Credit Education
YOUR CREDIT SCORE,
EXPLAINED SIMPLY
Your score shapes your interest rate, your loan options, and your monthly payment. Here’s what actually moves it — and what surprises most borrowers — without the jargon.
Why It Matters
A Three-Digit Number With a Big Job
A credit score is a snapshot of how you’ve handled credit — whether bills get paid on time and how much you owe compared to what’s available to you. Mortgage lenders use it to gauge risk, and it influences nearly everything about your loan: the interest rate you’re offered, the programs you qualify for, your down payment requirements, and whether mortgage insurance applies.
The difference is real money. A borrower in the low 600s can pay a meaningfully higher rate than one at 740+ — often hundreds of dollars more per month, and well into six figures over the life of a 30-year loan. Improving your score before you apply is one of the most valuable things you can do.
The Recipe
How Your Score Is Calculated
FICO® scores — the kind mortgage lenders use — weigh five ingredients. Two of them do most of the work.
Payment History
Do you pay on time? The single biggest factor — even one late payment matters.
Amounts Owed
How much of your available credit you’re using. Balances near the limit pull scores down.
Length of History
How long your accounts have been open. Older accounts help — a reason to keep them.
New Credit
Recently opened accounts and hard inquiries. A burst of new credit looks risky.
Credit Mix
Experience with different types of credit — cards, auto loans, mortgages.
Worth Knowing Before You Apply
What Surprises Most Borrowers
These are the things people most often learn mid-loan — better to know them now.
The score in your app isn’t your mortgage score.
Free scores from banking apps and credit websites are useful for tracking trends, but they use different scoring models than mortgage lenders do. For a home loan, lenders pull a specific set of FICO® scores from all three bureaus — TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax — and the middle of the three typically drives your loan. It’s common for that number to differ from the free score, sometimes by a lot.
You can’t order the mortgage version yourself.
The tri-merge mortgage credit report lenders rely on is only available through a mortgage lender — it isn’t something consumers can pull directly, and it’s not the same as the free annual report you can request on your own. That’s why Chet orders it for you as part of the process.
Your report can’t follow you to a new lender.
A mortgage credit report belongs to the lender who ordered it. If you switch lenders — or bring Chet a pre-approval from somewhere else — the report can’t be transferred. Each lender must pull its own. That’s a normal part of the process, not a sign anything is wrong.
A credit report is only valid for 120 days.
Mortgage credit reports expire. If your loan doesn’t close within 120 days of the pull, a fresh report is required — and your score is whatever it is on that day. This is why timing matters, and why the do’s and don’ts below apply from application all the way through closing.
There’s a fast lane for last-minute fixes.
If your report shows a balance that’s actually paid off, or an error that’s dragging your score down, mortgage lenders have access to a tool called a rapid rescore — it can update your credit file in days instead of the usual 30–60. It only applies to specific situations, so if you’re close to closing and spot something wrong, call or text Chet right away rather than waiting on the bureaus.
Every report comes directly to Chet.
When a credit report is ordered through this site, it’s delivered straight to Chet — and he reviews it with you personally. No call centers, no mystery. If something on the report needs attention, you’ll hear it explained in plain English, along with what can be done about it.
Common Misunderstandings
What Helps — and What Actually Hurts
Some of the most natural-sounding moves backfire. Here’s the reality behind the most common ones.
“Closing old credit cards will help my score.”
Usually the opposite. Closing a card shrinks your total available credit — which raises your usage ratio — and over time trims the age of your credit history. Paying a card down is great; closing it rarely is.
“I paid it off, so I should close the account.”
Keep it open. A paid-off card sitting at a zero balance quietly helps you: it adds available credit and keeps an aging account on your history. Use it occasionally for a small purchase so it stays active.
“As long as I pay in full each month, I can run my cards up.”
The balance is a snapshot. Scores look at the balance reported by the card company compared to your limit — even if you pay in full. Keeping each card well below its limit (the lower the better) is one of the fastest ways to lift a score.
“I should pay off my old collections right before applying.”
Ask first. It sounds responsible, but paying an old collection can sometimes re-age the account and temporarily move your score the wrong way at exactly the wrong time. Before paying off anything during the loan process, talk to Chet — strategy and timing matter.
“Checking my credit will hurt my score.”
Not the way you think. Checking your own credit is a soft inquiry — no impact at all. A mortgage pull is a hard inquiry with a small, temporary effect, and scoring models count multiple mortgage inquiries within a shopping window as one. Curiosity is not the enemy; surprise new accounts are.
“My score is what it is — nothing moves it quickly.”
Some things move fast. Paying balances down below the limits, correcting errors on the report, and avoiding new inquiries can show results in one to two reporting cycles. Chet’s ScoreAdvantage review identifies which specific steps will move your score.
“Getting added to someone else’s old credit card will fix my score.”
Not a guaranteed shortcut. Becoming an authorized user can sometimes help, but mortgage scoring doesn’t always treat those accounts the way it treats your own, and some lenders discount them entirely during underwriting. If a credit-repair service is pitching this, ask Chet whether it will actually count for your loan before paying for it.
Simple Steps
Improving Your Score, Simply
No tricks and no gimmicks — scores respond to a handful of steady habits.
Connecting the Dots
What Score Do You Actually Need?
Every loan program sets its own general guideline — and individual lenders often layer their own requirements (called overlays) on top. These ranges are a starting point, not a guarantee.
FHA
580Built for lower scores. Lower scores are considered on a case-by-case basis — a larger down payment and clean recent payment history both help.
USDA
640For eligible rural and suburban properties. Scores from 600–639 are considered on a case-by-case basis.
Overlays vary by lender and by loan file — income, debt, down payment, and property type all factor in alongside your score. The only way to know exactly where you stand is a quick conversation.
From Application to Closing
Do’s and Don’ts During Your Loan
Lenders watch credit and finances until the day you close — a fresh report is standard shortly before closing. These rules apply the whole way through.
✓Do
- Pay everything on time — one late payment during the process can change your terms.
- Respond quickly when documents are requested — fast replies keep your closing date firm.
- Keep a paper trail for any large deposit or transfer between accounts — gift funds need a simple gift letter.
- Leave your money where it is — changing banks or shuffling funds creates paperwork.
- Tell Chet right away if your pay, employer, or address changes from what’s on your application.
✗Don’t
- Don’t finance or buy a vehicle — even paying cash drains funds lenders have already counted.
- Don’t open new credit — no store cards, no furniture or appliance financing, no matter the discount.
- Don’t co-sign for anyone — their loan counts as your debt.
- Don’t change jobs without talking to Chet first — income changes can affect qualifying.
- Don’t run up card balances on big-ticket purchases — the new house can wait for its new couch.
The golden rule: if you’re not sure whether something could affect your loan, call or text Chet before you do it.
A Few Common Questions
Can Chet use the credit score I see in my banking app or on a free credit site?
How long is a mortgage credit report good for?
I was pre-approved with another lender. Can Chet use that credit report?
Will having my credit pulled hurt my score?
Should I pay off my debts before applying?
How fast can a credit score improve?
My spouse or partner and I are applying together — whose score counts?
What happens if I find an error on my report?
Ready to Put Your Score to Work?
Start with a free review, or order your report — either way, it comes straight to Chet.
