Can you Buy a House with a 603 Credit Score?

Your credit score is the most important aspect when it comes to borrowing any kind of credit, especially home loan. Only having a steady income and minimal expenses will not help the financial institutions to gauge the risk associated in lending money to you for a home loan. If you are planning to buy a house with a credit score of 603, there are a few things that you must consider before applying for a loan. 

Having a home that you can call yours is a dream we all often see. Buying a house, going on the dream vacation, getting a new car – are some of the common life goals. We plan a lot to achieve each of these life goals. However, buying big ticket items like a vehicle or a home requires a decent amount of finance. Even though we work hard for years to save money towards the goals, we end up asking for some more credit to help us reach our goal. 

Same is the story for buying a house. If you are about to begin your journey of buying a house and have just started looking for a home loan with a credit score of 603 – you need to stop right now. Why? Well, because with a credit score of 603, it might get a little difficult for you to find what you are looking for – affordable interest rates on home loan. 

Let us understand the concept of credit score and a home loan in detail. 

What is the credit score required for a home loan?

A credit score of 640-750 is generally considered good by most lenders and financial institutions. If your score falls within this range, you will be getting loans at good interest rates. Because the risk associated with lending to a person with a high credit score is lower. 

High Credit Score = Low Associated Risk in Lending Low-Interest Rates Loan

Low Credit Score = High Associated Risk in Lending High-Interest Rates Loan

So, if you have a credit score of 603 and you are planning to buy a house – start working on your credit score. Improve your credit score and then apply for loans as you will get low-interest rate offers. Otherwise, you will be paying way more in the long run due to the high-interest rate of the loan. 

How to improve your credit score to buy a house?

Improving a credit score needs time and effort. You may see your credit score increasing by 200 points in 30 days while some people may witness the score increasing by 100 points in 45 days. And for some other people, it may take a year till they witness the change in their credit score. Therefore, the time it will take for your credit score to improve from 603 to 640-750 so that you can buy a house depends completely on your financial activities. 

Here are a few things you can do to see an improvement in your credit score:

1. Always repay your debts on time
   This is the first and the most essential element when it comes to improving your credit score. Every financial expert will advise you to repay all of your debts on time. Failing to repay the debt on time and in full shows credit mismanagement. That means you are somehow failing to manage the debt responsibly. If you have missed a deadline unintentionally, contact your credit card provider or lender and explain the situation. They may wipe off the late payment charges from your bill. However, to be ensuring that you do not fall behind the payment dates, it is better if you set up auto pay. 
2. Pay the full amount not the minimum amount
   Always pay the full amount that is due on your credit card rather than paying the minimum amount due. Paying the minimum amount due doesn’t attract any penalty such as late fees. But interest fee is levied on your entire amount due even though you have paid some amount. This will accumulate and later on may convert into a debt pile. To avoid getting into that situation, which will completely ruin your credit score, pay the full amount. 
3. Lower your credit utilisation rate
   The credit utilisation rate shows the percentage of credit you use against the total assigned credit limit. Although you have the right to use 100% of the credit limit assigned to you, doing so will hurt your credit score. If you have a credit score of 603 and you are trying to improve it for buying a house, you will need to lower your credit utilisation ratio to 30% or less than that. Remember, the lower, the better. 
4. Monitor your credit report regularly
   Do you know that monitoring your credit report regularly will help you improve your credit score? Wondering how? Well, let us understand this with an example. 
   Suppose you have a credit score of 603 and as you are planning to buy a house, you have been applying for loans with various lenders online. It may happen that you drop your personal information such as name, gender, and date of birth along with a few financial data inputs on a lender’s website and that lender is fake. They have used your data and scammed you. You will not come to know of it until you check your credit report. 
   Reviewing your credit report regularly helps you identify financial frauds along with issues that are causing your credit score to decrease. Once you recognize the reason behind the decrease in your credit score, you can draft a strategy and work on it to improve your score. 

One more thing you can do to improve your credit score from 603 to buy a house is – to add different types of credit to your portfolio. However, take this step only if you are sure that you can handle new debt otherwise it will backfire. Your credit score is your financial identity. Maintaining a good credit score is a must-do as it helps you in getting loans at low-interest rates, credit cards with the limit that you wish for, and also getting employed. 

Buying a house with a loan is a long-term liability you will be taking up. Thus, work on your credit score and improve it before applying to lenders and banks.