Thank you for the prompt response. Most of that I understood already though...I was looking for a slightly more specific answer (if its possible to get one?).
First, yes I must make the decision as to whether more down payment vs lower rate is better, HOWEVER, having a higher down payment ALSO affects the mortgage interest rate (more money down can lead to lower interest rate). But here is the deal in more specifics....
Many lenders use the 680 barrier as the level to move you into the good rates for mortgages. But, the next level is 720 and buys me a quarter point or so....so if I cannot quickly raise my score from 680 to 720, I am likely to have better success putting more down payment. I will be getting this loan in the nex 60-90 days.
As I said in the first post, when I use the score simulator and offer the option of paying about 1/2 of my debt over 90 days, the score barely budged even though my utils would be at about 20% then vs the 43% now....BUT, when I use the automatic feature of paying off the debt my score shot up to about 745-750! The ONLY difference I saw in the processes was the aging of the accounts (ie the auto feature paid the total debt over 24 months vs my 3-6 months). So, am I right in concluding that aging of accounts paid down or not, has a significant affect on the scoring? If so, it seems in my shortened time frame I will be better off using my extra cash over the next 90 days towards lowering the mortgage down payment right? Since even lowering the ratio by half over 90 days only gains me a few points, which as I ve said my lender says wont change my rate until I hit that 720+ mark?
Thanks again....I know Im asking a pretty wierd question and I appreciate any input.
OH, also, happen to have an answer on that drop off date for that last bad thing on my CR? Again, the date of last activity on both the repo and the collection related to it shows June 2001? Will that drop off in May (thereby not being there on a June report), or June (and not showing up on July report)?