Get an installment loan?

[Anonymous]

Hi, I have a score of 790 when I check though Creditwise.com (capital one) and would like to apply for a mortgage in the next 6-12 months. Have a good credit card history but no installment loan on my report. Should I get an installment loan to improve my credit so I can get a better rate for a mortgage? Thank you in advance

[Anonymous]

My recommendation would be to get your actual fico mortgage scores before making any major changes. If your middle score is anything over 760 it may be unnecessary, you would be getting the best rates anyway.

[Revelate]

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@Anonymous wrote:
My recommendation would be to get your actual fico mortgage scores before making any major changes. If your middle score is anything over 760 it may be unnecessary, you would be getting the best rates anyway.

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And maybe 740 actually, 760 is for mortgage insurance pricing.

Installment loans help credit mix for FICO 04, and some payment gimmicks appear to help EX FICO 2 on my data, but a tradeoff against new account (definite penalty if you don't have a recent one already for EQ FICO 5) isn't something I'd make personally if applying for a mortgage anytime in the next two years but that's me being hugely conservative when it comes to obtaining a mortgage.

[Anonymous]

Affirming what the other two commenters have said.

First you want to optimize your three reports as best you can.  That would involve paying all cards to zero except one, with the remaining card reporting a small positive balance.  Let us know if that is not realistic.  Also helpful to know is the age of your oldest account and how many cards you currently have.

Second, and only after the new much lower CC balances are reporting as per above, you should sign up for the myFICO Ultimate and get your mortgage scores.

After you have done both things, then you can strategize with the folks here about the best steps after that.

[Anonymous]

Thank you all for your responses! I went ahead and applied thinking that I needed an installment loan in my credit, but then after reading your responses decided against actually opening an account... So now I have a hard pull that's sitting pretty for two years. At least I didn't open an account for a small amount and had it sitting on my credit. Once I get closer to actually getting a mortgage (~6 months i hope), I will follow your advices and pay everything off, and see what that does to my score. Thanks again!