To apply for credit or not to apply that is the questions

mattyjarv

Hi, my wife and I are hoping to apply for a mortgage in the next 6 months (after selling our house last year and living with the in-laws but that's another story).

Looked this week at both of our credit reports.

I have a Good Report scoring 939/999 with Experian
My wife has a Fair report scoring 855/99 with Experian.

The reason for my higher ranking is that for the majority of credit applications over the past 10 years, they have been mainly made in my name.

2 negatives that my wife have on her report are that 1)You are only using 5 non credit accounts (as opposed to my 15) and 2) You do not have enough historic data.

So my question:-

should I try to boost my wife's score (was planning on taking out a new card, keep balance minimal and up to date) ?

or

just keep tight and not do anything?

I'm leaning into more 'sit tight and don't rock the boat' only because if she applies for a credit card, score could potentially go down lower and then rise after when we plan to apply for a mortgage (when sufficient data and usage is known in 6-12 months time)

Any advice greatly appreciated.

The_Boss

Those "scores" mean diddly squat - Experian are not a lender. Lenders have their own scoring matrices that use data that you record on your application form that Experian do not hold (such as your salary - a key driver for a mortgage). Different lenders will use different criteria and weight data differently. In short, neither you nor your wife have a "score" no matter what Experian try to tell you.

I definitely wouldn't apply for any credit in the year leading up to a mortgage application. Just continue to pay all your accounts and keep to the terms and conditions and you will put yourself in as good as light as you can with the potential mortgage lenders.

Fireflyaway

Compared to many people you have great credit scores and lenders look at other stuff now anyway. My colleague recently applied for a mortgage and was grilled about how often she has her hair done does she eat out a lot / go to the gym and how would she make repayment if she lost her job! They look for evidence of being over drawn, using payday loans, if you have savings and all sorts of stuff that never used to come up.
I'm not expert - all I have is debt and bad credit - however if I were in your situation I don't think I would make an application for credit. 1 reason is that too many applications close together can be seen as bad and another is that it will potentially decrease what you could borrow ( that might not be an issue to you if you have a good income - just making the point) as your wife could in theory max out the card at any point.
I would love to have a credit score like you so well done on that alone! Hope you get the mortgage.

Thrugelmir

Keep saving. At it's this this that really makes the difference. Not just from the lenders perspective but your own personal security. All debt has to be repaid in the end. The less you borrow the less you'll end up repaying which will be eaten away by interest charges.

DissertationPD

It's all dependent on the lender, so Experian have a large data set, which they base your score off, but the actual lender will have their own criteria.

The_Boss

Fireflyaway wrote: »

Compared to many people you have great credit scores and lenders look at other stuff now anyway. My colleague recently applied for a mortgage and was grilled about how often she has her hair done does she eat out a lot / go to the gym and how would she make repayment if she lost her job! They look for evidence of being over drawn, using payday loans, if you have savings and all sorts of stuff that never used to come up.
I'm not expert - all I have is debt and bad credit - however if I were in your situation I don't think I would make an application for credit. 1 reason is that too many applications close together can be seen as bad and another is that it will potentially decrease what you could borrow ( that might not be an issue to you if you have a good income - just making the point) as your wife could in theory max out the card at any point.
I would love to have a credit score like you so well done on that alone! Hope you get the mortgage.

See the post immediately before yours (and in my signature). The OP doesn't have a credit score and neither do you, so you're comparing two fictitious numbers that mean diddly squat.

If it's any use, on The Boss' Creditworthy Report And Profile (CRAP for short) you have a score of 877 and the OP has a score of 824. So there you go - I've just invented a fictitious number for you on a similar basis to how Experian have and yours is better.