A customer that is using absolutely none of their revolving credit is a higher risk than someone that is showing mild (or even moderate) use of their credit. You don't need to carry a balance from month-to-month and pay interest, but you do need to use at minimum one card and let a balance post when your statement closes (then pay the full "statement balance" amount prior to the due date approximately 25-28 days later to avoid interest). AZEO (all zero except one) would give you the highest amount of points, where none of your credit cards have a balance, except one which is reporting a balance under 9% of its credit limit (at least $5 with most accounts to avoid being rounded down to $0).
Utilization has no memory, so if you use any of your credit cards and let a statement balance post, you will immediately gain those points back when your balance is reported to the credit bureaus the following month. No need for alarm with a mortgage application that far out, just make sure you don't have $0 showing all around when it's time to apply (and later on if they do an additional credit pull prior to finalizing your approval).
@Anonymous wrote:It sometimes amazes me how credit agencys actually calculate their score.
I have a high amount in credit for years and cards with the heavy hitters, and the only balance I've had over my multiple cards was with Discover. I just paid it off last week, and now I have zero debt showing ( besides my car )
So for paying off everything, I lost 17 points from EXP. Seriously? 17 Points? I lost 16 when I paid off my last car loan 8 months ago, but for paying off a credit card? Comeon. I can't wait to see how it affects TU and EQ
I literally just canceled myfico a few days ago cause I figured " Hey I don't need it, I dont forsee any real notiable increases or drops anytime soon " and then BAM, get this notification today, a few days before it stops showing me
Now I have to keep it for another month or 2 to see if I can recover. Mind you I still have 745 as the score with exp, but GEEZ, I want a mortage in the next 6 - 12 months.
So do I seriously need to actually KEEP a balance owed for me to get a better score?
Dumb logic
Sorry, I was just venting ;]
UPDATE: EQ dropped 17 points also
As others have noted, it is well known that FICO 8 imposes a penalty if all revolving accounts report a zero balance. The penalty does not occur if there is one card reporting a small balance, even as little as $5 or $10.
It is not nearly as well known what effect, if any, it would have on your other FICO scores. Since you are applying for a mortgage in the near future, your real interest is in the mortgage scores: EQ FICO 5, TU FICO 4, and EX FICO 2.
So I would suggest keeping MyFICO until your mortgage is signed, sealed, and delivered.
And by the way, I agree with you that it is "dumb" but disagree with you that it is "logic" 
