If your credit score sits at 600, the mortgage rates you see advertised on rate comparison sites probably don’t reflect your situation. Those numbers are for borrowers with 740 or higher. It’s not a rejection at 600, though. You still have practical options, and the rate you pay depends more on knowing where you fit in the underwriting system than on the number alone.
A 600 Credit Score Puts You in a Specific Mortgage Lane
Conventional loans from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac require a minimum score of 620 to qualify. At 600, you are just barely below that line, which is why your main path forward is an FHA-insured loan with a 3.5% down payment. FHA officially accepts scores as low as 580, and if you’re curious how that lowest tier behaves, our detailed guide on mortgage rates for a 580 credit score tells you what buyers experience at that entry point. Your 600 score sits a little higher, but you’ll still be priced as a lower-credit borrower.
Why FHA Rate Pricing Works in Your Favor
Because the federal government insures FHA loans, lenders carry much less risk. The credit-score penalty on an FHA mortgage is therefore smaller than the penalty you’d see on a conventional loan, assuming a conventional lender would even approve you. That’s the one bright spot in the rate puzzle at 600.
Mortgage Rates for 600 Credit Score: The Actual Numbers
As of a typical week when well-qualified buyers are being quoted around 6.75 percent on a 30-year fixed loan, a borrower with a 600 score on an FHA product is likely to be quoted somewhere between 7.75 and 8.25 percent. That gap of roughly 1 to 1.5 points is driven by the fact that many lenders consider a score under 620 part of their subprime overlay, even though FHA isn’t technically a subprime product. Markets fluctuate daily, but the relative spread between the credit tiers holds consistently.
The same structural rules are described in our guide to mortgage rates by credit score, which compares every 20-point band from 580 to 780. But for now, focus on the fact that your rate won’t be the headline number you see in national ads. It will still be manageable if you plan around it.
Why the Rate Quote Is Just One Number
At 600 score, the interest rate isn’t the only cost that changes. FHA adds an upfront Mortgage Insurance Premium of 1.75 percent of the loan amount. Most borrowers finance that figure into the principal instead of writing a separate closing check.
The Monthly Insurance Layer
Beyond the upfront premium, a 30-year FHA loan with less than 10% down carries an annual mortgage insurance premium around 0.55 percent of the outstanding balance. On a $289,500 loan, that’s about $133 per month built into your payment. Both of these premiums are what make low-credit-score FHA lending possible in the first place, but they are real money that needs to be part of your affordability calculation.
A Concrete Example: What 600 Credit Score Buyers Pay on $300,000
Let’s put actual dollar amounts on this. Assume you’re buying a $300,000 home with the FHA minimum down payment of 3.5 percent. Your loan amount is $289,500. At an interest rate of 7.75 percent, principal and interest run roughly $2,075 per month. With the $133 monthly mortgage insurance premium, you’re at about $2,208 before property taxes and homeowners insurance.
If you can get your rate down to 6.75 percent through a credit score improvement or a point buy-down, principal and interest drop to $1,877, and the total before taxes becomes $2,010. The roughly $200 monthly difference adds up to $2,400 per year, enough to cover a far greater share of your future refinance closing costs when your credit is better.
Three Concrete Steps That Lower the Rate on a 600 Credit Score
You don’t have to accept the first quote that comes across your email. The following steps can cut your rate more than you’d expect at 600.
- Compare multiple lenders. Rate pricing for FHA loans with credit scores under 620 is not standardized. Some lenders will add nothing above their standard FHA price. Others add as much as half a point or more.
- Check your credit utilization before you apply. If your 600 FICO is weighed down by a credit card balance that sits above 50 percent utilization, paying it down to below 10 percent can add 20 to 40 points. That doesn’t just buy a better rate. It can also push you above 620, opening the door to conventional loans.
- Buy discount points at closing. Each point, paid as 1 percent of the loan amount, typically reduces the rate by about 0.25 percentage points. If a 600 score quote is 8 percent, paying one point to get 7.75 percent can repay itself within four to six years.
Spend 30 minutes reviewing each lender’s Loan Estimate line by line rather than comparing only the mortgage rate at the top of the page.
Should You Wait Six Months or Buy Now at 600?
A 600 credit score isn’t permanent. With consistent on-time payments, it can move to 640 in about six to nine months. But waiting has an opportunity cost. Home prices don’t pause while your score improves.
Let’s say buying today gives you a 7.9 percent rate on a $300,000 home. Eight months later, with a 660 score, you might qualify for a 7 percent rate. That saves you around $180 to $200 per month. Over those eight months, prices in a typical hot market rise 3 to 5 percent, meaning the same home costs $315,000 instead of $300,000. Your monthly savings on the rate won’t cover the extra $15,000 purchase price.
When Waiting Is the Better Choice
Waiting only makes sense if your score is being held down by something you can fix quickly, like an inaccurate collection or an old medical debt, and if you live in a market with stable or declining prices. In those cases, an additional 40 points could eventually save you more.
If you’re worried that these rates are historically terrible, don’t be so quick to assume. The highest mortgage rates in history peaked above 18 percent in 1981 when inflation was running hot. That doesn’t mean locking in at 7.75 percent is fun, but context matters when deciding if your personal timeline can afford to wait.
A 15-Year Mortgage Can Be a Smarter Fit at 600
Most advice for low-credit-score borrowers assumes a 30-year loan. But if your payment budget has room, 15-year FHA loans come with a lower interest rate than 30-year fixed loans and a smaller mortgage insurance cost. Because FHA’s rules don’t require a higher credit score for the shorter term, your 600 score can still qualify.
The trade-off is straight-forward: your monthly payment will be hundreds of dollars higher because you’re paying off the same principal in half the time. Anyone at a 600 score should run the numbers carefully. To see whether the shorter timeline fits your cash flow, review current 15-year fixed mortgage rates and compare the total interest against a 30-year mortgage that you refinance in year three.
What Your Next Step Actually Looks Like
Don’t start with a generic website that only serves perfect-credit borrowers. Call a mortgage broker who regularly works with FHA clients and ask them to run your credit and provide a loan estimate. Compare at least three estimates from different institutions.
While that is happening, set up a clear path to a refinance in the future. Keep your credit utilization low, pay every installment on time, and avoid opening new store cards before closing. With a 600 score today and a reasonable payoff plan, you’re not stuck at this rate forever. You’re just paying a temporary penalty for where your credit stands right now.