Question about FICO 8 & FICO 2, I think??? All comments appreciated!

[Anonymous]

Okay, so much has happened with my credit scores these past 2 years since I decided to buckle down and grow my credit as fast and as high as I could.
I was about an averaged score of 630 to 650 about 18 months ago. Then I began to pay in full, ask for CLI (3 small cards, averaged about 1500 to 2000) every 4 to 6 months, and eventually got my first grown up Citi Diamond Preferred card to BT and was given a SL of 5300 around Sept last year. Next was my Discover It BT of 6700 in Jan. and finally my biggest, Care Credit at 15000 in Feb. for a total dental rebuild. My scores that I got on an inquiry were 746 Exp, 731 Trans, and 697 Equifax (I've no idea why that one never really picks up. 😞)
My income being about 65,000 yr.
However, I began to help my Mom about Oct of last year and she had scores between 590 and 610, but makes 127,000 a yr.
She got a BofA card for about 1500 in Oct. Had an Amazon card for 2000 from Jan '17. And recently got a Citi DC for 4300, plus a Care Credit card for 11,000 to help out with my dental expenses between (Jan and Feb '18).
Her scores jumped to 697 Exp, 710 TU, and 680 Equifax. Pretty respectable, I thought!

For the past year or so we both have been house hunting. We found a very nicely remodeled house for about 325,000 and about 2 weeks ago applied for a loan together. We were immediately accepted and they said our scores were:

Her: 768 Equifax, 742 TU, and 691 Experian.

Huh???

Mine: 731 Equifax, 697 TU, and 690 Experian.

So I'm guessing Mortgage scores aren't exactly like Credit Card scores?

Also, now that we've bought the house, and have begun escrow, our Credit Card scores have dropped severely! Mine range from 687, to 715, hers have dropped even lower.
Like, WAY lower.

I've zeroed out all of our balances, and know the the house purchase (which was a sudden decision) is really close to getting a couple of our latest cards, but how much does your Mortgage effect your Card Credit??
And for how long??
Like, ... my utilization was at an average of 5% or lower, now hers is too.

Do our scores recover soon? How is the best way to raise them?
Does it ever go back to a mid 700, or higher?

I'm kinda freaked out, a bit. 😲

Thoughts? Comments?
A cyber Xanax for my soul??
Thanks!

[iv]

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@Anonymouswrote:

So I'm guessing Mortgage scores aren't exactly like Credit Card scores?

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The scores used for mortgages are very specific (old) versions of FICO Classic scores, listed on the myFICO reports as Equifax Score 5, Transunion Score 4, and Experian Score 2.  Of those, EQ5 and TU4 are very similiar to each other, and EX2 is older, with slightly different criteria. All three are different in various ways from FICO 8.

Credit cards will frequently use the much newer FICO 8 or FICO 8 Bankcard scores, but depending on the lender, can use a whole range of newer/older score models, including non-FICO lender-internal or third-party (VantageScore).

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@Anonymouswrote:

Also, now that we've bought the house, and have begun escrow, our Credit Card scores have dropped severely! Mine range from 687, to 715, hers have dropped even lower.
Like, WAY lower.

I've zeroed out all of our balances, and know the the house purchase (which was a sudden decision) is really close to getting a couple of our latest cards, but how much does your Mortgage effect your Card Credit??
And for how long??
Like, ... my utilization was at an average of 5% or lower, now hers is too.

Do our scores recover soon? How is the best way to raise them?

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Completely zeroing out your (reported) credit card balances actually can hurt your score... it counts as "no use of revolving credit".

Not saying you need to carry a balance and pay interest!  Just make sure that at least one card reports a balance to the CRAs each month, before you pay it off.  Search for "AZEO" in these forums for tips on optimizing that.

Adding inquiries can also slightly reduce scores, as can reducing your average account age, once the mortgage appears.  (In just the same way that newly-added credit cards can.)

The good news is that having a mortgage on your reports is a very good thing for your scores (especially if it's your first installment line - do you have a car loan listed?)

Once the initial impact of the new mortgage line and inquires fade, and you make sure that you don't let all cards report zero balance at the same time, your scores should improve, quite possibly further/faster than if you hadn't added the mortgage.

Overall, it sounds like you've been making good choices, and will see your scores continue to improve in the near future. Congratulations on the house, and good luck!

[Anonymous]

Thank you so very much! That brief explanation almost sort of makes it all make sense!

I now get the older versions of scores part. My mother has bought and sold many houses, condos, etc for over 45 years, ... so I guess her overall credit for house buying would be high.
I've only owned 2 houses, sold both. So, not high but not bad scores. Ok. Cool.
We've both never had a mark against us. So, that helps. And as for car loans, she must've bought, sold or borrowed for literally dozens of cars since she was young.
Unfortunately, I've never owned a car.
I'm epileptic, so don't drive. And I lived in Japan on and off for many years, no need for a car, really. 😞
But, she's never used credit before for cards, and frankly never have I. So, ... this is just a minor freak out over first time everything! I've been using these myFICO forums for months now trying to figure things out! You guys are so cool! You know everything.
I told my mom that we may get even better scores now, and she was grinning ear to ear. Again, Thanks!

Now, I'm trying to see if I can establish credit in Japan, and have been reading up on banks and cards (Apparently, a Viaso card seems to be popular for being easy to get. Dunno. Maybe someone on myFICO will know how to score great overseas credit on a board somewhere!).
Yeah. Getting good credit is addictive. 😅