700 Credit Score

Congratulations. You’ve reached the coveted 700 plateau. Now that you’ve managed to get your credit score so high, life should be easy, right? Maybe not. To maintain your great borrowing power, it’s important to remain in control. Here are some myths and facts about a 700 credit score.

700 Credit Score Myth: If your credit score is 700, you’ll always get the best rates.

700 Credit Score Fact:

You will probably get a very good rate for your loan with a 700 score, and you’ll probably be able to borrow as much as your income will reasonably allow. However, sometimes the cutoff for the best risk category is 740 or even 790, so even with a 700 score you may be on the outside looking in. That being said, a 700 score is definitely something to aspire to, and something many borrowers may have trouble exceeding.

700 Credit Score Myth: When you’ve hit a 700 credit score, you can relax.

700 Credit Score Fact:

This is very far from true. Every credit action you take affects your score, and it can change from month to month. A 700 credit score is on the cusp of the great scores, you may well be just one late payment away from a score in the 600s. When you achieve a 700 score, it’s time to assess your situation and ask what you could be doing to make sure you maintain your current score, and what you might be doing that is already hurting it.

700 Credit Score Myth: There’s no point in trying to raise a 700 credit score.

700 Credit Score Fact:

As mentioned earlier, 700 might not quite get you in the preferred risk group. Furthermore, getting to 740 or 790 may open up some interesting new credit options that were not available to you before. If you can reach 700, you can reach 790. Get your score, assess it, and see what you need to do to put that score in the stratosphere.

700 Credit Score Myth: Lenders like don’t like 700 rated borrowers because they have to give them reasonable rates.

700 Credit Score Fact:

Your lender would love to give out loans to as many 700 or higher rated people as possible. People in the 700 range rarely default, so your lender knows he can count on you returning the money. Charging a lot of interest might seem great for a lender, but if that borrower never pays any of the money back, what does it mean? Rest assured that if you walk into a lender’s office with a 700 + credit score, you will be treated warmly.

Before entering a situation where decisions are based on your credit score, be sure you check your scores from all three credit reporting bureaus. You don’t want to walk into a lender thinking you have a score in the 700s and discover that according to this lender, your score is in the 600s because he uses a credit reporting bureau that you didn’t think it was important to get a score from.

Learn what a 600 credit score and an 800 credit score means.