Get a (Free) Credit Report, FICO Score before a Mortgage Loan
To the savvy homebuyer, it just about goes without saying: knowing your credit score gives you a huge leg up in negotiating the terms of a mortgage loan. Next to your income level, your credit report & score results will be the most important factors in determining the rate & terms you secure for the loan.
For those of you new to this… Believe it or not, your credit report and score are the only thing most lenders use to evaluate credit worthiness, so its important to ensure your report and score are accurate (e.g., there are no errors on the report), and that your history indicates you’re ready to borrow.
FICO Credit Scores & Report Impact on Mortgage Lending
Each lender will use their own formular to determine credit worthiness and pricing. In general if you have excellent credit (720 and above for most lenders), you’ll get premium pricing (lower rates, lower closing costs)… On the other hand, a score below 640 will have a dramatic impact on your rate and may even prevent you from getting a loan (according to Wikipedia, scores below 640 are considered sub-prime). Of course, there are no set rules – and that’s why you need your report first… and do everything you can to get above 720.
How to Get Your Credit Report & FICO Score for Free!
Fortunately, getting a credit report and FICO score is both free and easy… There are several services that will monitor reports from all three of the major bureuas (Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion). All of these services offer a free trial period, so the key is to make sure you cancel the service after you get your report and score (unless you plan to continue to use their services on an ongoing basis…) Here’s two places to try:
- FreeCreditReport.com from Experian
will provide you your FICO score and free credit report just for signing up for their trial. Even though Experian runs FreeCreditReport.com, you’ll still get reports from all three bureaus.
- ConsumerDirect™
boasts a “new way” to manage your credit. They still provide your scores and reports, but offer a streamlined way to address errors in your reports.
What do you think? Have you gotten your report & score lately?
(photo: Andres Rueda)
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4 Responses to Get a (Free) Credit Report, FICO Score before a Mortgage Loan
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July 9th, 2009 9:46 am
I did get my credit report and FICO score back in May. I did it primarily because I was car-shopping and wanted to know what I should expect as an interest rate. The information it provided was dead on.
I am monitoring it regularly now through myfico.com.
July 9th, 2009 1:52 pm
A FREE annual credit report (see http://www.ftc.gov/freereports) is available through AnnualCreditReport.com
July 9th, 2009 3:44 pm
Nicole, thanks for the tip on myfico… haven’t used them before, but I’ll take a look.
Tom, I’ve tried annualcreditreport.com twice over the last 3 years with less than stellar results. The first time, it worked and I got the reports, however, I found it was hard to understand and the information provided with the report didn’t make it any easier. Second time I tried, the system failed on step 2 or 3 in the process, didn’t give me my reports, and then told me that I wasn’t eligible because I had already gotten them. Perhaps things have been cleaned up now, and I’m sure this isn’t everyone’s experience, but I prefer the interfaces available on the services above. Now, that said, you do have to remember to cancel the service if you don’t want to continue, or you get charged a fee, and that is where ACR has an advantage, but I’ve used them and cancelled with no problem and felt like the value was much higher.
Also, ACR doesn’t provide your score…
July 11th, 2009 12:11 pm
I only found one place to get a free credit score, and it’s not the FICO score.