What Credit Score Do You Need to Buy a House?

"What credit score do I need to buy a house" is the question people ask. It's not quite the right one.

The threshold question — will I be approved — has a fairly boring answer, and it's lower than most people assume. The question that actually costs money is the one nobody asks: what will my score do to my interest rate, and what is that worth over thirty years?

The answer is usually far more than the approval question. A borrower who barely clears a lender's minimum and one with excellent credit can both buy the same house, and one of them will pay a few hundred dollars more every month for three decades to do it.

A note before you start: this is general education, not personalized financial advice. Credit thresholds described here are the standard, widely published program floors — individual lenders set their own stricter overlays and change them regularly, so confirm with a lender rather than treating any number here as a guarantee. Payment figures were computed with the engine behind this site's calculators, using a $320,000 loan over 30 years.

1. The actual minimums, by loan type

Four main loan programs, four different floors:

Conventional loans (Fannie Mae / Freddie Mac) generally require a score of about 620. This is the most common path and usually the cheapest long-run option for borrowers with decent credit, mainly because its mortgage insurance cancels — see section 4.

FHA loans are the flexible option: 580 with 3.5% down, or 500 with 10% down. FHA exists precisely to serve borrowers conventional underwriting won't, which is why it dominates among first-time and credit-rebuilding buyers. The trade-off is permanent mortgage insurance on most loans written today.

VA loans, for eligible veterans and service members, have no VA-imposed minimum — but lenders do, and most look for roughly 580–620. VA loans need no down payment and carry no ongoing mortgage insurance, making them the strongest option available to anyone eligible.

USDA loans, for eligible rural and many suburban properties, likewise set no federal minimum, with lenders typically wanting 640 for streamlined processing.

Two things are true at once here: the floors are lower than the folklore, and clearing a floor is not the same as getting a good deal. Which brings us to the part that matters.

2. What your score is actually worth

Your score's real job is setting your rate. Lenders price credit risk, and they do it in tiers — better score, lower rate.

Here's what rate does to the same $320,000 loan over 30 years:

Every 0.50% of rate is roughly $105 a month. Across the full two-point spread in that table, the difference is $423.30 a month — and about $152,000 over the life of the loan.

That's the honest answer to "what is my credit score worth." Not whether you're approved — how much of a two-point rate spread you land on.

Note deliberately absent from this article: a table mapping specific scores to specific rates. Those tables circulate widely and they are always out of date, because lender pricing changes constantly and varies by lender, loan type, down payment, and property. What holds true is the structure — better score, better tier — and the dollar consequence shown above, which is arithmetic rather than a market forecast.

3. Where the tiers roughly sit

While exact pricing varies, the broad shape of lender pricing is consistent enough to plan around:

• 760 and above — best available pricing. Improvements past this point buy little.
• 740–759 — very close to best; the practical target for most buyers.
• 700–739 — good pricing, modestly above the best tier.
• 660–699 — noticeably higher rates, and PMI costs start climbing.
• 620–659 — conventional approval is available but expensive; FHA is often cheaper here despite its permanent insurance.
• Below 620 — conventional is generally out; FHA (580+, or 500 with 10% down) or VA become the route.

The practically useful part: the gaps between tiers aren't evenly spaced. Moving from 690 to 720 typically saves more than moving from 760 to 790. If you're sitting just below a tier boundary, a small improvement can be worth far more than the effort suggests — which is why section 6 focuses on the fastest levers rather than long-term credit building.

4. Your score also prices your mortgage insurance

An effect that gets missed: if you're putting less than 20% down on a conventional loan, PMI is priced on your credit score and your down payment together.

Our calculators use 0.75% of the loan amount annually as a mid-range default, but the real range runs roughly 0.5% to 1.0% — and where you land is driven substantially by credit. On a $360,000 loan that's the difference between about $150 and $300 a month for identical coverage.

So a weaker score costs you twice on the same loan: a higher interest rate and a higher PMI premium. Our PMI guide covers how the premium works and when it ends.

FHA is different in a way that occasionally favours weaker-credit borrowers: its mortgage insurance premium is not credit-priced. A 600-score borrower and a 720-score borrower pay the same MIP rate. That's part of why FHA can be cheaper than conventional in the low-600s even though its insurance is permanent — a genuine comparison worth running rather than assuming conventional is always better.

5. The score lenders see isn't the one in your app

A common and expensive surprise.

Lenders use older FICO models. Mortgage underwriting typically runs FICO Score 2, 4, and 5 — models built for mortgage lending and materially older than the FICO 8/9 or VantageScore figures most consumer apps display. The numbers routinely differ by 20 points or more in either direction.

They pull all three bureaus and use the middle score. Not the average and not the best — Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion are all pulled, and the middle value is used. If your scores are 700, 715, and 740, you're a 715 borrower.

On a joint application, the lower borrower's middle score usually governs. Two applicants with 780 and 660 are typically priced closer to 660 than to a blend. Sometimes the arithmetic favours applying with one borrower alone — though that also means qualifying on one income, so it's a real trade-off to model rather than assume.

The practical step: ask a lender to pull your actual mortgage scores early, before you're attached to a house. It's the only way to know the number that will actually price your loan.

6. The fastest ways to improve it before applying

Credit building is slow in general, but a few levers move a mortgage score within one or two billing cycles:

Pay down revolving balances. Credit utilisation is one of the heaviest factors and it updates monthly. Getting each card below 30% of its limit — and ideally below 10% — is the single fastest improvement available. Paying down a card usually beats paying down an installment loan, for scoring purposes.

Don't close old cards. Closing reduces total available credit (raising utilisation) and can shorten average account age. Both push the wrong way.

Open nothing new. Every new account adds an inquiry and lowers average age. In the six months before applying, and absolutely between pre-approval and closing, open nothing — this is one of the more common causes of a loan collapsing in the final week.

Dispute genuine errors. Report errors are common. Pull all three reports free at AnnualCreditReport.com and dispute anything wrong — a single incorrect collection can cost a full pricing tier.

Ask about rapid rescoring. If you're already working with a lender and can pay down balances, a rapid rescore can update your file in days rather than a full cycle. It's lender-initiated and can move a borderline application into a better tier before closing.

What generally doesn't work quickly: paying off an old collection (the entry usually stays), or "credit repair" services promising to remove accurate negative information.

7. Should you wait to improve your score?

The same trade-off as waiting to save 20% down, and it deserves the same honest arithmetic rather than a reflex.

Waiting is likely worth it if you're just below a tier boundary and can cross it in a few months (high utilisation being the classic case), or if a specific negative item is about to age off.

Waiting is likely not worth it if the improvement would take years, or if prices and rates in your market are moving against you. Six months of rent plus price appreciation can easily exceed what a modest rate improvement saves.

There's also a middle path people forget: buy now at the rate you can get, then refinance when your score improves. Rate is the one term you can change later. Run it through our refinance guide — the break-even has to work — but a lower score today is not a thirty-year sentence.

8. What else matters as much as your score

Credit is one input among several, and a strong score won't rescue a weak file:

• Debt-to-income ratio — often the binding constraint. See our affordability guide.
• Down payment — affects both pricing and PMI.
• Employment history — typically two years in the same field, with self-employment requiring deeper documentation.
• Cash reserves — months of payments remaining after closing; a real compensating factor.
• Property type — condos and multi-unit properties can carry pricing adjustments regardless of your credit.

9. What actually goes into the score

Knowing the inputs tells you which levers move and which don't. FICO weights five categories, roughly:

Payment history (~35%). Whether you've paid on time. The single heaviest factor, and the slowest to repair — a late payment can affect your file for years, though its weight fades with time. One 30-day late is recoverable; a pattern is not.

Amounts owed (~30%). Dominated by credit utilisation — balances as a percentage of limits, both per card and overall. This is the fastest-moving factor, because it updates whenever your issuer reports. It's the main reason a score can improve within a single billing cycle.

Length of credit history (~15%). Average age of accounts and the age of your oldest. This is why closing an old card is counterproductive: you lose its age and its available credit at once.

Credit mix (~10%). Having both revolving (cards) and installment (loans) accounts. Minor, and not worth opening an account to manufacture.

New credit (~10%). Recent inquiries and newly opened accounts. Each new account also drags down average age.

The practical reading: utilisation is the lever you control on a mortgage timeline. Payment history matters more but moves slowly. Everything else is either minor or works against you if you touch it in the months before applying.

One under-used tactic: you don't have to wait for a statement to close. Paying a card down mid-cycle, before the statement date, means the lower balance is what gets reported. Many people pay in full after the statement posts and never see the utilisation benefit.

10. Mistakes specific to homebuyers

Beyond general credit advice, several errors are particular to the mortgage timeline:

Financing furniture or a car "because we're about to have a house." The most common way a loan collapses in the final two weeks. Lenders re-pull credit before closing, and a new installment payment changes your debt-to-income at the worst possible moment.

Paying off and closing an old card to "clean up" before applying. Paying down is good; closing is not. Keep the account open with a zero balance.

Applying for a store card at checkout during the process. A small discount for an inquiry, a new account, and a lower average age — at the exact moment those matter most.

Disputing accurate items right before applying. An account under active dispute can be excluded from scoring or flag underwriting, which can stall a file. Dispute genuine errors early, not in week three.

Letting an authorised-user account mislead you. Being added to someone else's card can help, but lenders sometimes disregard authorised-user accounts in manual underwriting. Don't build a plan around it.

Assuming a spouse's strong score carries the application. On a joint application, the lower borrower's middle score usually governs pricing — see section 5.

Not checking all three bureaus. Errors frequently appear on only one, and since lenders use the middle score, a single-bureau error can be exactly the one that prices your loan.

11. Special situations

Thin or no credit file. If you've genuinely never borrowed, you may have no score rather than a bad one. Some lenders will build a non-traditional credit history from rent, utilities, insurance, and phone payments — usually requiring 12 months of documented on-time payments across several accounts. FHA and VA are more accommodating here than conventional. It takes more documentation and a lender who does manual underwriting, but it's a real path.

After a bankruptcy or foreclosure. There are standard waiting periods, and they differ by program and by chapter. Conventional loans generally require the longest wait; FHA and VA are typically shorter, and all of them can shorten further with documented extenuating circumstances such as a medical event or job loss beyond your control. Ask a lender for the current periods rather than assuming you're excluded — the folklore here is usually more pessimistic than the rules.

Medical collections. Treated more leniently than they once were, with recent scoring models weighting them less and some removed from reports entirely. If a medical collection is the only blemish on your file, get current advice rather than assuming it disqualifies you.

Self-employment. Doesn't affect your score, but it changes the documentation burden substantially — typically two years of full tax returns. Worth knowing that lenders assess self-employed income on net profit after deductions, so aggressive write-offs in the two years before buying can shrink the income you qualify on.

12. A timeline for improving it

If you're planning to buy, working backwards from your target date is more useful than general advice.

12+ months out. Pull all three reports free at AnnualCreditReport.com and dispute genuine errors — this is the moment for disputes, not later. Bring any past-due accounts current; payment history is the heaviest factor and the slowest to repair. Open nothing new from here on.

6 months out. Begin paying revolving balances down deliberately. Target under 30% utilisation on every card, ideally under 10%. Don't close anything. If you're planning a car purchase, do it now or after closing — never in between.

3 months out. Ask a lender to pull your actual mortgage scores (FICO 2, 4, and 5), so you know the number that will price your loan rather than the one in your banking app. Get pre-approved and let the shopping window cover multiple lenders at once.

1 month out and through closing. Change nothing. No new accounts, no large undocumented deposits, no job changes, no closing old cards. Keep balances low through each statement date.

A note on rapid rescoring. If you're mid-application and can pay down balances, ask your lender about rapid rescoring — it can update your file within days rather than a full billing cycle, and occasionally moves a borderline application into a better pricing tier before closing. It's lender-initiated, so you can't request it directly from the bureaus.

And the honest caveat: if the gap between your score and your target is large, the timeline is years rather than months, and the right answer may be to buy at the rate you can get and refinance later. Rate is the one term you can change; the purchase price is fixed at closing.

Frequently asked questions

What is the minimum credit score to buy a house? It depends on the loan. Conventional generally starts around 620; FHA allows 580 with 3.5% down or 500 with 10% down; VA and USDA set no federal minimum but lenders typically want 580–640.

Can I buy a house with a 600 credit score? Usually yes, via FHA. Conventional is generally out of reach at 600, and even where available it's priced expensively enough that FHA often wins despite its permanent mortgage insurance.

How much does my credit score affect my mortgage rate? Enough to matter more than almost anything else you control. Across a two-point rate spread on a $320,000 loan, the difference is $423.30 a month and roughly $152,000 over 30 years.

Why is my mortgage credit score different from my app? Lenders use older, mortgage-specific FICO models (typically FICO 2, 4, and 5) rather than the FICO 8/9 or VantageScore in consumer apps, and they use the middle of your three bureau scores.

Does applying to several lenders hurt my score? Not meaningfully. Scoring models treat multiple mortgage inquiries within a short shopping window as a single event, so comparison shopping is effectively free.

What score do I need to avoid PMI? None — PMI is determined by your down payment, not your score. Reaching 20% equity removes it. Your score determines how expensive PMI is while you have it.

How fast can I raise my score? Paying down credit card balances can move it within one or two billing cycles. Most other improvements take months or years.

Should I wait to buy until my score improves? Only if the improvement is near-term and meaningful. Otherwise compare the rate saving against rent paid, equity not built, and likely price movement — and remember you can refinance later if your score improves.

What to do next

The most useful thing is to see what a rate difference is actually worth on your loan. Our payment calculator shows the full all-in monthly payment at any rate you enter, with your state's real tax and insurance figures built in.

From there:

• Affordability calculator — the debt-to-income side, which often binds before credit does.
• What is PMI and how do you remove it? — the second place your score costs you money.
• First-time home buyer programs, explained — several state programs have their own credit thresholds worth checking.
• Is refinancing worth it? — the path to a better rate once your score improves.

See our methodology page for how every figure on this site is sourced.

This article is general education about mortgage credit requirements, not financial, legal, or credit advice. Program minimums are widely published floors; individual lenders apply their own stricter standards and change them regularly. Payment figures were computed with CalculatorByState's own calculation engine on a $320,000 30-year loan. No score-to-rate table is offered here because real lender pricing changes constantly — get a quote for your own file.