Almost 800... And then...

[allplaynogame]

Hi all, long time lurker first time poster. I had credit issues in the past and this forum really helped me get past them.

Two days ago I was at a 799 FICO 8. I recently paid off all credit cards except one 3100/14300 (need to get it to under 8.9) with total utilization 3100/88000. Also the only other debt was a car loan 2100/17500 and two student loans 800/1750 and 1100/2750.

I paid off my car knowing I was going to take a bit of a hit because I was in the "sweet spot" range, and I don't have any other active loans except the student loans...... Today I woke up to -21, 778. Didn't expect that big of a hit. 

I'm not planning on taking out any loans in the near future (buying a house next year) but that's it.... But I want that 800. Should I pay down my credit card first, or student loans? Do student loans actually count as an "installment" loan, and should I just get/keep them in the sweet spot when I'm ready to buy a house?

Thanks all!!

[Gmood1]

If you're not planning to use your credit for a mortgage now. There's really no need to sweat it. Your scores will bounce back in the coming months. The student loans are installment loans. Either way, your scores are plenty high enough for the best rate. Not enough of a drop to lose sleep over IMHO..relax. lol

[VanderSnoot]

^^ and pay off your credit cards.

[Trudy]

I agree with GMood1 and VanderSnoot.  Even with a MTG you should still get the best rates above 760.  How did your MTG scores respond?  It's possible it could have had a positive impact on those scores since they respond differently.

But it is interesting that a loan payoff in the sweet spot while having other loans cost you 21 pts.  Paying off the auto loan took your aggregate installment from 18% to 42%.  I've always wondered if auto loans were treated differently than MTG loan within the installment group.  And thought/think all other non MTG loans are lumped together if MTG UTL has a distinction, which if that's true, in a sense one installment in the sweet spot is like one card being in the sweet spot but aggregate is not.   Interesting.  Thanks for sharing.