Mortgage mid score advice

[Anonymous]

Little background: Due to multiple unfortunate events towards the end of 2017 (Health, accident, moving out of state etc), I not only maxed out all my 12 credit cards, but also fell behind on my payments, with many lates of 30 days, few of 60 days and one 90 days late. And my scores at that point tanked to:

EQ (Fico8/mortgage): 491 / 463

TU (Fico8/mortgage): 522 / 499

EX (Fico8/mortgage): 512 / 478

Since Jan 2018, I dilligently worked on clearing out the debts using DMP (Debt Management Program) with the result that all the debt has now been paid, but also most of my CC accounts have been closed. But with 3 credit cards still open, and with AZEO, my current scores are:

EQ (Fico8/mortgage): 719 / 695

TU (Fico8/mortgage): 724 / 674

EX (Fico8/mortgage): 735 / 736

So my middle mortgage score is 695, with AZEO, and no other debt. With the aim of buying a house in the next 4-6 months, what is the best course of action to take my mid mortgage score past 700 to get a better deal in terms of PMI (I am planning to put 10% down)?

Thanks in advance

[Anonymous]

SSL technique with some credit unions like NFCU may prove beneficial if you have no other installment loans. Or an unsecured loan with Alliant, which has the same early paydown abilities as most SSLs, with the benefit of being unsecured (no locked funds). 

I don't have any links to threads for that but I'm sure there is a lot of info on it here.

It may adversely affect your aaoa/aoya so it may not be advisable, but aside from AZEO, I think that's the only way to bring it up quick.

[donkort]

Excellent job of rebuilding!

[Anonymous]

Thank you @Anonymous. I should have been a little clearer in my original post. I have paid down all my DMP/credit card debts, but I still have one open installment loan which has one year left. So, I suppose, that rules out the SSL technique.

[AllZero]

@Anonymous  Congratulations on your success!

Are there any derogatory or delinquencies on your report?

If you have delinquencies, have you tried sending out Good Will letters?

The Saturation Technique: Best GW adjustment odds.

[AllZero]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Thank you @Anonymous. I should have been a little clearer in my original post. I have paid down all my DMP/credit card debts, but I still have one open installment loan which has one year left. So, I suppose, that rules out the SSL technique.

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What is your current reported individual and aggregate revolving utilization %? Are you reporting zero?

If you have an installment loan, then SSL is not necessary.

What is the utilization % on the installment loan? I presume it's a non-mortgage loan? You may see a score increase if installment loan utilization crosses 8.9% or less.

[Anonymous]

Thanks @AllZero The derogatory remarks are all from the Q4 2017 when I fell back on my credit card payments. Because the late payments were on all the 12 credit cards, I was a little skeptical if GW letters would work in this scenario.

Of the 3 open credit cards, 2 are reporting zero, whereas the 3rd one has 5% utilization (intentionally to achieve AZEO). The installement loan is curently at around 60% remaining balance. I am in 2 minds on whether to reduce my down payment to 5% and use that money to partially pay off the installment loan to get it below 10% utilization.

[AllZero]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Thanks @AllZero The derogatory remarks are all from the Q4 2017 when I fell back on my credit card payments. Because the late payments were on all the 12 credit cards, I was a little skeptical if GW letters would work in this scenario.

Of the 3 open credit cards, 2 are reporting zero, whereas the 3rd one has 5% utilization (intentionally to achieve AZEO). The installement loan is curently at around 60% remaining balance. I am in 2 minds on whether to reduce my down payment to 5% and use that money to partially pay off the installment loan to get it below 10% utilization.

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There is no guarantee that the GW letters will work. However, you won't know until you try. If you have the time, the effort could be rewarding if the delinquencies were removed.

As far as the down payment, it's something you may need to speak with a loan officer about. You'll have to determine if the next MMS tier will get you better rates and if the numbers make sense.

Do you have any scoreable HP Hard Pull inquiries? Are there any less than 365 days old?

[Anonymous]

Thanks @AllZero . Agree with the GW approach and that will be my next target. And I wanted to get my credit profile sorted out before approaching any mortgage lender. I will check with LO on the downpayment  as and when I reach that stage. I have 3 hard inquiries in the last 12 months.

[AllZero]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Thanks @AllZero . Agree with the GW approach and that will be my next target. And I wanted to get my credit profile sorted out before approaching any mortgage lender. I will check with LO on the downpayment  as and when I reach that stage. I have 3 hard inquiries in the last 12 months.

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@Anonymous   You're optimized with AZEO technique for the revolving accounts.

If you originally incurred point loss due to hard pull inquiry, you will recover those lost points when it ages to 365 days. The point gain may be minimal depending on the bureau. Did you track which bureau and the point loss if any for the inquiry?

The score penalty of the delinquency lessens at 2 years age. As it ages, you may see some score relief. However, the 90 day delinquency is a major derogatory and the weight of it can impact your score the entire time it's on your reports.

So you may have two course of action to consider for score improvement. 1. Good Will letters, 2. Reduce installment loan utilization.