Impact of paying off student loans?

[BubbaJean]

I have 5 student loans bundled into one account/payment.  According to Experian Credit Tracker my score would increase 29 points if I went from my current 6 installment loans down to 1.  The remaining balances are pretty small so I could easily pay them off entirely today.  However, I'm scared to do so because of my uncertainty of the impact on my credit score.  I'm looking to apply for a mortgage in the next few months and would hate for something like this to backfire.

Does what Credit Tracker shows make sense?

[guiness56]

Installment loans have little impact on your score, unlike revolving.  Paying them off wouldn't help that much.  If you had no other installment loans left and paid them off you may actually lose points.

[pizzadude]

+1. Don't try to correlate the ex tracker to FICO scoring; fako scores frequently don't behave in the same way as FICO scores.

[StudentSam]

Damnit! i was hoping this would help. My score is a 650 up from a miserable 507. I defaulted on 3 student loans, and have one SS charged off. Was late on my loans also but saved them before they defaulted it. I did a Dept Education Loan rehab on all of my defaults, paid for 9 months then got them knocked off my record. But some of my accounts still show it as a deliquiancy in the history, even thouhg it was rehabbed and paid and now closed, with a $0 balance.

My score hasn't changed and I just got an Amex with a 5k limit, 5x more any of my other revolving limits.

I was hoping paying down my 11k in debt would increase my credit:debt ratio and maybe raise my score. I have a business and a large amt in the bank, I just want credit to get the rewards on my money. 

Any suggestions for me ?

[guiness56]

What does your revolving utilization look like?

[StudentSam]

i have 3 ccs 5k limit Amex, 2k BoA and a 500 cap1. I use them every month and pay in FULL almost weekly. Sometimes it reports a balance if they dont post in time/timing issues but mostly im $0 balances and use my card monhtly. 

[guiness56]

Let all but one report 0 balances and the last report at 9% or below.  This gives you a better FICO score.  FICO sees it negatively letting all report 0 balances.

[thom02099]

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@BubbaJean wrote:

I have 5 student loans bundled into one account/payment.  According to Experian Credit Tracker my score would increase 29 points if I went from my current 6 installment loans down to 1.  The remaining balances are pretty small so I could easily pay them off entirely today.  However, I'm scared to do so because of my uncertainty of the impact on my credit score.  I'm looking to apply for a mortgage in the next few months and would hate for something like this to backfire.

Does what Credit Tracker shows make sense?

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Paying off student loans, or any loan for that matter, frees up money that would ordinarily go to making that payment.  If you're looking to apply for a mortgage, having a bit more money in a savings and/or checking  account could be a positive for you, depending on the amounts you're talking about.