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Hi, apologies if this has been asked before...
Context: I have a strong but young credit profile; bankcard scores between 802-816 and mortgage scores between 768-786. My oldest account is 6.5 years and average credit age is 3.75 years; I have never had a real estate account and have paid off 1 of 2 small student loans less than $2,000 each (I graduated college in 2022). My lowest mortgage score is 768 through Equifax and my total utilization is 4.9% (out of $135,500).
I want to take advantage of any 1st-time homebuyer program possible, but if it doesn't make fiscal since I'll go with the best direct lender.
Question 1: If I get my utilization to 4.4%, will that push my Equifax score to be closer to the other scores (782 | 786)?
Question 2: Is there any benefit to improving the Equifax mortgage score? My debt is at 0% APR until September of 2026...
Question 3: Is there an underwriting benefit to such a small % difference?
I don't think improving utilization below 4.9% will help any scores. Since the middle score is used for mortgage, improving low score won't help anyway.
If you're qualifying for conventional financing then a 780 credit score will result in the best interest rates and the middle score is what is used. Since your middle score is 782 then you'd already qualify for the best rates a lender would have to offer.
@ILuvLeverage wrote:Hi, apologies if this has been asked before...
Context: I have a strong but young credit profile; bankcard scores between 802-816 and mortgage scores between 768-786. My oldest account is 6.5 years and average credit age is 3.75 years; I have never had a real estate account and have paid off 1 of 2 small student loans less than $2,000 each (I graduated college in 2022). My lowest mortgage score is 768 through Equifax and my total utilization is 4.9% (out of $135,500).
I want to take advantage of any 1st-time homebuyer program possible, but if it doesn't make fiscal since I'll go with the best direct lender.
Question 1: If I get my utilization to 4.4%, will that push my Equifax score to be closer to the other scores (782 | 786)?
Question 2: Is there any benefit to improving the Equifax mortgage score?
No, it will not help EQ mortgage score. EQ mortgage is hyper sensitive to number of cards with balances. So, if you have multiple cards with balances, dropping to only one reporting (AZE1) might add a few points.
