Get a mortgage, boost your credit score and load up on credit cards.

Credit bureau Experian's National Score Index -- an examination of 3 million consumer credit profiles -- revealed that the average Experian PLUS Score for consumers with at least one open mortgage is 716 compared to 667 for consumers who don't have a mortgage.

A higher credit score can make you eligible for a bigger mortgage, lower interest rates and more credit overall and, apparently, mortgage holders jump at the chance.

Mortgage holders have more than twice as many credit cards as the average credit consumer nationwide and more than three times as many as the average credit consumer who does not have a mortgage, according to Experian.

That finding is somewhat of an anomaly because homeowners typically have equity they can borrow against at a much cheaper rate than interest on credit cards.

"Buying a home is a big step, especially for your credit," said Ed Ojdana, president of Experian Consumer Direct.

"Whether you are applying for a new mortgage, refinancing a current mortgage, or taking out a home equity line of credit, your credit history plays a significant role in the approval, interest rates, and terms of your new financial accountability. That's why it is important to check your credit report before you take these steps so that you may determine how creditworthy you appear to lenders," Ojdana added.

Part of your credit report, credit scores are a statistical evaluation of your creditworthiness -- how likely you are to default on a loan. Credit scores are almost always heavily weighted by lenders when they approve or reject mortgage loan applications.

The scores are calculated from a variety of factors including your level indebtedness; credit use and type; monthly payments; number of open credit cards; available, but unused credit; late payments; credit inquiries and a host of other factors.

Each of the three major credit reporting agencies, TransUnion and Equifax, along with Experian, typically generate a different score because of their different approaches to monitoring your credit behavior. The difference in the scores can be as much as 100 points or more.

Experian's PLUS Score ranges from 330 to 830 with a higher score indicating a lower credit risk.

An open mortgage with a strong payment history improves your score because it's a large loan and shows that you were considered creditworthy in the past, you have remained so and will likely continue to be in the future.

Consumers who don't know the score, how it's tallied and how to improve it, could be at a disadvantage in the loan application process.

Experian's study also found:

• All credit consumers in the Experian survey had an average 3.15 credit cards; consumers without a mortgage had an average 2.21 credit cards and consumers with a mortgage had a whopping average 6.78 credit cards, a number which can actually bring down a credit score.

• The average mortgage amount was approximately $136,000 for U.S. consumers, with only 10 percent of consumer mortgages exceeding $250,000.

• Throughout the year, the average number of credit inquiries for home loans is highest in the month of July during the "hot" buying season.

• New England, as a region, had the nation's highest average credit score at 699. The West South Central States region had the lowest average regional score, 655. South Dakota was the state with the highest average credit score, 709. Texas had the lowest, 651.

Published: May 28, 2004

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Broderick Perkins parlayed a career in old-school journalism into a contemporary digital news service that really hits home. The award-winning consumer journalist, originally from Wilmington, DE, is founder, publisher and executive editor of the bootstrap DeadlineNews Group, a Silicon Valley-based editorial content and consulting service specializing in residential real estate, consumer news and related editorial consulting services. The DeadlineNews Group includes the website, DeadlineNews.com, offering real estate editorial content and consulting services, and its back shop, the Deadline Newsroom, an open house on news that really hits home. Perkins obtained his formal journalism education from University of Delaware and a journalism boot camp, the Institute of Journalism Education at the University of California-Berkeley. He went on to 20 years of service as a daily newspaper journalist at the Wilmington, DE News Journal and San Jose, CA Mercury News. Perkins covered housing on the San Jose Mercury News reporting team which earned a General News Reporting Pulitzer Prize in 1989 for coverage of the Loma Prieta earthquake. He has also produced real estate, consumer and small business content for the Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, RealtyTimes.com, Nolo.com, Better Homes and Gardens, the National Association of Realtors, Homestore/Move and Intuit/Quicken among more than three dozen publications. In addition to managing the DeadlineNews Group, Perkins most recently served as chief editorial consultant for Nolo's Essential Guide To Buying Your First Home, Nolo, and writes real estate television scripts for RealtyTimes.com.