Credit score decreasing due to mortgages

[Mike Trzaska]

Hi BP,

I know most people here with multiple properties have dealt with this situation. Over the past 18 months I have acquired 4 rental properties, refinanced my home, and opened a HELOC. All good things, except my credit took a hit due to the recency of all these open lines. Prior to investing my score was always between 780-800, now I'm sitting at 660. Does anyone who has been in this situation before have any strategies they used to improve their score while continuing to invest and use mortgages as leverage? It's wild to me that owning 5 hard assets all with over 30% equity that pay me monthly can hurt my credit score. I guess it's just the rules of the game we play…

Thanks!