[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"$f33b6lajvsj5r9":3,"$ffeh0925h8cuz":47,"$f2emv3tus0uf1":51,"$fbwk2pqjjqsc7":55},{"item":4,"previous":35,"next":41},{"id":5,"slug":6,"title":7,"description":8,"excerpt":9,"contentType":10,"featuredImage":11,"bannerImage":9,"body":12,"agentsBottomLine":13,"bodyImage":14,"isInfographic":15,"categories":16,"isVideo":15,"videoThumbnail":9,"videoSource":9,"publishedAt":33,"updatedAt":34},1305,"what-credit-score-do-you-need-to-buy-a-house","What Credit Score Do You Need To Buy A House?","There are many misconceptions about the credit score needed to buy a house. Recently, it was reported that \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Finfo.bankofamerica.com\u002Fhomebuyers-report\u002F\">24%\u003C\u002Fa> of renters believe they need a 780-800 credit score to be considered for a mortgage. The reality is they are misinformed!\r\n\r\n","","blog","https:\u002F\u002Ffiles.simplifyingthemarket.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2019\u002F03\u002F14115009\u002F20190319-Share-KCM.jpg","There are many misconceptions about the credit score needed to buy a house. Recently, it was reported that \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Finfo.bankofamerica.com\u002Fhomebuyers-report\u002F\">24%\u003C\u002Fa> of renters believe they need a 780-800 credit score to be considered for a mortgage. The reality is they are misinformed!\r\n\r\n\u003C!--more-->Only 25% of the Americans have a FICO® Score between 740 and 800. Here is the breakdown according to \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.experian.com\u002Fblogs\u002Fask-experian\u002Fwhat-is-a-bad-credit-score\u002F\">\u003Cem>Experian\u003C\u002Fem>\u003C\u002Fa>:\r\n\u003Cul>\r\n \t\u003Cli>16% Very Poor (300-579)\u003C\u002Fli>\r\n \t\u003Cli>18% Fair (580-669)\u003C\u002Fli>\r\n \t\u003Cli>21% Good (670-739)\u003C\u002Fli>\r\n \t\u003Cli>25% Very Good (740-799)\u003C\u002Fli>\r\n \t\u003Cli>20% Exceptional (800-850)\u003C\u002Fli>\r\n\u003C\u002Ful>\r\nRandy Hopper, \u003Cem>Senior Vice President\u003C\u002Fem> of \u003Cem>Mortgage Lending\u003C\u002Fem> for \u003Cem>Navy Federal Credit Union\u003C\u002Fem> \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.bankrate.com\u002Ffinance\u002Fcredit\u002Flow-credit-score-borrowers-get-mortgage.aspx?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=organic_social\">said\u003C\u002Fa>,\r\n\u003Cblockquote>“\u003Cem>Just because you have a low credit score doesn’t mean you can’t purchase a home. There are a lot of options out there for consumers with low FICO® scores\u003C\u002Fem>,”\u003C\u002Fblockquote>\r\nThere are many programs available with low or no credit score requirement. The \u003Cem>Federal Housing Administration \u003C\u002Fem>(FHA) now requires a minimum FICO® score of \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.fha.com\u002Ffha_credit_requirements\">580\u003C\u002Fa> if you want to qualify for the low down payment advantage. The \u003Cem>US Department of Agriculture \u003C\u002Fem>(USDA) does not set a minimum credit score requirement, but most lenders require a score of at least \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.usdaloans.com\u002Farticles\u002Fincome-and-credit\u002F\">640\u003C\u002Fa>. \u003Cem>Veterans Affairs\u003C\u002Fem> (VA) loans have \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.vahomeloancenters.org\u002Fva-loan-credit-score\u002F\">no credit score\u003C\u002Fa> requirement.\r\n\u003Ch4>\u003Cstrong>As you can see, none of them are above 700!\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh4>\r\nIt is true that the average FICO® score for all closed loans in January was 726, but there are plenty of people taking advantage of the low credit score requirements. Here is the average FICO® Score of \u003Cem>closed FHA Loans\u003C\u002Fem> since April 2012 according to \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.elliemae.com\u002Fmortgage-data\u002Forigination-insight-reports\">\u003Cem>Ellie Mae\u003C\u002Fem>\u003C\u002Fa>\u003Cem>:\u003C\u002Fem>\u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Ffiles.keepingcurrentmatters.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2019\u002F03\u002FMEM-Average-FICO-Score-of-Closed-FHA-Loans.jpg\">\u003Cimg class=\"wp-image-39269 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\u002F\u002Ffiles.keepingcurrentmatters.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2019\u002F03\u002FMEM-Average-FICO-Score-of-Closed-FHA-Loans.jpg\" alt=\"What Credit Score Do You Need To Buy A House? | Simplifying The Market\" width=\"650\" height=\"488\" \u002F>\u003C\u002Fa>As you can see, that number has been dropping for the last seven years. As a matter of fact, the average FHA Purchase FICO® Score reported in January 2019 was 675!\r\n\r\nOne of the challenges is that Americans are unsure about their credit score. They just assume that it is too low to qualify and do not double check. \u003Cem>Credit.com\u003C\u002Fem> confirmed that only \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fblog.credit.com\u002F2018\u002F08\u002Fhow-much-do-americans-actually-know-about-credit-scoring-186118\u002F\">57%\u003C\u002Fa> of individuals sought out their credit score at least once last year.\r\n\r\nFICO® \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.fico.com\u002Fblogs\u002Frisk-compliance\u002Fu-s-credit-scoring-trends-to-watch-in-2019\u002F\">reported\u003C\u002Fa>,\r\n\u003Cblockquote>“\u003Cem>Since October 2009, the average year-over-year \u003C\u002Fem>\u003Cem>FICO®\u003C\u002Fem>\u003Cem> Score has steadily and consistently increased, from a low of 686 in 2009 to the latest high of 704 as of 2018\u003C\u002Fem>.”\u003C\u002Fblockquote>\r\nHere is the increase in the average US FICO® Score over the same period of time as the graph earlier.\u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Ffiles.keepingcurrentmatters.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2019\u002F03\u002FMEM-US-Average-FICO-Score.jpg\">\u003Cimg class=\"aligncenter wp-image-39270\" src=\"https:\u002F\u002Ffiles.keepingcurrentmatters.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2019\u002F03\u002FMEM-US-Average-FICO-Score.jpg\" alt=\"What Credit Score Do You Need To Buy A House? | Simplifying The Market\" width=\"650\" height=\"488\" \u002F>\u003C\u002Fa>\r\n\u003Ch3>\u003Cstrong>Bottom Line \u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh3>\r\nAt least 84% of Americans have a score that will allow them to buy a house. If you are unsure what your score is or would like to improve your score in order to become a homeowner, let’s get together to help you set a path to reach your dream!"," \r\nAt least 84% of Americans have a score that will allow them to buy a house. If you are unsure what your score is or would like to improve your score in order to become a homeowner, let’s get together to help you set a path to reach your dream!","https:\u002F\u002Ffiles.keepingcurrentmatters.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2019\u002F03\u002FMEM-Average-FICO-Score-of-Closed-FHA-Loans.jpg",false,[17,21,25,29],{"id":18,"name":19,"slug":20},5,"For Buyers","buyers",{"id":22,"name":23,"slug":24},6,"For Sellers","sellers",{"id":26,"name":27,"slug":28},11,"First-Time Buyers","first-time-buyers",{"id":30,"name":31,"slug":32},38,"Move-Up","move-up","2019-03-19T10:00:30Z","2019-03-19T10:53:47Z",{"id":36,"slug":37,"title":38,"featuredImage":39,"publishedAt":40,"contentType":10,"isVideo":15},1304,"want-to-increase-your-familys-wealth-heres-how","Want To Increase Your Family’s Wealth? Here’s How!","https:\u002F\u002Ffiles.simplifyingthemarket.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2019\u002F03\u002F14105828\u002F20190318-Share-KCM.jpg","2019-03-18T10:00:13Z",{"id":42,"slug":43,"title":44,"featuredImage":45,"publishedAt":46,"contentType":10,"isVideo":15},1306,"do-46-million-millennials-know-they-are-mortgage-ready","Do 46 Million Millennials Know They Are Mortgage Ready?","https:\u002F\u002Ffiles.simplifyingthemarket.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2019\u002F03\u002F13173215\u002F20190320-Share-KCM.jpg","2019-03-20T10:00:49Z",{"cover":48,"open":49,"shareSpread":50},"https:\u002F\u002Ffiles.keepingcurrentmatters.com\u002FKeepingCurrentMatters\u002Fcontent\u002Fimages\u002F20260603\u002F2026-Summer-Buyers-Guide-Cover-original.png","https:\u002F\u002Ffiles.keepingcurrentmatters.com\u002FKeepingCurrentMatters\u002Fcontent\u002Fimages\u002F20260603\u002F2026-Summer-Buyers-Guide-Spread-original.png","https:\u002F\u002Ffiles.keepingcurrentmatters.com\u002FKeepingCurrentMatters\u002Fcontent\u002Fimages\u002F20260603\u002F2026-Summer-Buyers-Guide-Magazine-original.png",{"cover":52,"open":53,"shareSpread":54},"https:\u002F\u002Ffiles.keepingcurrentmatters.com\u002FKeepingCurrentMatters\u002Fcontent\u002Fimages\u002F20260603\u002F2026-Summer-Sellers-Guide-Cover-original.png","https:\u002F\u002Ffiles.keepingcurrentmatters.com\u002FKeepingCurrentMatters\u002Fcontent\u002Fimages\u002F20260603\u002F2026-Summer-Sellers-Guide-Spread-original.png","https:\u002F\u002Ffiles.keepingcurrentmatters.com\u002FKeepingCurrentMatters\u002Fcontent\u002Fimages\u002F20260603\u002F2026-Summer-Sellers-Guide-Magazine-original.png",[56,60,61,62,66,70,74,75,79,83,84,88,92,96,100,104,108,112,116,120,124,128,132,136,140,144,148,152,156,160],{"id":57,"name":58,"slug":59},1,"Uncategorized","uncategorized",{"id":18,"name":19,"slug":20},{"id":22,"name":23,"slug":24},{"id":63,"name":64,"slug":65},7,"Foreclosures","foreclosures",{"id":67,"name":68,"slug":69},8,"Infographics","infographics",{"id":71,"name":72,"slug":73},9,"Home Prices","home-prices",{"id":26,"name":27,"slug":28},{"id":76,"name":77,"slug":78},34,"Senior Market","senior-market",{"id":80,"name":81,"slug":82},35,"Mortgage Rates","mortgage-rates",{"id":30,"name":31,"slug":32},{"id":85,"name":86,"slug":87},41,"For Sale by Owner","for-sale-by-owner",{"id":89,"name":90,"slug":91},42,"Featured","featured",{"id":93,"name":94,"slug":95},45,"New Construction","new-construction",{"id":97,"name":98,"slug":99},52,"Luxury \u002F Vacation","luxury--vacation",{"id":101,"name":102,"slug":103},53,"Rent vs. Buy","rent-vs-buy",{"id":105,"name":106,"slug":107},80,"Time-sensitive","time-sensitive",{"id":109,"name":110,"slug":111},81,"Outdated","outdated",{"id":113,"name":114,"slug":115},147,"Internal","internal",{"id":117,"name":118,"slug":119},148,"Do Not Autopost","do-not-autopost",{"id":121,"name":122,"slug":123},320,"Inventory","inventory",{"id":125,"name":126,"slug":127},321,"Agent Value","agent-value",{"id":129,"name":130,"slug":131},322,"Affordability","affordability",{"id":133,"name":134,"slug":135},323,"Buying Tips","buying-tips",{"id":137,"name":138,"slug":139},324,"Downsize","downsize",{"id":141,"name":142,"slug":143},325,"Economy","economy",{"id":145,"name":146,"slug":147},326,"Equity","equity",{"id":149,"name":150,"slug":151},327,"Forecasts","forecasts",{"id":153,"name":154,"slug":155},328,"Selling Tips","selling-tips",{"id":157,"name":158,"slug":159},339,"Expired\u002FWithdrawn\u002FCanceled","expiredwithdrawncanceled",{"id":161,"name":162,"slug":163},340,"Price It Right\u002FOverpricing","price-it-rightoverpricing"]