6 Tips to Boost Your Credit Score for Kentucky Mortgage Loans (FHA, VA, USDA, KHC)

6 Tips to Boost Your Credit Score for Kentucky Mortgage Loans (FHA, VA, USDA, KHC)

If you’re looking to buy a home in Kentucky, having a solid credit score is essential for qualifying for popular mortgage programs like FHA, VA, USDA, or KHC loans. Here are six actionable tips to improve your credit score and increase your chances of getting approved for your dream home loan.

1. Pay Your Monthly Bills on Time

Here are six tips for improving your credit score for a fresh financial start 

1. Pay Your Monthly Bills on Time
Paying monthly bills is a necessary chore that has a definite effect on your credit score. According to the FICO scoring model, your payments account for as much as 35 percent of your total score. Create reminders for due dates or establish a calendar for yourself to ensure you get everything paid on time.

2. Reduce Your Debts
Got credit card debt? Start paying it off now. Part of your credit score is based on the amount of available credit you have, known as your credit utilization ratio. So if you're carrying high balances, you'll want to lower them as soon as possible. Create a personal budget with a goal of reducing your spending so that it's lower than your income. Then, use any monthly surplus for your credit card debts until they're gone for good.

3. Limit Credit Inquiries
Looking for a new apartment? What about a mortgage? In either situation, try and group your applications together as much as possible. Applications for new lines of credit will generate a "hard pull" on your credit, and having too many of them in a short period of time can lower your score. However, credit reporting agencies usually consider a group of applications within a short period of time as one pull, as long as they're in the same category.

Similarly, limit yourself to opening up no more than one or two credit cards per year, which also generate hard pulls. Even if you get a ton of offers in the mail for stellar sign-up bonuses, they're likely to be offset by the damage to your credit. FICO reports that new credit and credit inquiries account for 10 percent of your total score.

4. Don't Cancel Old Cards
Have a card you don't use anymore? Don't close it. This can negatively affect your score as it lowers your amount of available credit. Instead, use it about once per month and don't forget to pay the bills in full, and on time.

5. Request Credit Limit Increase
If you only have one card and you're constantly approaching your spending limit, call the bank and ask for an increase in your credit line. This will raise the amount of available credit, which will eventually improve your score.

6. Take Care of Late Payments Before They Hit Your Score
If you do happen to miss a payment, contact the card issuer immediately. If you have good history built up, the company may agree to not report your late payment. Even if you can't avoid a late-payment fee, be sure to get your account up to date as soon as possible so you can limit the damage.
Your credit score is yours to own. It reflects your financial history and helps lenders predict how you will manage your finances in the future. Due to the lingering effects of credit, you don't want to waste any time to improve your credit.

1 -  Email - kentuckyloan@gmail.com 

2.   Call/Text - 502-905-3708

Joel Lobb
Mortgage Loan Officer - Expert on Kentucky Mortgage Loans

 Website: www.mylouisvillekentuckymortgage.com
 Address: 911 Barret Ave., Louisville, KY 40204

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Evo Mortgage
Company NMLS# 1738461
Personal NMLS# 57916

For assistance with Kentucky mortgage loans, reach out via email, call, or text Joel Lobb directly.

The view and opinions stated on this website belong solely to the authors, and are intended for informational purposes only. The posted information does not guarantee approval, nor does it comprise full underwriting guidelines. This does not represent being part of a government agency. The views expressed on this post are mine and do not necessarily reflect the view of my employer. Not all products or services mentioned on this site may fit all people. NMLS ID# 57916, (www.nmlsconsumeraccess.org). Mortgage loans only offered in Kentucky.

What is a Good Credit Score for a Kentucky FHA, VA, USDA, Fannie Mae Conventional KHC Mortgage Loan Approval?

What is a Good Credit Score

What is a Good Credit Score?

An established credit history and credit score often stands between potential home or car buyers and their dream. But What is a good credit score? What exactly is a credit score? What makes a credit score “good?” How to improve your credit score? If you’re new to building credit there are a few things you need to know in order to keep your credit looking stellar.

What is a credit score?
Your credit score is a numerical representation of your credit report. This three-digit number is like a badge that predicts risk, credit responsibility and determines your interest rates if you borrow money from lenders much like your CLUE Report. While you will be able to get a copy of your credit report you may not find this numerical key listed. Think of your credit score like the cliff notes version of your credit report. There are a few different measures of credit scores between divisions. Based on their own systems different scorers might view certain numbers in many ways.

what is a good credit score

Deciphering your three-digit credit score is quite easy if you know the levels. The range usually runs from 300-850. Good to excellent credit is considered anything from 700 to 850. If your credit score falls in this range you’re going great! Fair credit runs from 625-699, poor runs from 550-624, and anything below 550 is bad. Some finance experts would classify anything over 720 a good credit rating. Experts will disagree depending on their preferred credit rating systems, and in most cases the criteria you use to determine whether or not your credit score is good will not be far off.

What Does a Good Credit Score Mean?
Having a good credit score is great, but if you don’t know how to use it you could be missing out on some crucial credit building. Credit scores are used in varying ways by lenders and banks. One thing your credit score implies is how likely you are to pay back debt. Basically it announces how reliable you are as a borrower. People with good credit scores are more likely to pay back funds that they borrow while those with lower scores aren’t so reliable. Lenders like reliable borrowers, and good credit points them out.

But a credit score does much more than predict whether or not you’ll pay a loan back. When it comes to buying a house or car, there is an interest charge. Higher credit scores usually have a lower interest rate than those with bad to fair credit. Lenders not only base whether or not they’ll approve a loan by your credit score, but also how much interest to charge. If your credit is in good standing your interest rate won’t be as high as someone with bad credit. Your credit score saves you money with lower interest rates.

How is a Credit Score Calculated?
In order to build and maintain good credit you must first know how your score is determined. Once you know what goes into a credit score you can begin building your credit or nursing your score towards higher digits. Credit scores are based on your financial history only, and laws prevent your score being affected by things like race, gender, age and where you live. What is included are items such as your payment history, your current credit debts, age of your credit history, new credit items added to your accounts and types of credit used.

These five basic areas are where the bulk of your credit score is formed. All criteria have varying degrees of involvement in your score. For example:

• Payment history (35%) – How many on-time payments you’ve made, missed, defaulted and past due items
• Current amount owed (30%) – How much you currently owe – if you owe a large amount this could negatively affect your score
• Age of credit history (15%) – The average length of your credit accounts and time since last activity
• New credit (10%) – The number of new credit items on your accounts
• Types of credit (10%) – The kinds of credit accounts are you currently maintain

How to Improve Your Credit Score?
Many people avoid credit based on all the negatives they’ve heard against it, but neglecting your credit score hurts your chances of being able to make major purchases in the future. The best way to build credit is to use credit, and forming the following good credit habits early will pull your low score to higher ground.

• Pay bills on time – This is the easiest and best way to boost your credit score. Since the bulk of your credit score comes from your payment history, paying bills on time will pull you up quickly. Not only will that help, but a recent and consistent history of paying bills on time overshadow a period long in the past where you may have missed payments.
• Budget – Setting up a budget and staying within its parameters will keep you from overspending and using credit for frivolous things. Although using credit builds credit not being able to pay it off hurts more in the future.
• Use all your credit cards regularly – If you have a few credit cards try to use them from time to time in order to show that you use all of your accounts. Remember that the last usage of an account is 15% of your score.

Track a key aspect of your financial profile with your personal FICO® Score history graph. Simply navigate over any point of your score history and view the date the score was calculated. Check back each month to stay on top of changes.

Important items to note:

• We may not receive a new score for you each month. You won’t see a score if we did not receive one for a given month.
• Remember, FICO® Scores are based on data in your credit report, so changes to your score may be a result of changes in your credit report. You can request a free annual credit report from Equifax at www.annualcreditreport.com.

Please refer to our FAQs or Useful Links sections for more information.

FICO® Scores: What You Need to Know

Score Deciding Factors

35% payment history, 30% amount you owe, 15% length of credit history, 10% new credit opened, 10% type of credit.

 

Understanding Credit Reports and Credit Scores

When it comes to getting a home loan, does your credit report and credit score really matter? Can you use the free credit score you got off the internet to apply for a loan?  What if your credit score is low, can you get a mortgage? What if it is high, will you get a better interest rate? And what the heck is FICO?

So many questions. You’ve searched the internet and are still confused. If you are new to getting a mortgage and are overwhelmed by understanding your credit score you are not alone. Your credit score has a big  impact on your ability to qualify for a loan and get a favorable interest rate. Therefore, you should take the time now to understand it.

Here’s the good news. We’re here to explain things simply and clearly. Step by step we will walk you through all things credit. When we’re done, you’ll know what you need to know to understand how credit impacts your ability to get a mortgage so you can make smart home buying decisions.

Below are the important items we will discuss:

• What is a credit report?
• What do mortgage lenders use to determine my credit score?
• What does FICO stand for?
• What determines my FICO score?
• What’s a good FICO score?
• What if my FICO score is below 620?
• Can I get a copy of my credit report?
• Ah Ha! Now I understand all things credit and I’m this much closer to owning my home!

What is a credit report?

A credit report record’s your credit history including information about:

• Your identity: name, social security number, date of birth and possibly employment information.
• Your existing credit: credit card accounts, mortgages, car loans, students loans etc.including credit terms, how much you owe, and your payment history.
• Your public record: Judgments against you, tax liens or bankruptcies.
• Recent Credit Inquiries: Requests for your information from companies extending credit such as credit card companies, auto loans, etc.

Be aware, credit card companies, car companies and mortgage lenders use slightly different models to determine credit risk. Today we are focusing on Mortgage related credit.

How do lenders calculate my credit score?

Your credit score is the key to your castle. Your home is most likely the most expensive purchase you will ever make. Therefore, when buying a home, lenders use a different system for assessing risk than credit card companies or even auto loan companies use.

Mortgage lenders use a comprehensive system of checking credit called a Residential Mortgage Credit Report (RMCR), commonly called a “Tri-Merge” report. The RMCR report combines your three credit reports from the three national credit bureaus, Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. Each credit reporting agency calculates your credit score or FICO Score differently. Therefore, pulling from all three bureaus gives lenders a more complete picture of your credit behavior.

Once pulled, lenders use the average of these three scores, usually the middle score, to determine loan qualification and interest rate. For example, if Equifax gives you a 720, Experian a 730 and TransUnion a 740, the lender will use the 730 FICO Score to help determine the terms of your mortgage. If you are applying for a loan jointly, your partner’s three reports will also be pulled.

What does FICO stand for?

FICO stands Fair, Isaac and Company. Over 25 years ago, lenders began using FICO’s scoring model, or algorithm, to fairly and more accurately determine a person’s credit risk. Since it’s inception, FICO’s continually updates its’ algorithms to reflect more current lending trends and consumer behaviors. Today, FICO Scores are used by over 90% of enders. Importantly, your FICO score can impact your loan interest rates, terms, approvals and more.

What determines my FICO score?

A Mortgage FICO score is determined by an algorithm that generally looks at five credit factors including payment history, current level of indebtedness, types of credit used, length of credit history and new credit accounts.

What’s a good FICO score?

To qualify for a conventional loan, most Mortgage lenders require a FICO score of 620+. The best interest rates go to borrowers with a 740+ FICO score. For each 40 point drop, borrowers can expect to see a slightly higher interest rates by about 0.2 percentage points.  If a borrower drops below 660, the increase is likely to be twice as big, a 0.43 percentage point increase. If your credit score is below 620, it is very difficult to get a conventional loan in today’s marketplace. However, don’t be discouraged. You may still be able to buy a home.

What if my FICO or credit score is below 620?

If your score is below 620, you may still be able to buy a home. There are several options:

• Put more money down. Some lenders offset a weak credit score with a higher down payment. A higher down payment gives you more equity in your home, lowering the lender’s risk.  
• You may qualify for a non conventional government issued loan such as an FHA, Veterans Affairs and/or U.S. Department of Agriculture loan which have less stringent lending requirements.
• You may work to get that credit score up!
  • Correct any errors on your report. Analyze your credit items line by line. If you notice a mistake, dispute it right away with either the credit bureau providing the report or the company that providing the incorrect information to the credit bureau.
  • Make all your payments on time. Late payments are the No. 1 way to lower  your credit score.
  • Pay down revolving debt. Keeping your credit balances low helps to raise your score.  
  • Sit back and relax. As long as you're paying down debt and making payments on time, your credit score will eventually rise on its own.

Can I get a copy of my credit report after a lender has pulled it?

Yes! In fact, you can get one free credit report every twelve months from each of the nationwide credit bureaus—Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. You may also purchase your credit score at any time from any of the credit bureaus. Some Mortgage lenders will tell you your score when you apply for a loan or even give you a copy of your report but they are not required to do so. However, if a lender denies you credit, under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) you are entitled to a free copy of your personal credit report if you have received notice that in the past 60 days you have been declined credit

Joel Lobb
Mortgage Loan Officer

Individual NMLS ID #57916

American Mortgage Solutions, Inc.

10602 Timberwood Circle 

Louisville, KY 40223

Company NMLS ID #1364

Text/call:      502-905-3708
email:          kentuckyloan@gmail.com

http://www.mylouisvillekentuckymortgage.com/

Text/call 502-905-3708 kentuckyloan@gmail.com

Disclaimer: No statement on this site is a commitment to make a loan. Loans are subject to borrower qualifications, including income, property evaluation, sufficient equity in the home to meet Loan-to-Value requirements, and final credit approval. Approvals are subject to underwriting guidelines, interest rates, and program guidelines and are subject to change without notice based on applicant's eligibility and market conditions. Refinancing an existing loan may result in total finance charges being higher over the life of a loan. Reduction in payments may reflect a longer loan term. Terms of any loan may be subject to payment of points and fees by the applicant  Equal Opportunity Lender. NMLS#57916 http://www.nmlsconsumeraccess.org/

-- Some products and services may not be available in all states. Credit and collateral are subject to approval. Terms and conditions apply. This is not a commitment to lend. Programs, rates, terms and conditions are subject to change without notice. The content in this marketing advertisement has not been approved, reviewed, sponsored or endorsed by any department or government agency. Rates are subject to change and are subject to borrower(s) qualification.

About FICO® Scores

 

About FICO® Scores

What is a credit score?

A credit score is a number that summarizes your credit risk to lenders, or the likelihood that you’ll pay the lender back the amount you borrowed plus interest. The score is based on a snapshot of your credit report(s) at one of the three major credit bureaus—Equifax®, Experian®, and TransUnion®—at a particular point in time, and helps lenders evaluate your credit risk. Your credit score can influence the credit that’s available to you and the terms, such as interest rate, that lenders offer you.

What is a credit bureau?

A credit bureau, also known as a consumer reporting agency, collects and stores individual credit information and provides it to creditors so they can make decisions on granting loans and other credit activities. Typical clients include banks, mortgage lenders, and credit card issuers. The three largest credit bureaus in the U.S. are Equifax®, Experian®, and TransUnion®.

What are FICO® Scores?

FICO® Scores are the most widely used credit scores and are used in over 90% of U.S. lending decisions. Your FICO® Scores (you have more than one) are based on the data generated from your credit reports at the three major credit bureaus, Experian®, TransUnion® and Equifax®. Each of your FICO® Scores is a three-digit number summarizing your credit risk, that predicts how likely you are to pay back your credit obligations as agreed.

What it the highest credit score?

Most credit scoring models follow a credit score range of 300 to 850 with that 850 being the highest score you can have. However, there can be other ranges for different models, some of which are customized for a particular industry (credit card, auto lending, or insurance for example). While the majority follow the 300 to 850 range, there are some scores (e.g., FICO® Bankcard Score) that range from 250 to 900 and others that may use other score ranges. For more information on the different scoring models, view Understanding the difference between credit scores.

Why do FICO® Scores fluctuate?

There are many reasons why your score may change. The information on your credit report changes each time lenders report new activity to the credit bureau. So, as the information in your credit report at that bureau changes, your FICO® Scores may also change. Keep in mind that certain events such as late payments or bankruptcy can lower your FICO® Scores quickly.

FICO® Scores consider five main categories of information in your credit report.

• Your payment history
• The amount of money you currently owe
• The length of your credit history
• New credit accounts
• Types of credit in use

What are the minimum requirements to produce a FICO® Score?

In order for a FICO® Score to be calculated, a credit report must contain these minimum requirements:

• At least one account that has been open for six months or more.
• At least one account that has been reported to the credit reporting agency within the past six months.
• No indication of deceased on the credit report (Please note: if you share an account with another person and the other account holder is reported deceased, it is important to check your credit report to make sure you are not impacted).

Does a FICO® Score alone determine whether I get credit?

No. Most lenders use a number of factors to make credit decisions, including a FICO® Score. Lenders may look at information such as the amount of debt you are able to handle reasonably given your income, your employment history, and your credit history. Based on their review of this information, as well as their specific underwriting policies, lenders may extend credit to you even with a low FICO® Score, or decline your request for credit even with a high FICO® Score.

How long will negative information remain on my credit reports?

It depends on the type of negative information. Here’s the basic breakdown of how long different types of negative information will remain on your credit reports:

• Late payments: 7 years from the original delinquency date.
• Chapter 7 bankruptcies: 10 years from the filing date.
• Chapter 13 bankruptcies: 7 years from the filing date.
• Collection accounts: 7 years from the original delinquency date of the account
• Public Record: Generally 7 years

Keep in Mind: For all of these negative items, the older they are the less impact they will have on your FICO® Scores. For example, a collection that is 5 years old will hurt much less than a collection that is 5 months old.

Are FICO® Scores unfair to minorities?

No. FICO® Scores do not consider your gender, race, nationality or marital status. In fact, the Equal Credit Opportunity Act prohibits lenders from considering this type of information when issuing credit. Independent research has shown that FICO® Scores are not unfair to minorities or people with little credit history. FICO® Scores have proven to be an accurate and consistent measure of repayment for all people who have some credit history. In other words, at a given FICO® Score, non-minority and minority applicants are equally likely to pay as agreed.

How are FICO® Scores calculated for married couples?

Married couples don’t share joint FICO® Scores; each person has their own individual credit report, which is used to calculate FICO® Scores, and isn’t impacted by their spouse’s credit history. However, married couples should be mindful of the potential impact of opening joint credit accounts. For example, if you get a new credit card in both spouses’ names, and there is a late payment on that account, the late payment will impact both individuals’ FICO® Scores.

How can I access my credit report?

By federal law, you are entitled to one free credit report every 12 months from each credit reporting company, TransUnion®, Equifax®, and Experian®. Find them at annualcreditreport.com. Take advantage of this service annually to ensure the information on your credit report is current and accurate.

Impacts to FICO® Scores

Will closing a credit card account impact my FICO® Score?

It is possible that closing a credit account may have a negative impact depending on a few factors. FICO® Scores may consider your “credit utilization rate”, which looks at your total used credit in relation to your total available credit. Essentially, it measures how much of your available credit you are actually using. The more of your credit that you use, the higher your utilization rate and high credit utilization rates may negatively impact your FICO® Score. Before you close any credit card account, Wells Fargo recommends that you should first consider whether you really need to close the account or if your real intention is just to stop using that credit card. If you really just want to stop using that card, it may make sense if you stop using the card and put it somewhere for safe keeping in case of an emergency. It’s also important to note that length of your credit history accounts for 15% of your FICO® Score calculation. Therefore, having credit card accounts that are open and in good standing for a long time may affect your FICO® Score.

How does refinancing impact my FICO® Score?

Refinancing and loan modifications may affect your FICO® Scores in a few areas. How much these affect the score depends on whether it’s reported to the consumer reporting agencies as the same loan with changes or as an entirely new loan. There are many reasons why a score may change. FICO® Scores are calculated using many different pieces of credit data in your credit report. This data is grouped into five categories: payment history (35%), amounts owed (30%), length of credit history (15%), new credit (10%) and credit mix (10%). If a refinanced loan or modified loan is reported as the same loan with changes, two pieces of information associated with the loan modification may affect your score: the new credit inquiry and changes to the amounts owed. If a refinanced loan or modified loan is reported as a “new” loan, your score could still be affected by the new credit inquiry and an increase in amounts owed,— along with the additional impact of a new “open date” which may affect the credit history category. In the end, a new or recent open date typically indicates that it is a new credit obligation and, as a result, may impact the score more than if the terms of the existing loan are simply changed.

How do FICO® Scores consider loan shopping?

In general, if you are “loan shopping” - meaning that you are applying for the same type of loan with similar amounts with multiple lenders in a short period of time - your FICO® Score will consider your “shopping” as a single credit inquiry on your score if the shopping occurs within a short time period (30 to 45 day) depending on which FICO® Score version is used by your lenders.

What are the different categories of late payments and do they impact FICO® Scores?

A history of payments is the largest factor in FICO® Scores. FICO® Scores consider late payments in these general areas; how recent the late payments are, how severe the late payments are, and how frequently the late payments occur. So this means that a recent late payment could be more damaging to a FICO® Score than a number of late payments that happened a long time ago. Late payments are listed on credit reports by how late the payments are. Typically, creditors report late payments in one of these categories: 30-days late, 60-days late, 90-days late, 120-days late, 150-days late, or charge off (written off as a loss because of severe delinquency). Of course a 90-day late is worse than a 30-day late, but the important thing to understand is that people who continually pay their bills on time tend to appear less risky to lenders. However, for people who continue not to pay debt, and their creditor either charges it off or sends it to a collection agency, it is considered a significant event with regard to a score and will likely have a severe negative impact.

How does a bankruptcy impact my FICO® Score?

A bankruptcy is considered a very negative event by FICO® Scores. As long as the bankruptcy is listed on your credit report, it will be factored into your scores. How much of an impact it will have on your score will depend on your entire credit profile. As the bankruptcy item ages, its impact on a FICO® Score gradually decreases. Typically, here is how long you can expect bankruptcies to remain on your credit reports (from the date filed):

• Chapter 11 and 7 bankruptcies up to 10 years.
• Completed Chapter 13 bankruptcies up to 7 years.

These dates and time periods refer to the public record item associated with filing for bankruptcy. All of the individual accounts included in the bankruptcy should be removed from your credit reports after 7 years.

How do public records and judgments impact FICO® Scores?

Public records are legal documents created and maintained by Federal and local governments, which are usually accessible to the public. Some public records, such as divorces, are not considered by FICO® Scores, but adverse public records, which include bankruptcies, are considered by FICO® Scores. FICO® Scores may be affected by the mere presence of an adverse public record, whether paid or not. Adverse public records will have less effect on a FICO® Score as time passes, but they can remain in your credit reports for up to ten years based on what type of public record it is.

What are inquiries and how do they impact FICO® Scores?

Inquiries may or may not affect FICO® Scores. Credit inquiries are classified as either “hard inquiries” or “soft inquiries”—only hard inquiries have an effect on FICO® Scores.

Soft inquiries are all credit inquiries where your credit is NOT being reviewed by a prospective lender. FICO® Scores do not take into account any involuntary (soft) inquiries made by businesses with which you did not apply for credit, inquiries from employers, or your own requests to see your credit report. Soft inquiries also include inquiries from businesses checking your credit to offer you goods or services (such as promotional offers by credit card companies) and credit checks from businesses with which you already have a credit account. If you are receiving FICO® Scores for free from a business with which you already have a credit account, there is no additional inquiry made on your credit report. FICO® Scores take into account only voluntary (hard) inquiries that result from your application for credit. Hard inquiries include credit checks when you’ve applied for an auto loan, mortgage, credit card or other types of loans. Each of these types of credit checks count as a single inquiry. Inquiries may have a greater impact if you have few accounts or a short credit history. Large numbers of inquiries also mean greater risk.

How does applying for new credit impact my FICO® Score?

Applying for new credit only accounts for about 10% of a FICO® Score. Exactly how much applying for new credit affects your score depends on your overall credit profile and what else is already in your credit reports. For example, applying for new credit may have a greater impact on your FICO® Scores if you only have a few accounts or a short credit history. That said, there are definitely a few things to be aware of depending on the type of credit you are applying for. When you apply for credit, a credit check or “inquiry” can be requested to check your credit standing.