Will I hurt my score by doing this

[TryingVeryHard]

I have several CCs (balance is close to 33k). 
I have been given an offer to have 14k personal loan.
Will it help my score to take the LOAN and pay off most of my credit cards balances on multiple account to make them zeros OR

will I hurt my score more by opening a new line of credit in a form of a loan. 

I intend to use the entire 14k to pay my balances on different credit cards to simplify my monthly financing, but I am unsure if it will help me in any way OR hurt me more. 

I already applied for mortgages and the offers they have been giving me are anywhere 4.25 and 4.375%  My middle score is only 691 with the highest being only 724.

Thank you for your feedback. 

[dynamicvb]

I don't know if it may hurt or help your score, but in my opinion, it may make good financial sense. The interest on the loan should be a lot cheaper than the cards, so you will wind up saving money in the long run.

[Appleman]

It can be a VERY risky time to apply for credit if pursuing a mortgage.

A personal loan can help with your score in a few ways. 

1st, given the same debt, a personal loan will be scored higher than credit card debt. 

2nd, the utilization on your revolving credit cards will fall which will help your credit score.

On the down side, you will have a new inquiry and a new account that is at 100% of the original loan. As you pay down a personal loan, this obviously improves.

Also, you will now have a fixed payment that will figure in your DTI ratio. While the credit card may require a 2% payment, the personal loan may have a higher minimum payment due. As you know DTI ratio is a key portion of any mortgage approval.

If you are planning to wait (say in a year) on getting a mortgage my inclination would be to get the personal loan. It will take many months to see the final effect of getting the new loan, paying off the credit cards and letting everything report.

You should definately run this by the people who have given you approvals before making any credit moves. You can always do a personal loan after the mortgage.

[me12345]

You don't say what your limits are on the cards, so we do not know what your utilization is right now...

If these are all 25K limit credit card and you still have a low utilization with your 33k balance, then it wont help much...

On the other hand if your utilization is high and the 14K will lower it down to 29% or lower, then it could have a huge impact on your scores.

The main this is NOT to pay them down and then run them up again, then you have the high balances AND the personal loan.

Thanks,