Is 689 A Good Credit Score

What Can I Do With A 688 Credit Score

As 688 is a good credit score, you should not be limited in your loan options. Youll likely easily qualify for most credit cards, personal loans, auto loans, lines of credit and more.

Since youre not in the top range of credit scores, youll still always want to review your loan terms. For example, you want to ensure youre getting a reasonable interest rate and manageable loan terms.

If you damage your credit and fall back into the fair , may find your loan options much more limited. Do everything in your power to maintain your score and even improve it over time.

How does your score compare? Find out with our FREE Credit Assessment tool

Factors That Can Affect The Calculation Of Your Credit Scores

There are five main factors that can affect the calculation of credit scores. If youre interested in improving your credit, understanding what these factors are can help you create a plan to build healthy credit habits.

1. Payment History

How you manage your payments is one important factor used during the calculation of your credit scores. This includes how many accounts you have open as well as all the positive and negative information about these accounts. For example, if you make payments on time or late, how often you make late payments, how late the payments were, how much you owe, and whether or not any accounts are delinquent.

2. Outstanding Debt

Sometimes referred to as a , many credit scoring models take into account how high your balance is compared to your total available credit limit. Specifically when it comes to revolving credit, for examples credit cards and lines of credit.

3. Length Of Credit History

Your credit file includes how old your credit accounts are and will influence the calculation of your credit scores. The importance of this factor will differ depending on the scoring models, but generally speaking, how long your oldest and newest accounts have been open is important.

4. Public Records

Public records include bankruptcies, collection issues, liens, lawsuits, etc. Having these types of public records on your credit report may have a negative effect on your credit scores.

5. Inquires

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Diversify Your Credit Mix

Showing lenders that you have experience managing a mix of different types of credit can also help your credit health. Your various accounts may include a revolving credit line or an installment loan that you pay back over time.

We dont recommend applying for new loans just to build credit. Not only can that debt be expensive, but the application may result in a hard inquiry if the lender checks your credit reports while theyre deciding whether to lend to you. Hard inquiries are reflected on your reports and can affect your scores, especially if you rack up a bunch of them in a short amount of time.

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What A Fair Credit Score Means For You:

Borrowers within the “fair” credit score may push interest rates higher for their lines of credit. Borrowers in this range may incur higher charges associated with a loan or line of credit. It may be difficult to obtain a 30-year mortgage at the lower end of this range and you may expect higher interest rates. Auto loan APRs may have higher rates and credit cards may have lower limits and higher APRs.

Where To Go From Here

Its important to know which factors make up your credit score. As you can see in the image below, there are 5 factors that make up your credit score.

Pay down your balances and keep your credit utilization under 30%. Its also wise to have different types of credit accounts to establish a solid credit mix because it accounts for up to 10% of your FICO score. So, youll want to have both installment and revolving credit showing up on your credit report.

Of course, you also want to focus on making timely payments from here on out. Even one late payment can be very damaging to your credit.

Length of credit history also plays an essential role in your credit scores. You want to show potential creditors that you have a long, positive payment history.

Building excellent credit doesnt happen overnight, but you can definitely speed up the process by making the right moves. So give Lexington Law a call for a free credit consultation at and get started repairing your credit today! The sooner you start, the sooner youll be on your way to having exceptional credit.

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Lower Your Credit Utilization Rate

Your credit utilization rate is the percentage of your available credit that youre using. For example, if you have a single credit card with a limit of $1,000 and you owe $500, you have a credit utilization rate of 50%.

Generally speaking, the lower your credit utilization rate, the better for your scores. A good rule of thumb is to keep your credit utilization rate below 30% and even lower than that, if possible. A 50% rate is an example of a high credit utilization rate that could negatively affect your credit.

You can decrease your credit utilization rate by paying off debt . You can also lower your credit utilization rate by increasing the amount of credit available to you. One way to do that is by reaching out to your lender to ask for a higher credit limit or opening a new loan or credit line though you probably wont want to open too many too often, as that could have a negative impact on your credit as well.

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What Is A Fico Score

A high credit score qualifies you for the best interest rates and terms on everything from credit cards to mortgages. FICO Scores are used in over 90% of U.S. lending decisions, making it a must-know number before applying for any financial product.

FICO Scores are broken up into five categories that help lenders gauge your ability to repay loans.

Here are the credit score ranges for each category:

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What Factors Affect Your Credit Score

Your credit score is comprised of five factors: payment history, amounts owed, length of credit history, new credit, and credit mix. When youre in the average credit score range, your credit score can be affected by any of these five factors. In fact, your payment history may not even be a major issue. Even though your payment history is flawless, your credit score can still fall below 700 if you owe too much on your credit cards, or if you have too much new credit.

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At Bankrate, we have a mission to demystify the credit cards industry regardless or where you are in your journey and make it one you can navigate with confidence. Our team is full of a diverse range of experts from credit card pros to data analysts and, most importantly, people who shop for credit cards just like you. With this combination of expertise and perspectives, we keep close tabs on the credit card industry year-round to:

• Meet you wherever you are in your credit card journey to guide your information search and help you understand your options.
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Is 680 A Good Credit Score

FICO puts a 680 credit score in the good range. That means a 680 credit score is high enough to qualify you for most loans.

However, while 680 is a good credit score, its not the most competitive one.

What do we mean by that?

Well, in the second quarter of 2020, the median credit score for new mortgages was 786. Only 25% of mortgage borrowers qualified for a home loan between April and June had credit scores below. Furthermore, only 10% had credit scores less than 687, according to the data.

So when mortgage lenders are looking at a 680 credit score, theyll typically see it as good enough to qualify you for a loan but not high enough to offer lower interest rates.

That means its extra important to shop around with a few different lenders before deciding on a mortgage loan.

All lenders evaluate credit a little differently, and some are specifically geared toward borrowers with moderate credit scores.

One of these companies will be able to offer you a lower rate than a lender that prefers borrowers with scores in the mid- to high-700s.

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How To Earn A Fair Credit Score:

If you are trying to get your credit score into the “fair” range, pull your credit report and examine your history. If you see missed payments or defaulted loans or lines of credit, do your best to negotiate with the lender directly. You may be able to work out an agreement that allows you to make manageable, on-time payments. Getting back on track with these consistent payments could help improve your credit score over time. As you work through meeting your debt obligations, take care not to close any of your accounts. Open accounts with a long history could be positively contributing to your score and can continue to be used responsibly in the future.

Look at your credit report, create a budget that sets aside money to pay off your debts, and learn more about how credit scores are generated: these are the three fundamental steps in moving your credit score upwards.

Secured Vs Unsecured Cards

Secured cards

Secured cards are just what the name implies. The amount of your credit line is typically based on the security deposit you put up. For example, if you make a $300 deposit, youll usually have a corresponding $300 credit limit.

Other than the security deposit, secured cards work just like unsecured cards. You run charges and make monthly payments. The payment history is reported to the major credit bureaus, which will impact your credit score. And even though there is a security deposit, you will still be charged interest on outstanding balances.

Secured cards often come with no annual fee or a very low one. Most will eventually increase your credit limit based on your on-time monthly payments. And some will convert your card to unsecured after a certain amount of time.

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Unsecured cards

Naturally, no security deposit is required for unsecured cards. But the annual fee may be higher than it is for a secured card. The table below summarizes the difference between secured and unsecured credit cards:

Note: All cards on this page selected for credit scores between 650 and 699 are unsecured.

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Dont Take Out New Credit Accounts Or Loans

Whether youre a first-time homebuyer or a homeowner on your third purchase, when it comes to debt, less is always best especially when youre looking to qualify for a new home loan.

Opening new credit accounts or any other type of loan will not only have a negative impact on your debt-to-income ratio, but the hard inquiries required to qualify for a loan can lower your credit score by several points each.

Similarly, avoid closing existing lines of credit, like credit cards, to keep your available credit limit higher. his is beneficial to your overall credit utilization ratio. Plus, the average age of your credit is also a factor in determining your credit score range.

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How To Check Your Credit Score

Checking your credit score was once a difficult task. But today, there are many ways to check your credit scores, including a variety of free options.

Your bank, credit union, lender or credit card issuer may give you free access to one of your credit scores. Experian also lets you check your FICO® Score 8 based on your Experian credit report for free.

The type of credit score you get can depend on the source. Some services may offer you a version of your FICO® Score, while others offer VantageScore credit scores. In either case, the calculated score will also depend on which credit report the scoring model analyzes.

Some services even let you check multiple credit scores at once. For example, with an Experian CreditWorks Premium membership, you can get your FICO® Score 8 scores based on your Experian, Equifax and TransUnion credit reportsplus multiple other FICO® Scores based on your Experian credit report.

Can I Get A Mortgage & Home Loan W/ A 689 Credit Score

Getting a mortgage and home loan with a 689 credit score shouldn’t be very difficult. Your current score is a mid-to-high credit rating.

The #1 way to get a home loan with a 689 score is to complete minimal credit repair, and simply apply and wait for approval.

After a few short months of repairing your credit , youâll be in a much better position to get your ideal home loan terms.

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A 689 Credit Score Is Generally A Fair Score While A Lot Of People Have Fair Scores You May Still Find It Difficult To Get Approved For Credit Without High Fees And Interest Rates With A Score In This Range

Fair score range identified based on 2021 Credit Karma data.

Fair credit does open the door to some possibilities. With fair credit scores, you might qualify for loans with better terms than you would if you were building credit from scratch. You may also be approved for an unsecured credit card with decent interest rates and fees and maybe even some modest rewards and cash back.

To understand what fair credit means, its helpful to first understand exactly what a credit score is. A credit score is a three-digit number that gives potential lenders a sense of your credit health. In other words, it helps lenders understand how likely you are to pay back money if they decide to lend to you. Credit scores arent the be-all, end-all of lending decisions, but they can be an important aspect.

Of course, it gets a bit trickier from there.

You can have many different credit scores based on different credit-scoring models created by companies like FICO and VantageScore. These models might weigh certain aspects of your credit history differently, so one of your credit scores may end up different from another. And even if the scores are calculated using exactly the same factors and weighting, the information in them may be different, since credit-scoring models may rely on data from different credit bureaus.

Lets explore a bit more about what it means to have fair credit, and where you can go from here.