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First question would be is where have you obtained your scores from?
Judgements are paid so no issues for mortgage there. Try to have judgements vacated. There is a procedure to follow for paid and unpaid judgements, you may want to seek advice from an Attorney with a free consultation.
If you can have the judgments vacated and removed from your credit reports it will give you a significant boost in score in my opinion.
Anything already removed from reports has no impact on your scores or debt.
Charge offs paid will have no impact on mortgage as they are paid. I would try and GW each creditor lender and try and have the charge offs removed since you satisfied the debt.
As far as your credit cards are concerned, the best way to handle them is to keep 2 of your credit cards with a zero balance, and 1 or your credit cards with 1%-9% total balance once statement hits. This has given every one the best scores for their UTIL. It doesnt mean not to use the cards, it just means to pay off the balances in full on 2 of your credit cards before the statements hit, and pay down the balance on the 3rd credit card. Also your credit cards are building history and still fairly new so your AAOA (average age of accounts) is new.
Now if your credit cards already have larger balances on them, your objective would be to pay down 2 of your cards to have a zero balance as quick as you can, and then bringing down your balance on the 3rd card to have UTIL between1%-9%.
By co-signing for your daughters student loans this also impacted your AAOA. Keep in mind that your daughters student loans will be counted in your DTI when you apply for a mortgage, even if they are deferred.
Once again going back to scores, if you do not have a FICO score no one can estimate what your FICO scores are, based on FAKO scores. So while you feel your scores are low or not low they can be even lower with a true FICO score, and possibly much higher with a true FICO score.
The Equifax FICO score here is the same score most creditors and lenders use. The TU score here is version 98, while most creditors and lenders are using version 04 for mortgages.
You saying your limits are not terribly high just depends on different factors also. What is your credit limit and what is the balance? For example if your credit limit is $500 and your balance is $400, while $400 is not terribly high it is 80% of your total amount which in FICO scoring is very high.
In my opinion and my opinion only I would not apply for a mortgage until your scores are 620 or higher. While that is still a low credit score there are a few lenders still approving 620 credit scores (you would have to shop around for a lender who accepts that score). Now things may change by time your ready to apply and scores may have to be higher and maybe lower to qualify. Most creditors and lenders today want a 640 or higher middle score for mortgage approval, but as I mentioned there are still a few out there today issuing approvals with a 620 credit score.
As far as how long it will take to acheive these scores depends on to many different factors and not enough information provided.
But I can say if you have the judgements removed from your reports that should give you a nice boost and most likely in my opinion enough to qualify as far as your scores are concerned. If the judgements are not removed and following the advice I stated earlier it all depends on your credit limits and balances and how long before you can pay them down. Once you start following the advice stated you will see improvements to your score once you pay off the debt (will see an increase right away if paid down in one lump sum), and as you keep following the advice it will slowly keep improving your scores. No real way to determine how long before you could qualify for a mortgage loan.
Just a small reminder that credit scores are just one part of the mortgage process, your employment, income, etc etc will all play a part of your mortgage application and if you qualify or dont qualify.
@livgrace wrote:
Thanks for your response! I got my FICO score here and then the other 2 directly from their sites. Is the FICO score here not the true score?
My CCs should all be paid off in the next couple of months. Their limits are not terribly high.
In your opinion, with your suggestions, how long should I wait to even try for a mortgage? In your experience, do GW letters ever work? I live in NJ and look into the motion to vacate requirements.
Thx again!
The FICO scores you get from this site are real FICO scores. You can only get EQ and TU, an older version. EX has not sold their FICO score to the consumer since Feb 09. EQ does sell a FICO but it can be hard to find.