What’s your Credit Score? Maybe Not What You Think!
Perhaps you get a monthly credit score on your credit cards. Maybe you subscribe to a credit monitoring company like CreditKarma. Perhaps you pulled a credit report from one of the three major credit bureaus. Your credit score for a mortgage uses only certain scoring models. You may have more than 40 different scores from many different companies and for many different purposes. You may think you qualify for a lower interest rate than you will. Negative credit events may be considered differently in different scoring systems. This applies to student loans and medical debts in some recent model updates.
Do you inherit the credit score of someone else if you sign on their credit cards? Which score is used if you and a co-borrower have very different scores? Can you overcome a low score by one of the applicants for a mortgage? If so, what hoops and consideration goes with overcoming a low credit score? Can you have non-borrowers contribute income towards qualifying for a mortgage or does every income earner need to be an applicant?
It’s likely your credit card company gives you a higher score than you will receive on a mortgage application. Find out by how much this might exceed your mortgage score and which scores you should know when you apply for a mortgage to make sure you are getting the lowest rate which you are entitled to! Pick up a copy of Winning Mortgage, Winning Home before applying for a mortgage with the wrong information.