What Credit Score Do You Need to Buy a House in Texas?
There is no single magic number. Credit requirements depend on the mortgage program, the individual lender's requirements, your overall borrower profile and other factors reviewed in underwriting.
Program minimums are a floor, not a promise
Each loan program publishes a minimum score, and lenders may set their own stricter requirements on top of it. Meeting a minimum score does not mean you qualify — it means you are not automatically excluded on score alone.
FHA
Built with flexible credit guidelines in mind, which is why buyers rebuilding credit often explore it first. Score, down payment and compensating factors interact.
VA
The VA does not set a credit score minimum; participating lenders do. Eligible veterans with modest scores frequently find VA financing more attainable than other options.
USDA
Uses automated underwriting with credit standards that generally sit near conventional expectations, with manual underwriting possible in some cases.
Conventional
Typically the most score-sensitive category. Score affects both eligibility and the cost of mortgage insurance.
What lenders look at besides the number
- Credit history — how long you've been building a track record
- Collections and charge-offs, and whether they must be resolved
- Late payments, especially in the last 12 to 24 months
- Credit utilization — balances relative to limits
- Student loans, including how deferred or income-driven payments are counted
- Debt-to-income ratio once the proposed housing payment is added
Can you buy a house with low credit?
Many buyers do. Others need a few months of focused work first. The honest answer for any individual is: it depends on the whole file, and it takes a licensed loan officer reviewing real documents to know.
What you can do today is find out where you stand and what your specific gaps are — which is exactly what the BOLD100 workshop is built for.
Everything on this page is general homebuyer education. Mortgage eligibility is subject to program guidelines, lender requirements, underwriting and borrower-specific circumstances — it is never decided by an article.