A car lender glances at your file. A mortgage underwriter reads it.
They pull all three of your credit reports, calculate your debt against your income, and then check your credit again before closing to make sure nothing changed. Every account, every late payment, every balance gets looked at by a person whose job is to find the risk.
That's not a reason to wait. It's a reason to start early. Most of what sinks a mortgage application is fixable, but not in the week before you apply.
Which credit score do mortgage lenders use?
Mortgage lenders pull your reports from all three bureaus and use the middle of your three scores, or the lower one if only two come back. On a joint application, Fannie Mae has lenders use the lowest borrower's score to set pricing.
That last part catches couples off guard. If you're at 740 and your partner is at 640, the loan is priced off the 640. Sometimes the better move is for one person to apply alone. That's a conversation to have with your loan officer before anyone fills out an application.
Which scoring model the lender uses is changing. As of September 2026, the FHFA allows lenders selling loans to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to use either Classic FICO or VantageScore 4.0, as long as they use the same model for every borrower on the loan. FICO 10T has been approved but isn't in use for those loans yet. Every model reads the same file, so the file is still the work.
What credit score do I need to buy a house?
It depends on the loan. FHA requires at least a 500, with 10% down below 580 and 3.5% down at 580 or higher. VA sets no minimum of its own. USDA treats 640 as its standard. Fannie Mae removed its minimum for loans approved through its automated underwriting system in November 2025, but loans underwritten by hand still need a 620.
Here's what that list doesn't tell you. Lenders and mortgage insurers are allowed to set higher minimums than the program rules. A published minimum is the floor, not the target. Your score still moves the rate and the cost of the loan you're offered.
FHA. 500 to 579 needs 10% down. 580 and up qualifies for 3.5% down.
VA. No VA minimum. Each lender sets its own.
USDA. 640 meets the standard. Below that, approval needs documented reasons the file is still a good risk.
Conventional (Fannie Mae). No minimum through automated underwriting since November 16, 2025. Manual underwriting still requires 620 on a fixed-rate loan.
How much debt can I have and still get a mortgage?
Lenders measure your debt-to-income ratio: your monthly debt payments, including the new house payment, divided by your gross monthly income. Fannie Mae's automated system allows up to 50%. FHA's manual underwriting standard is 43% before compensating factors. VA's guideline is 41%, paired with a residual income test.
This is where people hurt themselves without knowing it. The car you financed six months ago, the furniture on a store card, the personal loan you took to consolidate. Every one of those payments is counted, and every one of them shrinks the house you qualify for.
Before you apply, know your number. Add up every monthly payment on your credit report, add the house payment you're hoping for, and divide by your gross monthly income.
Do I have to pay off collections before getting a mortgage?
Not always. For a one-unit primary home approved through Fannie Mae's automated system, collections and non-mortgage charge-offs don't have to be paid off. For FHA, non-medical collections totaling $2,000 or more must be paid, put on a payment plan, or counted as 5% of the balance in your debt-to-income. Medical collections are left out of both.
So don't pay a collection on reflex. Paying an accurate collection usually doesn't remove it from your report, and in some cases the lender doesn't require it at all. Talk to your loan officer about how your specific program treats it, then decide.
Two things work in your favor with medical debt. Paid medical collections no longer appear on credit reports at all, and neither do medical collections under $500, under the bureaus' own policies.
What you should do is read every collection line by line. A collection with the wrong balance, the wrong date of first delinquency, or no connection to you is worth challenging before an underwriter ever sees it. Here's how to handle items that aren't yours.
What is a rapid rescore, and can I ask for one?
A rapid rescore is a lender-ordered update that gets a corrected item onto your credit score in a few days instead of waiting for the next reporting cycle. Only your lender can order one, the lender isn't allowed to pass the fee directly to you, and it can't remove accurate negative information.
It works for things like a card you just paid down or an error that's already been corrected. It won't touch a real late payment. If you're close to a better pricing tier, ask your loan officer whether a rapid rescore would get you there.
What should I avoid between mortgage approval and closing?
Don't open new credit, don't finance anything, and don't change jobs. Lenders check for new debt before closing and recalculate your debt-to-income if anything appears, and Fannie Mae has lenders reverify your employment within 10 business days of closing.
Here's how it goes wrong. Approval comes through, the buyer relaxes, and the new couch or the new car goes on credit before closing day. The lender sees the new debt, reruns the numbers, and the loan gets reworked or falls apart. Approval isn't the finish line. The keys are.
How long after bankruptcy or foreclosure can I get a mortgage?
For an FHA loan, the standard wait is two years after a Chapter 7 discharge and three years after a foreclosure. For a conventional loan through Fannie Mae, it's four years after a Chapter 7 discharge and seven years after a foreclosure. Documented extenuating circumstances shorten some of these.
| Event | FHA | Conventional (Fannie Mae) |
|---|---|---|
| Chapter 7 bankruptcy | 2 years from discharge | 4 years from discharge |
| Chapter 13 bankruptcy | 12 months of on-time plan payments, with the court's permission | 2 years from discharge, or 4 from dismissal |
| Foreclosure | 3 years | 7 years |
| Deed-in-lieu of foreclosure | 3 years | 4 years |
The waiting period is only the minimum. What the underwriter wants to see after it is new credit handled well. Here's a realistic rebuild timeline after bankruptcy.
My mortgage-ready timeline
Twelve months out. Pull all three reports free at AnnualCreditReport.com and read them line by line. Challenge anything inaccurate, unverifiable, or outdated now, while there's time for it to clear.
Six months out. Stop opening new accounts. Keep every payment on time. Bring your card balances down before each statement closes, because the reported balance is what counts.
Three months out. Talk to a loan officer about which program fits your file, how your collections will be treated, and whether a rapid rescore could help.
Application to closing. No new credit, no new financing, no job changes. Rate shopping for the mortgage itself is fine when you keep it inside a short window. Here's how inquiries actually work.
A score is only part of what an underwriter reads, and not always the most important part. If you're a client of mine and a home is your goal, text me at 1-877-892-6691 before you talk to a lender and we'll go through your file together first. If we haven't worked together, set up a free consultation. I'll read all three reports line by line and tell you exactly what an underwriter is going to flag.