We know that your credit scores have a huge affect every time you borrow money, from your credit cards to buying a home.
Now FICO has a new website where you can get advise about how to improve your scores and how they affect the quality and types of loans you are offered.
MyFICO.com
From their Website: “Quite simply, FICO scores are the credit scores most lenders use to make lending decisions about you. The higher your score, the less risky you are in the eyes of a lender.”
Outside of the EDUCATION and COMMUNITY sections of the website there are a lot of Products for sale on their website, so keep an eye on what section you are in if you aren’t interested in buying stuff!
APR estimator by FICO score
Mortgage Rates
The website has a great tool to show you how your APR is affected by your credit scores. You tell it what area it should look at for APRs offered and what size loan you might get. It shows a table with scores from a 620 score up to an 850 score and the average APR offered for each. In Florida right now there is a (click here to use the APR tool)
The table to the right is an example of what you will see on their site. I asked then to show information for Florida on a $200,000 loan – the APRs range from 4.658% if you have an amazing score to 6.256% for a low-end score
Advise
The MyFICO.com website has an entire section for questions and advise.
From what I read it is illegal or at least restricted for them to post advise directly from the group because they create the scoring system and other products, so they opend up a forum where consumers can share information about FICO scores.
It has attracted a lot of attention in the customer service world and after browsing it I am impressed.