{"id":360,"date":"2026-01-13T16:14:24","date_gmt":"2026-01-13T22:14:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/twilabertrand.sites.c21.homes\/?p=360"},"modified":"2026-01-13T16:14:24","modified_gmt":"2026-01-13T22:14:24","slug":"the-credit-score-myth-thats-holding-would-be-buyers-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/twilabertrand.sites.c21.homes\/?p=360","title":{"rendered":"The Credit Score Myth That\u2019s Holding Would-Be Buyers Back"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div class=\"pt-8 px-8\">\n<h2 class=\"profile-color-text text-3xl\">The Credit Score Myth That\u2019s Holding Would-Be Buyers Back<\/h2>\n<div class=\"mt-6 text-base-content flex items-center flex-wrap gap-x-4 gap-y-2\"><span class=\"flex items-center flex-wrap gap-1\"><time class=\"text-base-content\" datetime=\"2026-01-12T11:30:00Z\">Monday January 12th, 2026<\/time><\/span><\/div>\n<div>.<\/div>\n<div class=\"mt-6 text-base-content flex items-center flex-wrap gap-x-4 gap-y-2\"><span class=\"flex items-center flex-wrap gap-1\"><a class=\"text-base-content\" href=\"https:\/\/www.simplifyingthemarket.com\/en\/category\/buyers\/?a=1000025117-654188f2b9e9f721433bea74f0bf3424\">For Buyers,<\/a><a class=\"text-base-content\" href=\"https:\/\/www.simplifyingthemarket.com\/en\/category\/first-time-buyers\/?a=1000025117-654188f2b9e9f721433bea74f0bf3424\">First-Time Buyers,<\/a><a class=\"text-base-content\" href=\"https:\/\/www.simplifyingthemarket.com\/en\/category\/rent-vs-buy\/?a=1000025117-654188f2b9e9f721433bea74f0bf3424\">Rent vs. Buy<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<div>.<\/div>\n<div>Article from Keeping Current Matters<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"p-6 px-8\">\n<div class=\"grid grid-cols-3 sm:flex gap-1 flex-wrap w-fit sm:w-full my-4\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"mt-6 flex flex-col gap-4 mb-8\">\n<div class=\"mb-2\">\n<p>Would-be homebuyers aren\u2019t sitting on the sidelines because they don\u2019t\u00a0<em>want<\/em>\u00a0to buy. They\u2019re sitting out because they think they\u00a0<em>can\u2019t<\/em>. And sometimes, it\u2019s their credit score that\u2019s holding them back.<\/p>\n<p>According to a\u00a0<em>Bankrate<\/em>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bankrate.com\/mortgages\/home-affordability-report\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">survey<\/a>,\u00a0<strong>2 out of every 5 (42%) Americans believe you need excellent credit to qualify for a mortgage<\/strong>. That may be why, when renters are asked why they don\u2019t own yet, \u201c<em>my credit isn\u2019t good enough<\/em>\u201d comes up often.<\/p>\n<p>Maybe you\u2019re in the same boat. You look at your score, see it\u2019s not where you want it to be, and assume buying your first place just isn\u2019t realistic right now.<\/p>\n<p>But here\u2019s what you need to know.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Even though a lot of people assume you need flawless credit to buy a house, that\u2019s not necessarily the case.<\/strong><\/p>\n<h4><strong>You Don\u2019t Need Perfect Credit To Buy a Home<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>So, where\u2019s this myth come from? Part of the confusion stems from the fact that the\u00a0<em>typical<\/em>\u00a0homebuyer today does have a fairly strong credit score. In fact, according to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.newyorkfed.org\/medialibrary\/interactives\/householdcredit\/data\/pdf\/HHDC_2025Q3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">data<\/a>\u00a0from the\u00a0<em>NY Fed,<\/em>\u00a0the median credit score for all buyers is 775.<\/p>\n<p><strong>But that doesn\u2019t mean you need a score that high to qualify.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Looking at recent homebuyers, a number were able to get a mortgage with scores below that threshold. Data shows\u00a0<strong>10% of scores were around 660.\u00a0<\/strong>Which means some were higher than that and some were lower, but the median in that lowest 10th percentile was around that range (<em>see graph below<\/em>):<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/files.keepingcurrentmatters.com\/KeepingCurrentMatters\/content\/images\/20260108\/20260112-You-Don-t-Need-Perfect-Credit-To-Buy-a-Home-original.png\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/files.keepingcurrentmatters.com\/KeepingCurrentMatters\/content\/images\/20260108\/20260112-You-Don-t-Need-Perfect-Credit-To-Buy-a-Home-original.png\" alt=\"a graph showing a line graph\" \/><\/a>So, even if your score isn\u2019t as high as you want, that doesn\u2019t automatically close the door.\u00a0<em>FICO\u00a0<\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.myfico.com\/credit-education\/credit-scores\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">explains<\/a>\u00a0there is no universal credit score you absolutely have to have when buying a home:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em>\u201cWhile many lenders use credit scores like FICO Scores to help them make lending decisions, each lender has its own strategy, including the level of risk it finds acceptable.\u00a0<\/em><strong><em>There is no single \u2018cutoff score\u2019 used by all lenders, and there are many additional factors that lenders may use . . .<\/em><\/strong><em>\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The best thing to do is to talk to a trusted lender to see what\u2019s possible for you. Because a portion of buyers are buying with scores in the 600s \u2013 and maybe that means you can too.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<h3 class=\"text-xl mb-2\">Bottom Line<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Your credit score is important. But that doesn\u2019t mean it has to be perfect.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>If credit has been the reason you\u2019ve been waiting to buy a home, it might be time to take another look at your options. If you want help understanding where you stand and what your next step could be, connect with a local lender.<\/p>\n<p><strong>You don\u2019t need to have everything figured out to start the conversation.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p data-start=\"302\" data-end=\"357\"><strong data-start=\"302\" data-end=\"330\">Twila Bertrand, REALTOR\u00ae<\/strong><br data-start=\"330\" data-end=\"333\" \/>CENTURY 21 Cota Realty<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"359\" data-end=\"807\">Serving Lufkin, Huntington, and all of Angelina County, and the surrounding East Texas communities, <strong data-start=\"436\" data-end=\"493\">Twila Bertrand is an experienced and trusted REALTOR\u00ae<\/strong> known for her local market knowledge, strong negotiation skills, and commitment to guiding clients with honesty and care. Whether you\u2019re buying your first home, selling a longtime property, or investing in East Texas real estate, Twila provides personalized service and data-driven advice every step of the way.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"809\" data-end=\"909\">\ud83d\udccd Lufkin, TX, Huntington, TX, &amp; Surrounding Areas<br data-start=\"842\" data-end=\"845\" \/>\ud83c\udf10 Visit my website: <strong data-start=\"866\" data-end=\"907\"><a class=\"decorated-link\" href=\"https:\/\/twilabertrand.sites.c21.homes\" target=\"_new\" rel=\"noopener\" data-start=\"868\" data-end=\"905\">https:\/\/twilabertrand.sites.c21.homes<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p data-start=\"911\" data-end=\"995\"><strong><em data-start=\"911\" data-end=\"995\">Helping buyers and sellers confidently navigate the East Texas real estate market.\u00a0 Rooted in Faith, Strengthened by Hope &#8211; Guiding you home with Purpose!\u00a0 Colossians 2:7<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Credit Score Myth That\u2019s Holding Would-Be Buyers Back Monday January 12th, 2026 . For Buyers,First-Time Buyers,Rent vs. Buy . Article from Keeping Current Matters Would-be homebuyers aren\u2019t sitting on the sidelines because they don\u2019t\u00a0want\u00a0to buy. They\u2019re sitting out because they think they\u00a0can\u2019t. And sometimes, it\u2019s their credit score that\u2019s holding them back. According to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":194391,"featured_media":361,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[123,148,88,132,135,164,17,22,85,167,166,165,163],"class_list":["post-360","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-real-estate","tag-best-agent-near-me","tag-best-real-estate-agent-in-lufkin-tx","tag-best-realtor-near-me","tag-buyers-agent","tag-experienced-realtor","tag-experienced-realtor-in-angelina-county","tag-lufkin-agent","tag-lufkin-realtor","tag-sellers-agent","tag-selling-a-home-in-huntington-tx","tag-selling-a-home-in-lufkin-tx","tag-trusted-huntington-real-estate-agent","tag-trusted-reatlor"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/twilabertrand.sites.c21.homes\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/360","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/twilabertrand.sites.c21.homes\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/twilabertrand.sites.c21.homes\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twilabertrand.sites.c21.homes\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/194391"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twilabertrand.sites.c21.homes\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=360"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/twilabertrand.sites.c21.homes\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/360\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":362,"href":"https:\/\/twilabertrand.sites.c21.homes\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/360\/revisions\/362"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twilabertrand.sites.c21.homes\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/361"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/twilabertrand.sites.c21.homes\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=360"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twilabertrand.sites.c21.homes\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=360"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twilabertrand.sites.c21.homes\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=360"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}