scorewatcher wrote:
Hello all, I have been working on my score for about 5 months and have gone from 617 to 662. I recently received a pre-approval for a house loan based on my 662. My wife's car died and we recieved financing for a new one with no problems. The inquiry for the car ... along with the pre-approval for the house about a month back dropped my score by 4 points! 2 questions: 1. how can you abtain necessary credit like mortgage and car without taking a hit. (We couldn't do all inquiries within the 2 weeks because we didn't know we would need a car) 2. How long will this 4 point loss stay on my report? I have to get this score back up above 660 before closing on the house. Thanks in advance for any help.
1. You can't. If you seek\apply for credit you get inqs which will impact your scores.
2. The inquiry stays on your reports for 2 yrs. But only impacts your score for 12 months, with the previous 6 months holding the most weight.
PS... I strongly discourage you applying for ANYTHING until you close on your home.
