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Massaging FICOs for upcoming mortgage

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NavyLifter
Valued Member

Massaging FICOs for upcoming mortgage

As most people know, anything above a 760 FICO really doesn't do much, at least from loan standpoints. However, I'm getting ready to prep for a mortgage-probably August at the earliest, November at the latest, and would like the proverbial crystal ball on what could be expected of my scores by that point. My current scores as pulled through MyFICO are in the title. I know the TU is TU98, but there really isn't much of an option to see the more commonly used TU04 scores from anywhere at this point.

Here's where my file stands at this point:


Credit history - 9 years (will turn 10 in August)
Accounts - 35
Accounts with balances - 10 (8 are installment - 7 student loans and 1 auto)
Accounts opened in past year - 3
Recent inquiries - 4
Baddies/collections/other derog - 0

My revolving credit balance is around $2800 with a total credit line of $29,500 with 2 showing a balance. By August, I will be down to 1 card with a balance of the recommended 1-5%. 

According to MyFICO, here are the negs and positives:

Negative: New account (2) opened 4 months ago
Positives: No missed payments, limited use of credit (9%), established history (9 years, 7 months) - AAoA (5 years), and recent years of revolving credit.

By August, I will be down to 1 card with a balance of the recommended 1-5% and will be down to 3 inquiries from November 2011. Any speculation or idea as far as what I can expect from my scores around the August-November time frame?

FICOs (4/7/09): TU-749 (WOW!); EQ-698; EX-?

FICOs (as of 11/1/08): TU-690, EQ-678, EX-646

FICOs (3/13/09): TU-698; EQ-696; EX-662
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3 REPLIES 3
RobertEG
Legendary Contributor

Re: Massaging FICOs for upcoming mortgage

General observations..

It looks like you know the right things to do... get your revolving % util, individ and overall, under 10%, preferable with only one reporting a balance.

That should give you most of the tweaking of revolving % util.

Dont be concerned about number of total accts with a balance.  Installments, when open, always carry a balance, and are not scored in the % with bal calculation.

 

The one item likely hurting the most would be AAoA.  You cant do much about that other than not to further reduce it.

With a solid mix of credit and multiple revolving, I dont see any advantage to seeking new credit, particularly when a high-principal mortgage loan is your immediate goal.

Mortgage lendors get a bit ansy when, in addition to a mortgage, you are seeking additional credit that could quickly turn to debt.

Above all, I would not even think about applying for any new credit prior to the mortgage app.

Low 700s will most likely be no problem.

Message 2 of 4
NavyLifter
Valued Member

Re: Massaging FICOs for upcoming mortgage

Whoops!  I totally realized the scores in my siggy are really outdated.  Here are my current scores at this point (both received from here):

4/18/12 - TU98 is at 773, EQ is at 773. 

FICOs (4/7/09): TU-749 (WOW!); EQ-698; EX-?

FICOs (as of 11/1/08): TU-690, EQ-678, EX-646

FICOs (3/13/09): TU-698; EQ-696; EX-662
Message 3 of 4
Revelate
Moderator Emeritus

Re: Massaging FICOs for upcoming mortgage


@NavyLifter wrote:

Whoops!  I totally realized the scores in my siggy are really outdated.  Here are my current scores at this point (both received from here):

4/18/12 - TU98 is at 773, EQ is at 773. 


If your EQ from here (Beacon 5.0, will be your EQ mortgage score) is 773, there's very little if any massaging you need.  760 is the gold standard currently; though any little bit helps, any increases at your strata are all in the margins as a general rule and unless your CC balances are out of alignment (RobertEQ offered good advice there), really only time passing and continued good behavior gets you higher.




        
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