Credit Score - Pull now or wait for lender?

[lolabelle]

I'm thinking of getting pre-qualified for a mortgage in the next few months.  I haven't pulled my FICO score since... hang on.... checking signature block... May of last year.  Does it make sense to spend the crazy MyFico fee to pull my score(s) now to see what sort of rates I can expect, or just wait for the potential lender to do so?

(No, I apparently can't make this decision for myself.  Sigh.)

[llecs]

The question to ask yourself is...if your FICO scores aren't where you want them to be, could you delay the mortgage a few months while you do whatever it is you need to do? It's one thing to have time to fix credit, pay down debt, etc., and it's another to panic the day  of the mortgage app after realizing it might take time to pay down balances, etc.

[lolabelle]

Yes - I'm not really looking to obtain a mortgage until July at the earliest - more likely August.  So that gives me a few months.  And I always feel better when I know what I'm working with.  

On the other hand, it's really darned expensive to pull credit scores.  I'm also not sure which one - Equifax or Transunion - will give me the best idea of what rates I would qualify for.

On the other other hand, my utilization rate is always good, I have no baddies/dings, AAoA is over 6 years.  The thing that really seems to affect my score is number of inquiries and amount of student loans.  I've only had one inquiry since April of last year, so maybe I should wait until April (or May) for the inquiries before that to count for less so I can get a better idea of what a lender would be seeing?

[Anonymous]

Lolabelle,
If you do decide to pull your scores from here I would suggest pulling EQ for two reasons. One, the TU model sold here is one model older than the model your mortgage lender will pull, so the scores could be off. Secondly I recommend you pulling EQ because in your siggy I notice its the lowest of your scores. If nothing has changed in your credit profile since May 2012, you can be *fairly* confident that if your EQ score is over 760, then your other scores will *likely* be over 760 as well & you'll qualify for the best rates possible.