Good news: Credit scores aren't impacted by checking your own credit reports or credit scores. In fact, regularly checking your credit reports and credit scores is an important way to ensure your personal and account information is correct, and may help detect signs of potential identity theft.
Checking your own credit report or score won't affect your credit scores. It's an example of a soft inquiry—a request for credit info that does not affect credit scores.
Many credit card issuers and banks provide free credit scores to their customers. Personally checking your credit score won't affect it. Nor will checking your own credit report. However, when you apply for credit, the lender will make a so-called hard inquiry, which can lower your score a bit.
Checking your credit score will not have an affect on it. Requesting a copy of your credit report or checking your credit score is known as a “soft inquiry.” Soft inquiries are not visible to potential lenders when they view your credit report; however, they may remain visible to you on your report for 12 to 24 months.
A single hard inquiry often doesn't hurt a credit score much, but multiple hard inquiries can lead to a larger drop because it might look like you're scrambling to borrow money. Your credit score will generally recover within a few months, and hard inquiries won't affect most credit scores after a year.
As someone with a 650 credit score, you are firmly in the “fair” territory of credit. You can usually qualify for financial products like a mortgage or car loan, but you will likely pay higher interest rates than someone with a better credit score. The "good" credit range starts at 690.
For a score with a range between 300 and 850, a credit score of 700 or above is generally considered good. A score of 800 or above on the same range is considered to be excellent. Most consumers have credit scores that fall between 600 and 750. In 2022, the average FICO® Score☉ in the U.S. reached 714.
A 750 credit score is considered excellent on commonly used FICO and VantageScore scales, which range from 300 to 850. The exception is if you are new to credit because a high score isn't always enough. The length of your credit history and how much debt you carry relative to your income also matter.
It's possible that you could see your credit scores drop after fulfilling your payment obligations on a loan or credit card debt. Paying off debt might lower your credit scores if removing the debt affects certain factors like your credit mix, the length of your credit history or your credit utilization ratio.
Check with your bank
“The earlier you start building your credit history, the better it could be for your credit score.” You can typically check your score via your online account, mobile banking app, or ask a customer service rep if you're unsure whether this is available to you.
Although ranges vary depending on the credit scoring model, generally credit scores from 580 to 669 are considered fair; 670 to 739 are considered good; 740 to 799 are considered very good; and 800 and up are considered excellent.
The credit scores and credit reports you see on Credit Karma come directly from TransUnion and Equifax, two of the three major consumer credit bureaus. They should accurately reflect your credit information as reported by those bureaus — but they may not match other reports and scores out there.
A 620 credit score is typically what you'll need to get a mortgage for a home purchase. Although you can buy a house with a credit score as low as 500, you'll pay a higher rate and make a larger down payment.
The minimum credit score needed for most mortgages is typically around 620. However, government-backed mortgages like Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans typically have lower credit requirements than conventional fixed-rate loans and adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs).
The credit score required and other eligibility factors for buying a car vary by lender and loan terms. Still, you typically need a good credit score of 661 or higher to qualify for an auto loan. About 69% of retail vehicle financing is for borrowers with credit scores of 661 or higher, according to Experian.
Generally speaking, negative information such as late or missed payments, accounts that have been sent to collection agencies, accounts not being paid as agreed, or bankruptcies stays on credit reports for approximately seven years.
Missed bill payments, high credit utilization, bankruptcy, and a number of other factors can cause your credit score to drop.
Some types of mortgages have specific minimum credit score requirements. A conventional loan requires a credit score of at least 620, but it's ideal to have a score of 740 or above, which could allow you to make a lower down payment, get a more attractive interest rate and save on private mortgage insurance.
Your score falls in the range of scores, from 800 to 850, that is considered Exceptional. Your FICO® Score and is well above the average credit score. Consumers with scores in this range may expect easy approvals when applying for new credit. 21% of all consumers have FICO® Scores in the Exceptional range.
If you're wondering whether you can buy a house with your “good” credit score of 700, you likely can. But your total loan costs with a 700 score as opposed to, say, 760 are significantly different. Let's use a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage loan for $300,000 as an example.
While older models of credit scores used to go as high as 900, you can no longer achieve a 900 credit score. The highest score you can receive today is 850. Anything above 800 is considered an excellent credit score.
With fair credit — a score of 640 to 699, typically — it becomes easier and less expensive to get a mortgage, but it can still be more difficult and more expensive than it would be if you had good or excellent credit.
However, with a 716 credit score, you should qualify for rates on-par with national averages. Also, even though your score qualifies you for a mortgage, it's important to know that the lower your score is, the stronger the rest of your qualifications are generally expected to be.