If you have a credit score of at least 580, you could qualify for an FHA loan, and you’d only be required to put down 3.5%. With a credit score in the 500-to-579 range, you could qualify with a down payment of at least 10%.

What can you do with a 700 plus credit score?

As someone with a 700 credit score, you have crossed over into the “good” credit range, where you can get cheap rates on financial products like loans and credit cards. The “good ” range starts at 690. A 700 credit score is also good enough to buy a house.

What to do if your wife has a good credit score?

Since your wife has a good score, she’s already demonstrating the practices you need to work on, such as always paying your bills on time, keeping the balances on your credit cards at a reasonable level and only applying for credit when you really need it.

How does your credit score affect your marriage?

Joint accounts, like credit cards, will affect both of your scores If you have a poor score and your wife has a good one, you don’t get to use hers when applying for credit. Worse yet, your bad FICO score may land you in the doghouse when you’re ready to buy a car or a home.

What happens if your spouse has a bad FICO score?

Even if your spouse’s good score would qualify her/him for a loan with a good interest rate, your bad score may mean that, as a couple, you would only qualify for a loan at a worse interest rate. If your score is very bad, you may not qualify at all. Just because you have a bad FICO Score doesn’t mean your wife will love you any less.

What makes your credit score good at Credit Karma?

So long as you make payments on time, keep your credit card balances low and don’t go wild opening new credit card accounts when you don’t need them, you should be in good all-around shape. Here at Credit Karma, we want to help you develop the healthy financial habits that credit-reporting agencies look for when they crunch your credit scores.