What Credit Score do you Need to Buy a House?

Almost every first-time buyer I meet in the Rio Grande Valley asks me the same thing before anything else: what credit score do you need to buy a house in Texas? It makes sense. People think there's one magic number, and if they're under it, the door is closed. That's not how it works.

The short answer is you can buy a house with a credit score as low as 580, and in some cases 500. The number you need depends on the loan type. An FHA loan has a different floor than a conventional loan, which has a different floor than a USDA or VA loan. So the real question isn't "what's my score," it's "what loan fits my score."

I work with buyers in McAllen, Mission, and Edinburg, and a lot of them walk in thinking their credit isn't good enough. Most of the time, it is. Here's how the numbers break down in 2026, and why your first call should always be to a lender, not a real estate agent.

What credit score do you need to buy a house?

You need a credit score of at least 500 to buy a house in 2026, but practically speaking, 580 is the number that opens real doors. At 580 you qualify for an FHA loan with just 3.5% down. Below 580, your options shrink fast and your costs go up. The exact minimum depends on which loan program you use.

Here is what each loan type asks for:

• FHA loan: 580 with 3.5% down, or 500 to 579 with 10% down.
• Conventional loan: 620 minimum.
• VA loan: no official minimum, but most lenders want 580 to 620.
• USDA loan: usually 640.

These are program minimums, not lender minimums. That difference matters, and I'll explain it below.

Minimum credit score for an FHA loan

FHA is the workhorse loan for first-time buyers in the Valley, and it has the most forgiving credit rules. The minimum credit score for an FHA loan is 580 if you want the 3.5% down payment. If your score sits between 500 and 579, you can still get approved, but you'll need to put 10% down instead.

On a $250,000 home, that's the difference between $8,750 down and $25,000 down. So those 80 points of credit score are worth about $16,000 in cash at closing. That's why I tell buyers in the 540 to 570 range it's often worth waiting a few months to push the score up before applying.

FHA loans do come with mortgage insurance, and if you put down less than 10%, that insurance stays for the life of the loan. A lot of buyers refinance into a conventional loan later once they've built equity and their score has climbed. That's a normal play, not a problem.

Credit score needed for a conventional loan

A conventional loan needs a credit score of 620 at minimum. These loans are not backed by the government, so the rules are stricter, but they have one big advantage: the private mortgage insurance drops off automatically once you hit 20% equity. FHA insurance does not do that.

If your score is 680 or higher and you have 5% to 10% saved, a conventional loan often costs less per month than FHA, even with the higher down payment. The best conventional rates show up around 740 and above. There are also 3% down conventional programs for first-time buyers, like Fannie Mae HomeReady and Conventional 97, but they still want that 620 floor.

For RGV buyers with solid credit, conventional is worth pricing out against FHA. Have your lender run both. The monthly payment, not the down payment, is what you live with.

Credit score for a USDA loan and $0 down in the RGV

This is the one most Valley buyers don't know about, and it's a big deal here. A USDA loan needs a credit score of around 640, and it requires zero down payment. The catch is the home has to sit in a USDA-eligible area and your household income has to fall under the local limit.

Here's why that matters in Hidalgo County: 81.5% of the county is eligible for a USDA loan. Large parts of Mission, the outskirts of Edinburg, and towns like Alton, Palmview, and La Joya fall inside the eligible zone. The dense city centers of McAllen get excluded, but step a few miles out and the map opens up.

For 2026, a household of one to four can earn up to roughly $119,850 and still qualify in this area. That covers a lot of working families. If you have a 640 score, decent income, and you're open to buying a little outside the McAllen core, you can buy a home here with nothing down. I've had buyers keep their entire savings intact because of this program.

What is a lender overlay, and why your real number is higher

Here's the part most articles skip. The numbers above are the minimums the loan programs allow. But the lender writing your loan can set its own stricter rules on top, called overlays. Lender overlays often run 20 to 40 points above the program minimum.

So even though FHA allows 500, plenty of lenders won't touch anything under 580 or even 620. One lender might decline you at 590 while another approves you the same day. This is exactly why your first move is to talk to a lender, not to guess based on a chart you found online. Your score is only one piece. They also look at your income, your debt-to-income ratio, your savings, and your job history, all together.

If one lender turns you down, that doesn't mean you can't buy. It means you call the next one. I keep a short list of RGV lenders who work well with first-time and lower-credit buyers, and matching the right buyer to the right lender is half the job.

Buying a house in Texas with bad credit

You can buy a house in Texas with bad credit. A score in the 500s is not a dead end, it just changes the path. With a 500 to 579 score you're looking at FHA with 10% down. At 580 you're back to 3.5% down. If you're a veteran, a VA loan can work in that same range with no money down.

The honest tradeoff: a lower score means a higher interest rate. On a $250,000 loan, the gap between a 620 score and a 760 score can run $200 or more a month once you factor in the rate and the mortgage insurance. Over 30 years that's real money. So if you're close to a threshold, spending three to six months cleaning up your credit before you buy can pay off for the entire life of the loan.

The fastest wins I see: pay down credit card balances below 30% of the limit, don't open new accounts before applying, and dispute any errors on your report. A good lender will often run a "what-if" simulation and tell you exactly which moves bump your score the most.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the lowest credit score to buy a house?
The lowest is 500, using an FHA loan with a 10% down payment. Below 500 you cannot get an FHA-insured loan. Most lenders also add their own minimums, so in practice many won't go under 580 even though the program technically allows 500.

Is 600 a good credit score to buy a house?
A 600 score is enough to buy a house with an FHA or VA loan, but it's below the 620 conventional minimum and the 640 USDA minimum. You can definitely buy at 600, you'll just have fewer loan options and a higher interest rate than someone in the 700s.

What credit score do you need to buy a house with no down payment?
For $0 down you need either a USDA loan (around 640, in an eligible area like much of Hidalgo County) or a VA loan if you're a veteran (most lenders want 580 to 620). Those are the only two true zero-down loan programs.

Can I get a USDA loan with a 580 credit score?
Sometimes, but it's harder. USDA's automated approval usually wants 640. With a 580 you'd likely need manual underwriting, which means stronger income, low debt, and a clean recent payment history. It's worth asking a lender, but expect more documentation.

What is the minimum credit score to buy a house in Texas?
The minimum to buy a house in Texas is 500 with an FHA loan and 10% down. There's no separate state rule, the loan program minimums are the same across Texas. For 3.5% down, you'll want a 580 or higher.

If you're somewhere in the Rio Grande Valley wondering whether your credit is good enough to buy, the best thing you can do is find out for real. Call a lender, get your actual number, and see what you qualify for. Then call me, and we'll find the house. You can reach me at 956-862-1556 or browse homes for sale in McAllen, TX and homes for sale in Mission, TX to see what's out there right now.