Six month time frame to build FICO for USDA Loan

[MattH]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Hi everyone. Iv'e learned alot from this forum and hope someone can help with my "situation". I am badly trying  to acquire a home by doing  a lease purchase with the owner/realtor for a period of 6 months -beginning in August, and actualy purchasing the home in Febuary thru the Rural Development program here in Ms. I spoke to a mortgage prof. in early May regarding this property and was told I would need a credit score of 620. My credit scores in early May were 599-T.U.  558-EXP. and 538 EQFAX.  *I got in a financial bind in Nov. 'and Dec. 09 and fell 60 days behind on one credit card , a 2nd mortgage, and my car payment.  **Everything has been current since January and Iv'e taken out no new loans or borrowed from my credit cards. The second mortgage is also pd. in full. I have 3 credit cards -Cap.1 credit limit 2,500 balance 2,230  HSBC -credit limit 1,400 balance 1,080  and Orchard Bank credit limit 500 balance 340. My question is, if I'm able to  pay these three cards  down to say 30%  of each ones credit limit within the next 3 months would it be "reasonable" to expect a big enough jump from FICO to obtain that target score of 620 from at least two of the three bureaus by Febuary '11 ?  **Sorry to be "long winded" but wanted to be as detailed as I could.  I apreciate any and all advice-THANKS!

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One advantage of purchasing your TU and EQ scores from myfico.com is that once you have the score reports you can then use the Simulator to experiment with scenarios based on your actual situation, rather than guessing.  Another useful resource is the Fico Score Estimator, also from the myfico folks:

http://www.bankrate.com/calculators/credit-score-fico-calculator.aspx

Do not confuse the Fico Simulator and Estimator with similar calculators found on other websites, these are more reliable.  The Simulator and the Estimator are different, and in my view complementary, resources.  The Simulator is more accurate because it begins with an actual report.  The Estimator is totally free because it works off your answers to some questions, and therefore has less detail.  But the Estimator is more flexible than the Simulator because it allows experimenting with a wider variety of scenarios.

I would suggest purchasing one or both of your TU/EQ scores here at myfico so you can use the Simulator, and then spend half an hour or so trying further experiments with the Estimator.  The results will not be exact, because if FICO made the Estimator too accurate then it would assist competitors with reverse-engineering their trade secrets!  But with some intelligent experimentation these tools will give you a much better idea what you can accomplish, over what time frame, and how best to do it in your situation, than could lots of people making guesses.

And beware, many Internet resources, sites that sell the non-Fico "credit scores" we here call FAKOs, real estate people, mortgage brokers, etc., may give incorrect advice.  Some widely circulated advice could even lower your score.