What credit score do I need to get a mortgage?

Conventional loans generally stop around 620, FHA accepts 580 with 3.5% down at many lenders, and the low-down conventional programmes usually want 680 or better. Best pricing typically starts around 760. The bands move by lender and investor, which is why the pricing matrix matters more than the single number quoted to you.

How much is half a percentage point worth?

On a $320,000 loan over 30 years, moving from 6.5% to 7.0% costs $106 a month and roughly $38,300 of extra interest across the term. That is why a tier improvement you can reach in two months is often worth more than the rate movement you are waiting for — price both figures in the Mortgage Payment Calculator before deciding.

Can I raise my score quickly enough to matter?

Utilisation is the fast lever: most models read the balance your issuer reports, so paying cards down mid-cycle can show up within weeks. Derogatory history is the slow one — a missed payment stays on the report for years and no amount of rearranging fixes it before closing.

Will shopping for a mortgage hurt my score?

Each application triggers an inquiry worth a few points, but mortgage rate shopping inside a short window is generally scored as a single inquiry rather than several. The bigger risk to the file is new debt — the store credit opened after approval, not the second lender you called.

Should I wait to lock until my score improves?

Compare the two payments rather than guessing. If one band is worth $100 or more a month and you can reach it in sixty to ninety days, waiting usually pays; if the gap is small, the market can move further against you in the same period than the tier is worth.

Your Credit Score and Its Impact on Mortgage Rates

4 min read · updated October 7, 2026

A credit score is the only number in a mortgage application the borrower can still change this month. It rarely decides whether a lender says yes. It decides what the yes costs, and that cost is charged monthly for thirty years.

So the useful questions are not what is a good score, but what the score measures, where lenders cut their pricing, what each cut is worth in dollars — and what not to do while a loan is in flight.

What the score is actually measuring

Under the FICO model the weights are published: payment history 35%, amounts owed 30%, length of credit history 15%, new credit 10% and credit mix 10%. Two thirds of the score therefore comes from two habits — paying on time, and not running out of available credit. The last two categories are where people obsess; the first two are where the money is.

Where the pricing tiers cut

Lenders price by bands rather than by the exact number. Best execution usually sits around 760 and above, with step-downs at roughly 740, 720, 700, 680, 660 and 640 until the conventional floor near 620. FHA accepts 580 with 3.5% down at many lenders, and the low-down conventional programmes usually want 680 or better. The exact matrix moves by lender and by investor, so ask for the pricing matrix rather than one quote for one house.

What the tiers cost in dollars

On a $320,000 loan over 30 years, the Mortgage Payment Calculator prices 5.5% at $1,817 a month, 6.5% at $2,023 and 7.5% at $2,237. That full spread is $421 a month and about $151,400 of extra interest across the term. The step most buyers actually face is smaller than a whole point: half a percentage point, 6.5% against 7.0%, is $106 a month and roughly $38,300 over thirty years. Find out which rate your score qualifies for and put it through the calculator before you fall in love with a house, not after.

The double hit: rate and mortgage insurance

A weaker score is charged twice. Once as rate, through a pricing add-on measured in basis points. And again through private mortgage insurance, which is credit-priced too — typical rates run from about 0.3% to 1.5% of the loan each year depending on score and loan-to-value, so on a $360,000 loan that is $90 a month at the top of the range against $150 at the mid-point most quotes use (PMI Calculator). Below 20% down, the score moves both halves of the payment.

What moves a score, and how fast

Utilisation moves fastest, because most models read the balance your issuer reports rather than the balance on the day you apply — paying a card down mid-cycle can show up within weeks. A missed payment works the other way and lingers for years. New applications cost a few points each, although mortgage rate shopping inside a short window is generally treated as a single inquiry. Closing an old card tends to hurt: it shortens average age and removes available credit at the same time.

The traps between application and closing

Most lenders re-pull the report before funding. Furniture-store credit opened to furnish the living room, a switch to a commission income, or paying off and closing an old card can all change the file you were approved on — and it is the file, with its debt-to-income ratio, that sets what you could borrow in the first place (affordability calculator). If the score improves after you are in the house, the payoff is a refinance decision, and that one is settled by the Refinance Break-Even Calculator rather than by optimism.

The rule worth following

If two months of dull behaviour — cards paid down, nothing new opened — lifts you a band, and that band is worth $100 or more a month, waiting is usually cheap. Price both rates in the payment calculator, compare the monthly gap with the risk that market rates drift against you in the same period, and decide once instead of hoping. The term you choose interacts with this too, since a shorter term amplifies every rate change; that comparison is in 15-year versus 30-year mortgage. Once the loan exists your score stops mattering and the balance starts to, which is what the Mortgage Payoff Calculator is for — and if you are still gathering the cash itself, what you need at the table is a separate list.