The short version: There is no single credit score that unlocks a mortgage. Every loan program sets its own floor, and most lenders sit a few points above that floor with their own overlays. FHA goes the lowest (down to 500 in theory, 580 in practice for a low down payment). Conventional usually starts at 620. VA does not set a minimum but most lenders want 580 to 620. USDA generally wants 640. The score that gets you the loan and the score that gets you a good loan are two different numbers. Here is the band-by-band reality I see with first-time buyers in Northern Virginia.
The minimum credit score by loan type
Each of the four major loan programs publishes its own minimum credit score policy. Those are the program floors. Individual lenders are allowed to add overlays on top, which is why two different lenders can quote two different minimum scores on the same program. Here is what the agencies themselves require, with links to the primary source for each:
| Loan type | Program minimum FICO | What it actually takes in practice |
|---|---|---|
| FHA, 3.5% down | 580 (per HUD Handbook 4000.1) | 580 to 620 with most lenders |
| FHA, 10% down | 500 (per HUD Handbook 4000.1) | Hard to find lenders below 580 even with 10% down |
| Conventional (Fannie / Freddie) | 620 (per Fannie Mae Selling Guide) | 620 to 660 to qualify, 740+ for the best pricing |
| VA | No agency minimum (VA.gov) | 580 to 620 with most VA lenders |
| USDA Rural Development | No published agency minimum (USDA SFH Guaranteed Loan Program) | 640 typical lender overlay (automated underwriting threshold) |
The takeaway is that the published minimum is the floor, not the answer. A 580 FICO can technically qualify for FHA. Whether a specific lender will fund that loan, and at what cost, is a separate question.
What the FICO bands actually mean for a NoVA first-time buyer
The credit-score range that matters for mortgages runs from about 500 to 850. Most first-time buyers I work with land somewhere between 620 and 760. The bands roughly group like this. Under 580 is the "credit-rebuild" zone, where only FHA at 10% down is possible and the rate pricing is rough. 580 to 619 is FHA territory; this is the most common path for a buyer with a thinner credit file. 620 to 659 opens the door to conventional, but the rate pricing is not great yet, and FHA may still be the better deal. 660 to 699 is the band where conventional starts to make sense over FHA for many buyers because mortgage insurance pricing on conventional improves at higher scores. 700 to 739 is good. 740 and above is where conventional pricing hits its best tier with most investors. None of this means a higher score gets you a different loan product. It changes the pricing of the loan and the mortgage insurance you pay on the way to 20% equity.
FHA in detail (the 580 question and the 500 question)
FHA is the most credit-friendly of the four programs. HUD's policy, in Handbook 4000.1, sets the minimum credit score at 580 for a 3.5% down payment, and 500 for a 10% down payment. The 500-with-10-percent path is real on paper, but in practice almost no lenders will originate it because the loss-given-default risk is too high. Most FHA lenders, including the major banks and credit unions in Northern Virginia, cut their FHA overlay at 580 or 600. A handful go down to 550 with extra documentation. If your middle FICO is in the 500s, the realistic conversation is about which lender will look at the file, not about the down payment. FHA also caps debt-to-income more loosely than conventional, which is why a buyer with a 620 score and high DTI often ends up on FHA even though they technically qualify for conventional.
Conventional in detail (why 620 is the floor and 740 is the prize)
Conventional loans (the ones backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) require a 620 minimum credit score per the Fannie Mae Selling Guide. That is the qualification floor. The pricing floor is much higher. Conventional loans use a system called loan-level price adjustments, where the rate and the mortgage insurance both get worse as the credit score drops below 740. The result is that a buyer with a 660 FICO on conventional often pays more total monthly cost than the same buyer on FHA at the same down payment, even though both technically qualify. This is why the choice between FHA and conventional below the 700 mark is rarely automatic. The lender should run both options and show you the side-by-side. Above 720 to 740, conventional usually wins on long-term cost because the mortgage insurance is cheaper and drops off when you reach 20% equity. FHA mortgage insurance, by contrast, sticks for the life of the loan in most cases originated in recent years.
VA loans (no agency minimum, but lenders set their own)
The VA does not publish a minimum credit score for VA-guaranteed loans. The agency leaves credit underwriting to the lender. In practice, that means most VA lenders set their own floor around 580 to 620. A few go to 550 for veterans with strong compensating factors (long employment, low DTI, residual income well above the VA's per-region table). VA is the strongest loan product available to anyone who qualifies, by a wide margin, because of the zero down payment, no monthly mortgage insurance, and the funding fee structure that can be waived for veterans with service-connected disability. If you are VA-eligible and your score is in the 580 to 620 band, finding the right VA lender matters more than chasing a higher score before you apply. Per VA.gov, the eligibility rules turn on service history, not on credit.
USDA loans (the 640 automated-underwriting threshold)
USDA Rural Development's Single Family Housing Guaranteed Loan Program does not publish a hard minimum credit score either. In practice, the lender community standardized on 640 because that is the score at which USDA's automated underwriting system (called GUS) returns an "Accept" recommendation without requiring a full manual underwrite. Below 640, the file has to be manually underwritten, and most lenders will not do that for a USDA loan. So 640 is the de facto USDA floor in Virginia. USDA also has geographic eligibility (the property has to be in a designated rural or outer-suburban area, which excludes most of inner Northern Virginia but includes pockets of Loudoun, Prince William, and Stafford counties).
The score the lender uses (it is not the one from Credit Karma)
Mortgage lenders pull a tri-merge credit report from Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion through a credit reporting agency that specializes in mortgage credit. The score on that report is a specific FICO version (the FICO 2, 4, and 5 models, one per bureau), not the FICO 8 or VantageScore that consumer sites like Credit Karma display. The mortgage scores are usually lower than the scores you see on a consumer app, often by 10 to 40 points. The middle of the three bureau scores is the score the lender uses to qualify the loan. If you have two co-borrowers, the lender uses the lower of the two middle scores. The lesson: do not assume the score you see on your app is the score that will come up on the credit pull. Pull a real mortgage-grade tri-merge before you start writing offers if your scores are close to a program threshold.
What raises a mortgage credit score in 30, 60, and 90 days
Credit improvement on a 30-to-90-day timeline is real but limited. Three moves do most of the work, and they all involve revolving credit utilization (how much of your credit card limits you are using). First, pay revolving balances down below 30% of the limit on each card, and ideally below 10%, before the statement closing date. The score reads what was reported on the statement, not what you paid after. Second, do not close old credit cards in the run-up to a mortgage application; closing an account drops your average age of accounts and your available credit. Third, dispute any clearly inaccurate items on the credit report (wrong balances, accounts that are not yours, paid collections still showing as open). The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau publishes a credit-report dispute guide. Big-ticket fixes (paying off a collection, settling a judgment) can also help, but the timing of when the score updates is hard to predict. Anything that involves opening new credit (a new card, a car loan) hurts your mortgage application; do not do it in the 90 days before you apply.
What disqualifies you regardless of score
Credit score is one of three legs of mortgage qualification. The other two are debt-to-income ratio and the source of your down payment. A 760 FICO does not save a file with a 55% debt-to-income ratio (over FHA's flexible cap and over conventional's standard cap). A perfect score does not save a file where the down payment cannot be documented as the borrower's own funds or a properly documented gift. A recent bankruptcy or foreclosure also has program-specific seasoning rules (typically two years for Chapter 7 on FHA and VA, four years on conventional, with shorter timelines on rare cases). If any of those three legs is broken, the score does not matter. Conversely, a borderline score (say 600 on FHA) often funds easily when the DTI is low and the down payment and reserves are well-documented. Mortgage underwriting is the whole picture, not a single number.
What I tell first-time buyers in Northern Virginia about credit score
The first call I usually have with a first-time buyer goes like this. We pull the real mortgage credit (not the consumer app version) so we are working off the score the underwriter will see. We look at where you sit relative to the program thresholds (580, 620, 660, 740). If you are within striking distance of the next band, we map out what would get you there and how long it would take. If you are already in a band where conventional and FHA are both options, we run both and show the side-by-side cost over five and ten years. If the score is fine but DTI or down payment documentation is the actual issue, we work that instead. The goal is to get the loan structured the way that costs you the least over the time you plan to stay in the house. The score is the input. The loan structure is the output.
Frequently asked questions about credit scores for a mortgage
What is the absolute lowest credit score that can get a mortgage?
FHA allows down to 500 with 10% down per HUD policy, but most lenders will not originate that loan. The realistic floor with most lenders is 580 on FHA, sometimes 550 with a few specialty lenders. Below 580, plan on a credit-rebuild timeline before applying.
Is 620 a good credit score to buy a house?
620 qualifies for conventional and is well above the FHA floor. The pricing at 620 is not great on conventional, so FHA is often the better option at that score. The loan is doable. The right loan structure depends on the full file.
Does the mortgage score match the one on Credit Karma?
Usually not. Credit Karma displays VantageScore or FICO 8. Mortgage lenders use FICO 2, 4, and 5 (one per bureau) on a tri-merge report. The mortgage scores are often 10 to 40 points lower than consumer-app scores. Always pull mortgage-grade credit before assuming.
Will applying for a mortgage hurt my credit score?
The credit pull for a mortgage application is a hard inquiry and can drop the score a few points temporarily. Multiple mortgage pulls inside a 14-to-45-day window count as a single inquiry for scoring purposes, so rate-shopping with several lenders is not penalized the way a series of unrelated credit pulls would be.
How long after a bankruptcy can I get a mortgage?
Standard seasoning is two years after Chapter 7 discharge for FHA and VA, four years for conventional. Chapter 13 has different rules. A foreclosure typically requires three years for FHA, four years for VA, and seven years for conventional, with some exceptions. The clock starts at discharge or completion, not at filing.
Can a co-borrower with a higher credit score lift my qualifying score?
Not in the way most buyers expect. The lender uses the lower of the two middle scores when there are two borrowers. Adding a higher-score co-borrower does not raise your qualifying score. It can help with debt-to-income and reserves, which are separate qualification factors.
Should I pay off collections before applying for a mortgage?
It depends on the loan program. FHA does not require collections to be paid off in many cases. Conventional has more nuance. Sometimes paying off a collection helps the score, sometimes it briefly drops it because the account date resets. Talk to your loan officer before paying off anything large in the 90 days before applying.
How long does it take to raise my credit score by 40 points?
If the issue is high revolving utilization, you can see a meaningful jump within one or two statement cycles (30 to 60 days). If the issue is short credit history, derogatory items, or a recent late payment, the timeline is months to years. There is no shortcut.
Ready to see where you actually stand
If you are within range of a mortgage but not sure which program fits, the fastest path is to send me your situation or schedule a quick call. We will pull real mortgage-grade credit, look at the bands, and map out the loan structure that costs you the least over the time you plan to stay. For background, see the down payment breakdown by loan type and the Virginia Housing programs for first-time buyers. Qualification depends on your full financial picture and current program guidelines.