Credit Score Breakpoints by Loan Program: What a Few FICO Points Actually Cost You
A 636 FICO score does not mean the same thing twice. Run it through a fix-and-flip file with a couple of completed deals behind you, and you clear the floor with room to spare. Run that same number through a DSCR purchase on a fourplex, and you are four points under the floor before the file even opens — not because the property is wrong, but because fix-and-flip and DSCR set their credit floors in different places, for different reasons.
Easy Lending USA is a referral service. We place business-purpose loans — secured by non-owner-occupied investment property, held in a business entity — with our lending partners, who underwrite and fund each file. We don’t set these numbers; we’re laying out where they currently sit so you pick the right program before you lose a week to the wrong one. Every figure below is indicative, subject to the lending partner’s underwriting, and not a committed offer.
The floors, side by side
Five programs, five different relationships between your credit score and what you actually get.
| Program | Minimum FICO | What moves with it |
|---|---|---|
| Fix and flip | 620 (650 if this is your first deal) | Leverage ladder: 80% LTC new investor, 85% with some experience, 90% LTC / 75% ARV experienced on light rehab |
| Ground-up construction | 650, flat | A gate, not a ladder — also requires 3 deals in the last 36 months, including one ground-up |
| Multifamily / mixed-use bridge | 670 | No published ladder above the floor; caps at 75% LTC / 65% ARV either way |
| DSCR, 1–4 units | 640 | Interacts with the DSCR ratio itself (floor 0.75x) — the lower your DSCR, the less of the 80% LTV ceiling you actually get |
| DSCR, 5+ units | 700 | Flat floor, tighter 75% LTV cap, loan sized $400k–$2M |
Notice what’s missing: a straight bridge loan (stabilized property, no construction draws) doesn’t carry a published credit floor the way the other four do. It’s scored more on the asset and the exit than on a single number, up to 75% LTV. That’s a real structural difference, not an oversight — don’t assume it inherits the DSCR or fix-and-flip floor just because it sits next to them in our program lineup.
The same deal, three outcomes: a worked example
Take a $300,000 purchase with a $100,000 rehab budget — $400,000 in total cost. Run it through fix and flip at three different experience-and-credit tiers and the cash you bring to closing moves by $40,000, not by a rounding error:
- First deal, 655 FICO (clears the 650 floor new investors need): 80% LTC = $320,000 loan. You bring roughly $80,000 plus closing costs.
- Some experience, 625 FICO (clears the lower 620 general floor): 85% LTC = $340,000 loan. You bring roughly $60,000.
- Experienced, light rehab, 625 FICO: 90% LTC / 75% ARV = $360,000 loan, assuming ARV supports it. You bring roughly $40,000.
The part worth noticing: the experienced investor needed a lower credit score to get the better deal. Fix and flip is the one program on this list where more experience buys you both a lower FICO floor and more leverage at the same time — a first-time investor needs 650 just to get in the door, while someone with a track record clears it at 620 and still gets the better rate on leverage.
Why a good credit score doesn’t always buy the top tier
Ground-up construction is the clearest example of a hard floor that credit score can’t buy past. The FICO minimum is 650, flat — no ladder, no better leverage for a higher score. But the file also requires three deals completed in the last 36 months, at least one of them ground-up. An investor with an 800 FICO score and zero completed construction deals still doesn’t clear that bar. The credit floor and the experience requirement are two separate gates, and you need both open.
Multifamily and mixed-use bridge works the same way in miniature: 670 FICO gets you in, but the 75% LTC / 65% ARV ceiling doesn’t move for a 740 score the way fix-and-flip leverage moves for an experienced borrower. Know which program you’re in before you assume a better score automatically buys you more room.
DSCR is the outlier — the floor is a ratio, not a tier
On DSCR rental loans, 1–4 units, the FICO floor is 640 and the loan can run up to 80% LTV — but that ceiling assumes the property’s debt-service coverage ratio supports it. A deal priced to a DSCR near the 0.75x floor doesn’t get the same 80% LTV as a deal comfortably above 1.0x, even with identical credit. Two investors can clear 640 FICO on the same day and land in different leverage brackets because of what the property’s rent actually covers, not because of anything on their credit report. The 5+ unit tier tightens both sides at once — 700 FICO and a 75% LTV cap — which is the main reason a five-unit building and a four-unit building two doors down can price out very differently even at comparable value.
When chasing a higher tier is the wrong call
None of this means you should sit on a time-sensitive deal to inch your score up. If you’re a 616-FICO investor with some track record, waiting six to eight weeks to clear 620 so you qualify for the some-experience tier on fix and flip can easily cost more in carrying costs, a slipping purchase contract, or a lost deal than the leverage improvement is worth. The same applies to a DSCR purchase sitting four points under 640: closing the gap now through hard money or bridge financing, holding the asset, and refinancing into DSCR once the score and seasoning both line up is often the faster, cheaper path than waiting on the number to move first. Run both timelines before deciding which one actually costs less.
It’s also the wrong call to assume a strong score substitutes for a missing requirement. A high FICO score doesn’t shorten the ground-up experience requirement, and it doesn’t lift a DSCR deal priced at the 0.75x floor into a better leverage bracket. Know which lever you’re actually pulling before you spend time or money trying to pull it.