Credit Score To Buy A House

January 31st, 2017

What Credit Score Do I Need to Buy a House?

One of the pervasive questions people always ask when inquiring about purchasing a home is, ‘What credit score do I need in order to buy a house?’ As with most questions in the mortgage world, there is no definite answer. Your credit score is basically a blueprint of your finances that lending institutions use to determine if you should qualify for a home loan.

Typically, the higher your credit score, the greater chance you have of getting approved and obtaining a lower interest rate. Again, this is only typical, not a hard-fast rule.

Your credit score is comprised of five factors, each bearing different weights in totaling your score. The first and most weighty factor is your payment history, followed by the length of your history, the outstanding amounts you owe on credit, new credit lines opened and the types of credit lines open.

Just to give you an idea or a goal to shoot for, a credit score of 660 can give you good flexibility in your home loan options. A lower score does not necessarily disqualify you from home ownership, the aforementioned score is typically considered lend-worthy for the average borrower.

Knowledge is power when it comes to your credit – it is always best to know what is being reported on your credit report and take steps to fix anything that could be hurting your scores. All three credit bureaus offer one free credit report every 12 months. You can access these reports at www.annualcreditreport.com.

By pulling the credit report for one bureau every 4 months, you can keep an eye on any changes that may occur throughout the year. This allows you to ensure everything being reported is accurate. If you find something reported in error, you can contact the credit bureau to get it resolved before it affects you negatively.

No matter where you are in the homeownership journey, please get in touch. We have plenty of resources and answers to your questions, and we love working with buyers!

Thanks for reading, we hope this helps to encourage you to take the homeownership plunge!