FICO Score Simuator

[Anonymous]

Are the score simulators pretty accurate?  It shows that my scores will go up about 30-50 points if I pay off most of my cards. Right now I'm at about 85% utilization. I'm about 30 points shy of having what I need to qualify for a mortgage through the VA. This is with my 2 lower mortgage credit scores.

[Anonymous]

I was also wondering if I should pay all of my credit cards all off except 1 card. My mortgage lender said that with Capital One that it is best to pay off everything but about $25. She said the scoring models seem to prefer it this way. Two of my cards are Capital One and other is Merrick Bank.  I did not necessarily want the minimum payments to be factored into how much I qualify for but will do it this way if it's the best option to increase my score. I do not want to renew my apartment lease in late November so I am trying everything I can think of to bring the score up to the 640 the lender is asking for.

[JayTee1]

The simulator here is pretty accurate, all other things being equal.  In other words, if the only change to your credit report was just the reduction in utilization, you'd probably see very close results to what the simulator indicates.

As far as exactly what you need to do, the conventional wisdom is to pay off all cards to 0 except for one, which you keep at around 9% utilization and let that report.  This is for optimal scoring.

I'm not sure why your lender said anything about Capital One specifically.  Maybe she just meant to leave something on that one card.

I've had good success with that.  For sure, you'll get a good bump out of reducing utlilization if it's at 80+%.  You're basically maxed at that point.

[Anonymous]

I can't speak for the accuracy of the similator, but,  I've found the mortgage scores (the ones you purchase here), as opposed to Fico 8 scores, are much more responsive to low utilization.

[takeshi74]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Are the score simulators pretty accurate?

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Depends on what your target is.  A simulator cannot simulate all models out there.  FICO doesn't have just one model used by creditors.  It can be a handy rough estimate but don't rely on any simulator.  Learn about the typical factors and weights and assess your reports.

http://www.myfico.com/crediteducation/whatsinyourscore.aspx

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@Anonymous wrote:

Right now I'm at about 85% utilization. I'm about 30 points shy of having what I need to qualify for a mortgage through the VA. This is with my 2 lower mortgage credit scores.

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IIRC the simulator is for FICO 8, not for the models used by mortgage lenders.

85% revolving utilization is an obvious problem.  Don't just rely on clearing 30 points.  Get that revolving utilization down as low as possible.

If you have issues such as derogs then see what you can do to address them.  Carefully research in the Rebuilding subforum.

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@Anonymous wrote:

I was also wondering if I should pay all of my credit cards all off except 1 card. My mortgage lender said that with Capital One that it is best to pay off everything but about $25.

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Don't conflate carry and report.  You want to pay off all your revolving debt.  Going forward you want to pay every statement balance in full.  Paying in full doesn't mean that a balance doesn't report.  If you have a balance on the report date for a given account then a balance will report for that account.