Even if you understand the basic concepts, the ins and outs of credit can still be daunting. Along with the alphabet soup of acronyms come all-important numbers that change regularly.
But as we frequently discuss, it’s up to you as an agent to be the expert for your customers. Here’s what you need to know to guide them through credit-related questions that arise in the home-buying process.
Question 1: What is a FICO Score?
FICO is an abbreviation for the Fair Isaac Corporation, the first company to offer a credit-risk model with a score. It was founded in 1956. It kind of makes you think of a wise old economist or university professor named Fair Isaac, but no, it was named after two guys, Bill Fair and Earl Isaac…an engineer and a mathematician.
To create scores, FICO uses information provided by one of the three major reporting agencies — Equifax, Experian or TransUnion. But FICO itself is not a credit reporting agency.
A FICO Score is a three-digit number, between 300 and 850 determined by the information in your credit reports. It helps lenders determine how likely you are to repay a loan. This, in turn, affects how much you can borrow, how long the term of the loan is, and how much it will cost (the interest rate and points).
You can think of a FICO Score as a summary of your credit report. As a side note, not all credit scores are ‘FICO’ scores, but 90% of lenders use FICO, so it matters the most.
Question 2: Why do I feel like I can’t easily impact my score?
It’s not JUST how often you’ve been late or how much you owe on loans and credit cards. There’s an actual algorithm involved. This is part of what’s so frustrating to people trying to improve their credit!
Question 3: What goes into a score?
Five main factors go into FICO scores, and they each have a different effect on your score, and they don’t have equal weight. Here’s the breakdown:
FICO Scores are calculated using many other 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%).
Let’s take a deeper dive into those factors:
Payment history (35%)
The first thing any lender wants to know is whether you’ve paid past credit accounts on time. This helps a lender figure out the amount of risk it will take on when extending credit. This is the most important factor in a FICO Score.
Amounts owed (30%)
Having credit accounts and owing on them does not necessarily mean you are a higher-risk borrower with a lower FICO Score. However, if you are using a lot of your available credit, this may indicate that you are overextended—and banks can interpret this to mean that you are at a higher risk of default.
Length of credit history (15%)
In general, a longer credit history will increase your FICO Scores. However, even people who haven’t been using credit for long may have high FICO Scores, depending on how the rest of their credit report looks.
Your FICO Scores take into account:
- How long your credit accounts have been established, including the age of your oldest account, the age of your newest account plus the average age of all your accounts
- How long specific credit accounts have been established
- How long it has been since you used certain accounts
Credit mix (10%)
FICO Scores will consider your mix of credit cards, retail accounts, installment loans, finance company accounts, and mortgage loans. You don’t have to have one of each, but having tons of unused credit cards can actually work against you.
New credit (10%)
Research shows that opening several credit accounts in a short amount of time represents a greater risk—especially for people who don’t have a long credit history. If you can avoid it, try not to open too many accounts all at the same time.
This is a common issue buyers create for themselves when they’re in contract or pending. They go get new credit at furniture stores, buy a new car or boat, Home Depot card…etc. Then when the underwriter checks their score two days before closing and it has changed…typically not for the better. Advise your clients to leave their credit alone until after they close!
FICO Scores consider a wide range of information on your credit report. However, they do not consider:
- Your age
- Occupation
- If you’re in a credit repair plan
- Race
- Area you live
- Child support obligations
- Salary
- Interest rates being charged on existing credit
Your scores do not count as “consumer-initiated” inquiries — requests you have made for your report, in order to check it, like using: FreeCreditReport.com or experian.com.
They also do not count “promotional inquiries.” Those are the requests made by lenders in order to make you a “pre-approved” credit offer, or “administrative inquiries.” Some employers request credit information and those requests won’t count against you either.
Question 4: So how do I “fix” my credit score?
There is no magic way to boost your score. The best way to improve it is to manage it over time and be intentional about it, but here are some methods:
Steps to improve your FICO Score:
- Check your report for errors. Look at all three credit reporting agencies, since they may be reporting different errors. Getting those reports will not affect your score. Each agency has an online method to dispute incorrect information. Sometimes it’s inaccurate, and sometimes it’s missing, like a tax lien that’s been settled.
- Read more about disputing errors on your credit report.
- Next, be sure to pay your bills on time. This makes up 35% of your FICO Score calculation. Missing payments and making late payments are hard to fix, so this is something to automate with your bank as much as possible.
- If you’ve already missed payments, make arrangements with your creditors to get current and stay current. Time will heal past credit sins, but only when you have built up a better track record.
- Credit utilization, as in the amount of debt you’re using, affects your score. Reduce the amount you owe (you don’t have to pay everything off) and your score will improve. Keep your balances low.
- It’s better to pay off debt rather than move it around. Owing the same amount but having fewer open accounts can actually lower your scores. Pay off your higher interest rate cards first, and make your minimum payments regularly on your other cards.
- Use Experian ‘Boost’ to get ‘credit’ for your on-time utility payments. This can improve your score by up to 10 points almost immediately.
Common misconceptions:
- Paying off an account that’s in collections will not remove it from your report; it stays on your report for up to seven years.
- Seeking assistance through a legitimate credit counseling organization won’t rebuild your score quickly, but it can help you manage your debt and possibly consolidate, lowering your payments and getting you back on track. Working with such a company does not lower your score.
- Closing your cards is not a proven strategy to improve your score.
- Opening up new lines of credit to increase your credit availability can actually hurt your score, not improve it. That’s not a strategy that works.
The bottom line about credit
When working with your buyer clients, it’s wise to advise them to do the following, BEFORE they apply for their mortgage:
- Get their own credit report so they know their scores.
- Correct any errors and update information that may increase their score.
- Sign up for Experian Boost.
Understanding credit gives you an advantage personally, and being able to explain it to your buyers gives you credibility. Knowledge equals confidence, ignorance equals fear.
Tim and Julie Harris host a podcast for Realtors called Real Estate Coaching Radio. They’ve been professional real estate coaches for more than 20 years, helping agents succeed in many different market conditions.