What score “counts” more?

[TaperRandy]

Indeed. That's the spirit! Also, they aren't dead balls accurate...but for general peace of mind, go to your individual apps for your CR and use the score simulator tour.  There usually is an option that allows for you to "pay off all of my balances or credit cards". Then hit enter and your score will be updated (in theory) to what it may actually arrive to after performing the task for real.  It's not a "chiseled in stone result", but it certainly helps give you an idea. 

[TaperRandy]

True dat!👍

[HeavenOhio]

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@Jnbmom wrote:

FICO scores are the only ones that "count".

Creditwise, Credit Karma complete garbage.

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CreditWise and Credit Karma both offer nice reports, but the VantageScores they provide should be ignored. Credit Karma breaks both utilization and account age stats, but that's a CK issue rather than a VantageScore issue. I don't know where CreditWise stands as far as the accuracy of its stats.

[HeavenOhio]

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@Anonymous wrote:
Good to know. I always thought under 30% was where I needed to be but it makes sense the lower the better.

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Under 30% — which is actually 28.9% or below — is considered to be responsible borrowing and will keep you out of dutch with lenders. It's generally the second best scoring tier, though.

8.9% or below optimizes most people's scores. But some have reported small gains for bringing utilization down further.

[TaperRandy]

CreditWise is strictly adhered to TU, and believe me...they are not fond of inquiries! 

[Anonymous]

Just to recap for our OP.  The strategy we recommend is:

All cards at zero except one (AZEO)

Remaining card should be

       * Reporting a small positive balance, e.g. $15.

       * A major credit card, not a store card or a charge card

       * A card in your name, not an AU card

       * A card with a CL < 34.9k

This strategy can be dropped once you have the loan.

[Anonymous]

Thanks everyone who replied !

[Anonymous]

The only score that matters is your FICO score, of which they are several variants.  CreditWise by TransUnion is certainly based on VantageScore 3.0; I've never ever encountered a lender that used VantageScore, but almost all use a version of a FICO score.

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@Anonymous wrote:
My Experian FICO score is a 640,my capital one credit wise score which I believe is TransUnion VantageScore is 560. Which do I actually pay attention too and which will lenders be looking at?

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[Anonymous]

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@TaperRandyIndeed. That's the spirit! Also, they aren't dead balls accurate...but for general peace of mind, go to your individual apps for your CR and use the score simulator tour.  There usually is an option that allows for you to "pay off all of my balances or credit cards". Then hit enter and your score will be updated (in theory) to what it may actually arrive to after performing the task for real.  It's not a "chiseled in stone result", but it certainly helps give you an idea. 

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TR recommends using a simulator above.  I strongly advise against that, as IMO simulators are garbage.  The OP is more than welcome to use a simulator if he'd like, but it's important that he understand that what the simulator says and what actually happens when he pays off all but 1 card, leaving just a small balance on it could be two wildly different things.