For most mortgages you need a 620. FHA goes lower, allowing 580 with 3.5% down and 500 to 579 with 10% down, while VA and USDA set no official minimum at all. The catch is that program floors and real approvals are two different things. The average approved FHA purchase borrower scores about 686, roughly 100 points above the stated minimum, and every tier you climb changes the rate you pay for the next thirty years. If you're starting from a thin file, Roots Growth is one way to build the history lenders want to see before you apply.
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Minimum Credit Scores by Loan Type
There's no single mortgage credit score requirement. Each program sets its own floor, and the floor moves with your down payment.
Loan Type | Minimum Credit Score | Minimum Down Payment |
FHA | 580 | 3.5% |
FHA, lower credit tier | 500 to 579 | 10% |
Conventional 97 | 620 | 3% |
HomeReady or Home Possible | 620 | 3% |
VA, for eligible service members and veterans | No program minimum, lenders often want 620 | 0% |
USDA, in eligible rural areas | No program minimum, lenders often want 640 | 0% |
Program floors as of 2026. Individual lenders routinely require higher scores than the program minimum.
FHA is the most forgiving program on credit, which is why it's the default recommendation for renters with thin or bruised files. The tradeoff is mortgage insurance that generally lasts the life of the loan at low down payments. FHA vs conventional vs VA vs USDA loans breaks down that tradeoff in full.
The Gap Between the Program Floor and Real Approvals
This is the part that trips people up. The program minimum tells you what the loan program will insure. It doesn't tell you what a lender will approve.
Lenders add their own requirements on top of program rules, a practice usually called an overlay. A lender that's nervous about default risk simply refuses to write loans below its internal floor, even when FHA would insure them. That's why two lenders can give you two completely different answers on the same file.
The numbers make the gap obvious. FHA allows 580 with 3.5% down, but the average approved FHA purchase borrower scores about 686. That's roughly 100 points of daylight between what's technically allowed and what's typically approved.
The practical read: treat 620 as the real working floor for most conventional financing and treat 640 as the number that opens up both FHA lenders and most down payment assistance programs. If you're at the floor, shop multiple lenders rather than assuming one denial is the market's answer.
What Your Score Costs You in Rate Terms
Approval is the first question. Price is the bigger one. Your score sets your rate, and your rate compounds over 360 payments.
Credit Score Range | Rate | Monthly Payment | Extra Per Month vs 760+ |
760 and above | 6.63% | $1,922 | Baseline |
740 to 759 | 6.71% | $1,938 | $16 |
720 to 739 | 6.81% | $1,958 | $36 |
700 to 719 | 6.89% | $1,974 | $52 |
680 to 699 | 6.98% | $1,992 | $70 |
660 to 679 | 7.07% | $2,010 | $88 |
640 to 659 | 7.17% | $2,030 | $108 |
620 to 639 | 7.33% | $2,063 | $141 |
Based on a $300,000 30-year fixed mortgage. Rate data from Experian's average mortgage rates by credit score, Curinos, July 2026.
Read the top and bottom rows together. According to Experian's mortgage rate data, the spread from the top tier to the bottom is about seven tenths of a percentage point. A borrower at 760 or above pays about $1,922 a month and roughly $391,893 in total interest. A borrower at 620 to 639 pays about $2,063 a month and roughly $442,620 in total interest. Same house, same loan, same day, about $141 more every month and about $50,700 more in interest over the life of the loan.
No negotiation at the closing table comes close to that. Moving up even two tiers before you apply is usually the highest-return work you can do as a buyer. What your credit score actually impacts shows how the same effect plays out across cards, auto loans, and insurance.
What Lenders Look At Besides Your Score
Your score opens the door. Four other things decide whether you walk through it.
Debt-to-income ratio. Your monthly debt payments measured against your gross monthly income. This is often the real reason an application stalls.
Employment and income stability. Lenders want a documented, predictable income history, not just a high number.
Assets and reserves. Cash left over after closing signals you can absorb a bad month.
Payment history detail. Underwriters read the report, not just the number. A recent late payment reads worse than an old collection.
This is why a 640 with no recent derogatory marks, low card balances, and two years at the same employer can beat a 680 with a late payment last quarter. Pull your report before a lender does so nothing surprises you. All three bureau reports are free at AnnualCreditReport.com, the site set up under federal rule for exactly that. Here's how to check your credit report for free in 2026.
How to Raise Your Score Before You Apply
Two factors do most of the work. According to myFICO, payment history accounts for 35% of a FICO score and amounts owed, mostly credit utilization, accounts for another 30%. Together that's nearly two thirds of your number, and both are things you can move.
Start with utilization, because it moves fastest. Utilization is the share of your available credit you're currently using, and it updates every billing cycle. Paying balances down before your statement closes can shift your score within weeks. Credit utilization and how to lower it covers the tactics.
Then protect payment history. One 30-day late can undo months of progress, so automate minimums on everything before you optimize anything. If your file is thin rather than damaged, the problem isn't bad history, it's no history. Adding reported on-time payments is the fix, and Roots Growth does it with the rent you're already paying. See does paying rent build credit.
Finally, stop opening new accounts. New credit in the months before an application adds inquiries and lowers your average account age, and lenders re-pull your credit right before closing. How to improve your credit score in 30 days covers what actually works in a short window.
How Long It Takes to Move Up a Tier
Set expectations by factor, because the two big ones move on very different clocks.
Utilization is the fast lever. Balances report roughly monthly, so a meaningful paydown can show up in one or two billing cycles. If you're sitting just below a tier boundary, this is often enough on its own.
Payment history is the slow lever. It rewards consistency, and consistency takes months to accumulate. A renter starting from a thin file should plan on six to twelve months of reported on-time payments before applying, which is also long enough to save and to clean up any report errors.
Build the timeline backward from when you want to buy. If the goal is a purchase next summer, the credit work starts now, not after you find a house. Pair it with down payment assistance planning so the cash and the credit arrive ready at the same time.
Build Your Score While You Rent
You're already making the largest payment in your budget every month. By default it does nothing for your credit, because landlords don't report to the bureaus the way lenders do.
Rent reporting changes that. It adds your on-time payments to the category that carries the most weight in your score, and for a renter with little history it can be the difference between no score and a scoreable file. If you want the target, what a good credit score is and how you get one sets the benchmark.
That's the idea behind Roots Growth. For $10 a month, members complete short financial education challenges, earn Investable Rewards™, and deploy those rewards into the Roots real estate fund, credit repair, home-purchase services, and other Growth Market partners. Rent reporting, credit monitoring, and Rooty, your AI Wealth Coach, are all part of the toolkit.
Get your score mortgage-ready with Roots Growth →
Frequently Asked Questions About Credit Scores and Buying a House
What credit score do you need to buy a house?
It depends on the loan. FHA allows 580 with 3.5% down and 500 to 579 with 10% down. Conventional loans including Conventional 97, HomeReady, and Home Possible start at 620. VA and USDA set no program minimum, though lenders commonly want 620 for VA and 640 for USDA. In practice most approved buyers score well above those floors. FHA vs conventional vs VA vs USDA loans breaks down what each program asks for.
Can I buy a house with a 580 credit score?
Yes, 580 meets the FHA program minimum for a 3.5% down payment. Finding a lender is the harder part, because many lenders set their own floor above the program minimum. The average approved FHA purchase borrower scores about 686, so a 580 file usually needs strong compensating factors like steady income, low debt, and cash reserves.
Can I get a mortgage with no credit score at all?
Sometimes. Some lenders will build a manual underwrite using alternative payment history such as rent, utilities, and insurance. It's slower and the lender pool is smaller. Establishing a scoreable credit file before you apply is almost always the faster and cheaper path, and Roots Growth builds that file by reporting rent you already pay.
How much does a higher credit score actually save me?
On a $300,000 30-year loan using Curinos data from July 2026, a 760 or higher borrower pays 6.63% and about $1,922 a month. A 620 to 639 borrower pays 7.33% and about $2,063 a month. That's roughly $141 more every month and about $50,700 more in total interest over the life of the loan.
Do mortgage lenders use the same credit score I see in my app?
Not always. Consumer apps often show a different scoring model than the one mortgage lenders pull, so the number you see may not match the number underwriting uses. Lenders generally pull reports from all three major bureaus. Ask your lender which score and model they use before you assume you do or don't qualify.
How long does it take to raise my score enough to buy?
Paying down credit card balances can move a score within one or two billing cycles because utilization is 30% of a FICO score and updates monthly. Building payment history takes longer, since payment history is 35% and rewards consistency over time. A realistic planning window for moving up a tier or two is six to twelve months. How to improve your credit score in 30 days covers what actually moves in a short window.
Does paying rent help my mortgage application?
Only if it's reported. Landlords generally don't report rent to the credit bureaus the way lenders report loans, so rent does nothing for your score by default. A rent reporting service like Roots Growth adds those payments to your file, which builds the payment history category that carries the most weight in your score. How rent reporting works covers the mechanics.
What credit score do I need for a VA or USDA loan?
Neither program sets an official minimum score. Lenders set their own, and in practice they commonly want 620 for VA and 640 for USDA. Both allow 0% down, VA for eligible service members and veterans and USDA in eligible rural areas.
About Roots Growth
Roots Growth is a micro-learning platform that helps renters turn financial education into actual wealth. When users complete short challenges they earn reward points that can be directly invested into real estate or used toward home-buying services. Roots Growth also has powerful credit-building tools, like rent reporting and real time credit monitoring. Ready to grow? Join the 29,500+ investors already building wealth today at investwithroots.com.
Disclosure: This content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial or legal advice.
Last Updated: July 2026
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