

ScoreWatch: Includes:2 FICO Credit Scores, 2 Equifax Credit Reports, FICO Score monitoring and alerts

[MarineVietVet]

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@Anonymous wrote:

So is it ScoreWatch from myFICO that I want then? I don't see anything about TransUnion on there. 

 

ScoreWatch: Includes:2 FICO Credit Scores, 2 Equifax Credit Reports, FICO Score monitoring and alerts

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WElcome to the forums.

You can either buy a one time Transunion score: Standard

Or TU Quarterly Monitoring.

[Booner72]

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@Anonymous wrote:

So is it ScoreWatch from myFICO that I want then? I don't see anything about TransUnion on there. 

 

ScoreWatch: Includes:2 FICO Credit Scores, 2 Equifax Credit Reports, FICO Score monitoring and alerts

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Yes, SW is what you want.  The TU score you can buy here is the TU98 which is an old outdated model, and I have yet to read of anyone's mortgage lender using this score, What is used is the TU04 which you can't buy.....

If I were you, I'd go ahead and have them do the trimerge so I knew where I stood and where I had to go.  I'd take the hit bc inquiry hits aren't as bad as they are made out to be.  I had two LO's do a trimerge, and neither charged me for the credit report.  Of course, I didn't go to a bank, I went to a mortgage banker and before that a broker.  The broker pull was 11/10 and my scores were so bad he wouldn't even talk to me.  I think the credit report fee for my house ultimately got written into my closing costs,  20.00 is about what it should cost, anything more and they are ripping you off.

[Anonymous]

Please excuse my ignorance. My trimerge you mean go ahead and have them do the pre-approval now?  What do you maen by 11/10? I'm not worried about the cost. I'm worried if I'm on the borderline with my credit score that it will knock me below.

Also of the three where does Equifax usually fall? Highest, middle, or lowest score?