"Do lenders usually share those score brackets openly if you ask?"
In my experience, most lenders won't outright refuse if you ask directly, but they can be annoyingly vague sometimes... I've had a few loan officers give me rough ranges or "ballpark" figures rather than exact cutoffs. Honestly though, even knowing the brackets might not fully solve it—have you considered asking about other factors they weigh heavily besides credit scores? Debt-to-income ratios or recent credit activity can swing things more than you'd think.
I've noticed lenders can be pretty cagey about exact brackets too. Last year when I refinanced, I asked my loan officer point-blank about score cutoffs, and he just gave me a vague "mid-700s is ideal" kind of answer. Not exactly helpful, right? But honestly, I found that even when my credit score improved a bit, the rate difference wasn't as big as I'd hoped.
Have you checked if your lender has specific thresholds for better rates or if it's more of a sliding scale? Sometimes the jump from, say, 720 to 740 can matter a lot, while other times it's barely noticeable. Another thing I ran into was that lenders seemed to care more about whether I'd opened new credit lines recently or had any late payments within the last year. Even if your score is decent, recent activity can make them nervous.
Also, have you looked into whether boosting your score a bit will significantly change your refinance options, or is it possible you're already close enough to their best tier? I waited about three extra months to improve my credit before refinancing, and honestly, the difference wasn't huge. It might be worth asking directly if waiting a couple months to bump your credit up slightly will genuinely move the needle on your rate or terms.
"I waited about three extra months to improve my credit before refinancing, and honestly, the difference wasn't huge."
Yeah, this matches my experience pretty closely. When I refinanced last year, I was hovering around 730-ish and debated waiting a few months to bump it up. I asked my lender directly about specific thresholds, and they gave me the same vague "mid-700s is ideal" spiel. Honestly, it felt like pulling teeth to get a straight answer.
Out of curiosity, I decided to wait anyway—paid down a couple balances, avoided opening new credit lines, and got my score up to around 750. But when I finally refinanced, the rate improvement was pretty minimal. I think it shaved off maybe 0.125% from the original quote? Not exactly life-changing savings.
One thing I did notice, though, was that my lender seemed way more concerned about recent credit activity and debt-to-income ratio than the exact score itself. They asked me multiple times about recent credit inquiries and if I'd opened any new accounts in the last six months. It seemed like even a small recent credit event mattered more than a 10-20 point difference in my score.
Makes me wonder if lenders use credit scores more as a general filter rather than a precise sliding scale. Maybe once you're comfortably in the mid-700s, you're already in their "safe zone," and incremental improvements don't really move the needle much?
I guess it depends on your specific situation—if you're borderline between tiers (like 719 vs. 721), maybe waiting could help. But if you're already solidly above 720 or so, I'm not sure it's worth delaying your refinance just to squeeze out a few extra points. At least that's how it played out for me...
Your experience sounds pretty spot-on. Lenders definitely seem to care more about recent credit activity and debt-to-income than a few extra points on your score. Honestly, once you're comfortably in the mid-700s, you're already in their "good enough" club—it's like trying to impress someone who's already decided they like you. At least you got a slightly better rate...even if it wasn't exactly a jackpot moment, right?
Agree with most of this, but I'd add a couple points from experience:
- If you're already mid-700s, squeezing out another 10-20 points rarely moves the needle much on rates. Lenders usually have tiers (720+, 740+, etc.), and once you're in the top tier, you're golden.
- Debt-to-income ratio and recent credit pulls definitely matter more. I've seen people with 780+ scores get dinged because they opened a new credit card or financed a car right before refinancing.
- Bottom line: if your DTI is solid and no recent credit activity, waiting probably won't pay off significantly.
