Credit, and what actually matters.

There is no single minimum score

It depends entirely on the loan. FHA has the most flexible credit standards of the agency programs. Conventional sits higher and prices your mortgage insurance directly off your score. VA sets no minimum of its own, though individual lenders set theirs — and ours is more forgiving than most, because we make the decision here rather than sending your file out.

Things that are not as bad as you think

• Shopping multiple lenders. Mortgage inquiries inside a short window count as one event. Comparing lenders does not wreck your score, and you should compare.
• An old late payment. It matters much less than a recent one.
• Having no credit cards. Thin files are workable. There are documented ways to establish a credit history using rent, utilities and insurance payments.
• A past bankruptcy or foreclosure. Agency programs require a waiting period after these, and once you are past it you are a normal applicant again. Before that, non-QM routes exist.

Things that genuinely hurt

• Opening new accounts or financing a car while your mortgage is in underwriting. Do not do this. Your credit is re-checked before closing.
• Running your card balances close to their limits.
• Closing your oldest credit card because you do not use it.
• Large unexplained deposits into your account. Underwriters have to source them, and it delays your file.

If your score is not where you want it, call anyway. A loan officer can often see the two or three specific items that would move it most, and sometimes the fix takes weeks rather than years. That conversation costs nothing.