Credit Karma vs. FICO

[Julian Dangerfield]

Greetings BP Community, I’m glad to be here and thanks for having me!

Quick backstory, I initially planned to invest in my first rental property back in March, I had worked diligently to clean up my credit, paying off and having collections removed, bringing my student loans current, and paying off my credit card to a 0 balance throughout 2014. I was able to raise my credit score by nearly 100 points and I knew that I was on my way to success based on my scores given to me from Credit Karma.

However, after I began the process with my loan officer, he gave me the bad news that my FICO score was too low to qualify for a house, basically in the high 500s and low 600s even though Credit Karma was telling me otherwise L

It was suggested that I diversify my credit usage, so I applied and was approved for an additional credit card and a car loan, to offset my student loans. Again I’ve been paying consistently for months now, keeping my balances low and doubling payments on my car loan, while still building a savings.

The questions that I’m hoping you can help me with are really how far off am I from where I need to be, how do I know (without harassing my loan officer who is a really nice guy) if my FICO score has improved? I check my Credit Karma weekly, and while it continues to slowly improve, I know that my FICO could say otherwise, is there any advice on what my next move should be to be ready to invest in the Fall?!

[Jacob Edmond]

Many credit cards give you your FICO for free now. Both my Chase, and Discover, and I think Barclaycard does as well.