Quick Answer
Yes, most buyers can raise their score before applying. The two highest-impact levers are payment history, the single biggest factor at roughly 35% of a FICO score, and credit utilization at roughly 30%. Pay your bills on time every time, pay down card balances to under 30% of your limit (lower is better, and getting under about 10% helps even more), and dispute any errors on your reports.
Those two moves do more for a mortgage application than anything else you can do, and a 620 score tomorrow is not the score you have to live with at closing. This page walks you through exactly what to do and when to do it.
How Lenders Actually Look at Your Score
Before you start improving anything, it helps to know how the score gets read. Mortgage lenders pull your credit from all three bureaus, Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion, and they typically use the middle score of the three. That is the number that drives your approval and your rate, so one bureau that reports a late payment the others do not can drag your usable score down even if the other two look fine.
Here is where the minimums sit:
- Conventional: lenders generally want a 620 or better.
- FHA: you can go down to 580 with 3.5% down, or as low as 500 with 10% down.
- VA and USDA: neither has an official minimum, though most lenders like to see 580 to 640 anyway.
The takeaway: qualifying for a loan and qualifying for a good rate are two different games. A 620 qualifies, but your rate will be higher than a 740 borrower's, and over 30 years that gap is real money.
Your Six-Step Plan to Raise Your Score
Work these in order. None of them requires a finance degree or a credit specialist, just discipline and a little time:
- Pull your free annual reports from all three bureaus at least once a year and dispute any errors you find. Inaccurate late payments or old paid-off collections that are still showing can cost you points for no real reason, and fixing them is one of the fastest, cheapest score gains you can make. You can get your free reports through AnnualCreditReport.com.
- Pay down revolving card balances to cut your utilization. This is the single most controllable lever in the short term. Getting balances under 30% of your limit helps meaningfully, and pushing toward about 10% or below helps even more.
- Make every payment on time. Payment history is the biggest slice of your score, so one late payment can undo a lot of good work. Set up autopay or calendar reminders and stop missing due dates cold.
- Avoid opening new credit cards or taking on new loans in the run-up to applying. Every new account and hard inquiry costs a few points, and a lender sees fresh debt as risk exactly when you need them to say yes.
- Keep your older accounts open. The length of your credit history is a positive factor, and closing an old card shrinks your available credit and your average account age at the same time. Unless it carries a fee you refuse to pay, leave it open and active.
- Ask about a credit limit increase, used carefully. A higher limit on a card you are already paying down lowers your utilization without adding debt. The catch: only do this if you are not going to spend the new headroom, and confirm the lender is not running a hard pull that would cost you points right before you apply.
Your Timeline: 6-12 Months Out vs 30-60 Days Out
Where you are in the process changes what deserves your attention. Here is the honest split:
6 to 12 Months Out
Follow the full plan above. You have time for the slower levers to work: letting a couple of late payments age, giving payment history time to build, and keeping utilization low over several statement cycles. Pull your reports now so any disputes you file are settled long before you go under contract.
30 to 60 Days Out
Focus on utilization, dispute any errors, and avoid new credit. Paying down card balances can move a score within a billing cycle or two, so this is genuinely the highest-leverage window. And do not be afraid to shop lenders: multiple mortgage inquiries within a short window, typically 45 days, count as a single inquiry for scoring, so rate shopping will not punish you the way people fear it will.
Patriot Pro Tip
Do not try to fix all three bureaus with your own memory. Make one side-by-side list of what your reports show for payment dates, balances, and limits, and check all three against each other. Errors show up far more often in one bureau, not all three, and that is exactly the kind of thing that quietly holds your middle score down until you catch it.
Reality Bites
There is no quick "credit repair" magic, and anyone who promises to instantly erase accurate negative history is running a scam. Errors on your reports can be fixed fast, I have seen that. But an accurate late payment does not vanish because a company files a dispute; it ages off on its own timeline, usually around seven years. Plan on honest, steady improvement, not a miracle.
A Word of Caution
Your score can dip a few points from the hard pull at pre-approval, and that is normal. What hurts is what you do after that hard pull. Keep your finances stable between pre-approval and closing: no new debt, no big purchases on credit, no missed payments. Financing a new truck or a furniture haul the week before closing can change your approval, and your mortgage payment is simply not worth it.
What a Better Score Actually Buys You
Once you have your score where you want it, you want to know it is earning you something. On a $300K loan, the rate difference between 620 and 740 can be 0.75-1.5%, which is roughly $150-300 more per month, and the lifetime difference can reach $54,000-108,000 over 30 years. That is your future payment talking, and it is why the months of credit work are worth it before you understand what score you need to buy.
At different tiers you also get choices about which loan fits you. At 620, FHA often makes sense because its rates at that tier run lower than conventional, though it carries mortgage insurance. Conventional rates at 620 run higher, but the private mortgage insurance drops off automatically once you reach 78% loan-to-value. A common play is FHA now, then a refinance into conventional later once your score climbs.
When Your Current Score Is Good Enough to Move
Improving your score is the right move, but it is not always the only goal. Buying a home can still make sense at a 620:
- In a competitive market: if home prices are rising fast, buying now at a higher rate may beat waiting and paying more for the same house.
- For urgent needs: a military PCS, a job relocation, or a family change may require buying now rather than waiting out a score.
- With the right loan: FHA rates at 620 are far more reasonable than conventional rates at the same score.
And remember the ceiling-not-a-target rule: once you are pre-approved, the number on the letter is the top of your range, not where you have to shop. Getting pre-approved before you look keeps your search inside a payment that actually fits your life.
If you want a straight read on where your credit stands and which loan program fits it, I am glad to walk through it line by line. Send me a note or book a call and we will build your plan together.
