Unfortunately, 350 is a very low credit score. It's classified as “poor” or “very poor” by every major credit scoring company. With a score like this, it will be nearly impossible to get a mortgage, a car loan, or an unsecured credit card.
Your score falls within the range of scores, from 300 to 579, considered Very Poor. A 350 FICO® Score is significantly below the average credit score.
Generally speaking, you'll need a credit score of at least 620 in order to secure a loan to buy a house. That's the minimum credit score requirement most lenders have for a conventional loan. With that said, it's still possible to get a loan with a lower credit score, including a score in the 500s.
FHA loan – FHA loans are insured by the Federal Housing Administration and allow lenders to accept a credit score as low as 580 with a 3.5 percent down payment, or as low as 500 with a 10 percent down payment.
Minimum FHA loan credit score requirement
The minimum credit score to qualify for an FHA loan is 580 with a down payment of 3.5 percent. If you can bump up your down payment to at least 10 percent, you can have a credit score as low as 500 and still qualify.
The credit scores and reports you see on Credit Karma should accurately reflect your credit information as reported by those bureaus. This means a couple of things: The scores we provide are actual credit scores pulled from two of the major consumer credit bureaus, not just estimates of your credit rating.
It will take about six months of credit activity to establish enough history for a FICO credit score, which is used in 90% of lending decisions. 1 FICO credit scores range from 300 to 850, and a score of over 700 is considered a good credit score. Scores over 800 are considered excellent.
The lowest credit score is 300. The most commonly used credit-scoring models from FICO and VantageScore range from a low of 300 to a high of 850. It's easy to get confused about what the lowest credit score is. It would make more sense to start at 0, for one thing.
Poor Credit Scores From VantageScore
The company says a credit score is poor if it's between 500 and 600, while a score from 300 to 499 is called very poor. “In general, people with higher scores can get more credit at better rates,” VantageScore says.
You will likely need a credit score of at least 580 for a $3,000 personal loan. Most lenders that offer personal loans of $3,000 or more require bad credit or better for approval, along with enough income to afford the monthly payments.
If you want to buy a house and your credit score is 400, you won't get approved for most mortgages. For instance, to get an FHA loan, you need to have a credit score of at least 580 as of August 2021. And in the fall of 2018, less than 1% of borrowers who were approved conventional mortgages had a FICO score below 600.
While a home loan requires a credit score of 650 or above, you can still get a home loan with 500 credit score by making a sizeable down payment. If you don't have enough savings for down-payment, you can apply for a home loan jointly with someone who has a good credit score.
Our Verdict: Credit Karma has better credit monitoring and more features, but Experian actually gives you your “real” credit score. Plus it offers the wonderful Experian Boost tool. Since they're both free, it's worth it to get both of them.
Credit Karma touts that it will always be free to the consumers who use its website or mobile app. But how accurate is Credit Karma? In some cases, as seen in an example below, Credit Karma may be off by 20 to 25 points.
It's Best to Pay Your Credit Card Balance in Full Each Month
Leaving a balance will not help your credit scores—it will just cost you money in the form of interest. Carrying a high balance on your credit cards has a negative impact on scores because it increases your credit utilization ratio.
In the present California residential real estate environment, where current or potential homeowners and/or renters have debt and credit challenges, real estate brokers may and oftentimes do offer and provide credit repair services along with real estate-related work.
The main ways to erase items in your credit history are filing a credit dispute, requesting a goodwill adjustment, negotiating pay for delete, or hiring a credit repair company. You can also stop using credit and wait for your credit history to be wiped clean automatically, which will usually happen after 7–10 years.
“It's often possible to earn a higher credit score in 30 days or less,” says Grant, but don't expect your credit score to move from fair to excellent during that time. If you've had a major setback, it usually takes about one to two years to repair your credit, according to Weaver.