First-time Homebuyer 101: Credit

Your credit will never be more helpful (or harmful) than when you buy your first home.

Your credit score is used by mortgage lenders to:

Determine if you qualify for a loan
Set the interest rate (or price) for your mortgage

💡 A higher credit score is always better – a 20-point increase can save $10,000+ in interest over the life of a loan and expand your budget.

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What is a “good” score?

🙂 580 is typically the minimum requirement
😃 620 is a good target to increase your options
🤩 700 is your stretch goal to maximize buying power

Which credit score do mortgage lenders use? A combination of FICO 2, 4, and 5 (a lender will pull all three and take the middle score). VantageScore and/or FICO 8, which are more common, are not used by mortgage lenders.

👉 Avoid surprises when you apply for a mortgage by tracking the right score.

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How do I build my mortgage credit score?

Pay your bills on time, every time
Pay off anything in collections or past due
Do not carry a balance on your credit cards
Ask for credit limit increases on current cards
Find and fix credit report errors
Do not close old accounts (even if you don’t use them)
Get added as an authorized user to someone else's healthy credit account

How do I find out my mortgage credit score? Let us help! Gravy is one of the only places you can track your FICO 4 score without impacting your credit. You can also get real-time credit alerts, use mortgage credit score simulators, and see detailed information about your mortgage credit profile.

Get started right from the Gravy app! Start a free Gravy+ trial to see your score right now.

❤️ Gravy also partners with a select group of credit-builder companies that have a track record of success helping first-time homebuyers. Check them out in the app!

Check out our other first-time homebuyer guides:

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Will Dunn

Gravy Co-Founder and Chief Growth Officer

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