What Credit Score Do You Need to Buy a Home?

Learn More About Minimum Credit Scores for Homebuyers

When you are buying a home, a good credit score can help make getting approved for a mortgage easier. It can also help you qualify for a lower minimum down payment or get a lower interest rate. That’s because lenders often see homebuyers with good credit scores as customers who are most likely to meet their financial obligations.

You don’t always need a great credit score to buy a home. Different loans have different credit score requirements, and minimum credit scores can vary from lender to lender for buying houses, too. Read on to learn more.

What Are the Minimum Credit Scores for Buying a House?

At Freedom Mortgage, our minimum credit scores for buying a house vary depending on the loan type. Please note that these credit scores are for purchase loans only and do not apply to refinancing.

• We often require a minimum credit score of 620 to buy a house with a Conventional loan.
• We often require a minimum credit score of 550 to buy a house with a VA loan.
• We often require a credit score of 550 to buy a house with an FHA loan.
• We often require a minimum credit score of 620 to buy a house with a USDA loan.

Why Are Credit Scores Important in Homebuying?

Your credit score is one piece of information lenders use to help decide whether or not they will approve your mortgage application for buying a house. Meeting the lender’s minimum credit score is important because you are unlikely to have your application approved if your score is below the minimum. Having a higher credit score can make it easier to get your application approved and might help you qualify for a lower interest rate or better terms, too.

Lenders will look at your income, debts, assets, and finances, as well as your credit score, when you are buying a home. All of these factors can influence the approval of your mortgage application.

How Do You Check Your Credit Score Before You Buy a Home?

One way to check your credit score is to buy it from one of the three major credit reporting agencies. By law, credit reporting agencies are required to provide you with a free copy of your credit report once every 12 months, but these free reports do not include credit scores.

When Freedom Mortgage prequalifies you for a mortgage to buy a house we will do a “soft” credit pull, which generally does not have an impact on your credit score. When you give us permission to pull your credit for prequalification, we can often tell you your current credit scores.

Prequalification can also give you an estimate of home prices you can afford, based on an estimate of the amount of a mortgage for which you might get approved.

Last reviewed and updated July 2024 by Freedom Mortgage.