You Credit Score- How's Your FICO?

Because our society is so computer-driven, it should come as no surprise that your ability to repay your mortgage loan comes down to a single number. All the years you've been paying your various bills: your mortgage, vehicle payments, and credit card bills are analyzed, diced, spindled and mutilated into a single indicator of whether you're likely to meet your future obligations.

Each of the three credit agencies has its own formula for building your credit score. The original FICO was developed by Fair Isaac and Company. Experian uses this model and calls its score FICO. Equifax's model, based on FICO, is called BEACON, while TransUnion, which also uses a slightly modified FICO, calls its score EMPIRICA. While each of the models considers a range of data available in your credit report, the differences aren't huge; each agency uses the following to calculate your credit score:

• Credit History - How many years have you had credit?
• History of Payments - Do you have any payments later than 30 days?
• Credit Card Balances - How many accounts? How much do you owe on your accounts?
• Requests for Credit - How many times have lenders pulled your credit for the purpose of lending you money?

Each of these is assigned a value and a weight. The result is a single number: your FICO score. Credit scores can be as low as 300 and as high as 800. Higher scores are better. Most home buyers likely find their credit scores above 620.

Your score greatly affects how much you pay in interest every month

Did you know? FICO scores affect more than your ability to get a loan. They also affect your interest rate. Higher scores indicate you are probably a better credit risk, and thus may qualify for a better mortgage rate.

Improving your score

Is there any way to improve your credit score? Some companies promise quick fixes, but they can't do anything different than what you can do — for free. (Of course you can and should appeal incorrect items on your credit report.)

Getting your credit score

In order to raise your FICO score, you've got to have the reports that the agencies use to build it, and of course, you need the score itself. Fair Isaac, the corporation that offered the first FICO credit score, offers scores on its website: myFICO.com. It's inexpensive, fast, and easy to get your credit score along with reports from all three reporting agencies. They also provide information and tools that can help you analyze what actions might have the greatest impact on your FICO score.

You can get a federally-mandated free credit report once a year from all three credit reporting agencies by visiting AnnualCreditReport.com. While this report does not include a free credit score, the cost to "upgrade" your report to include a credit score is very reasonable.

Now that you have all the facts, you'll be a more informed consumer and you'll be better positioned to obtain the right mortgage for you.

Want to know more about credit scores? Give us a call at 5617752724.