I found out something so important today that I need to tell everyone. I knew that the credit scores you buy online are not your credit scores that real estate lenders get when they run your credit. (Don't waste your money buying credit scores that no one uses.)

But, I didn't know that your credit scores auto dealers get when you buy a new car differ from the ones mortgage lenders get.

The credit score used by Ford include two scores, and they compute these scores differently than real estate financing companies.

The merged scores mortgage lenders get include three scores; mortgage lenders usually use the middle score as your baseline and qualification. (Some companies like Countrywide use your higher score, even if that score is the one they originally saw and not the current one.)

Anyway, my husband bought me a new Mustang today--the same color as my Dollhouse book. We were amazed at how high his credit score was and were ready to refinance everything with an amazing credit score. This is when the finance manager told us that his credit score didn't match the credit score mortgage companies use. We'll ask our mortgage lender to run the credit tomorrow to see what the difference is.

In my many interviews with mortgage lenders, none told me of this variance. Why not?

If you think your credit score is 800 because you bought a new car, don't think you can buy a new house using that credit score for financing.

Copyright (c) 2005 Jeanette J. Fisher
Real Estate Credit Help Center