If I am applying for a mortgage, then I would pay off before the statement is cut. Otherwise, I just pay off before the due date. I always pay my cards in full.

actually having high FICO doesn't help mortgage, as long as you are above the cut off line (which defers from lender to lender, but normally under 720).

I agree - and paying the balance before closing will probably only help if you are on the bubble of a magic score. I just redid my HELOC and ended up getting hit with an extra 1/2 point on the interest rate because my FICO came it at 711. Of course I did an AOR several months before, had a bunch of CC debt showing on my report (all 0%), along with a new car loan and a couple new credit cards in the month before I applied. It is not a big deal since the HELOC is only emergency parking if I need it for the 0% money since I used it to pay off the car. Lesson learned is to do mortgage stuff before other credit games.

A couple of months ago, I needed 740 FICO (mid bureau) to gualify for "no doc" cash out refi's on 2 of my rentals. (65% LTV). Note: because the real estate was in a severely declining market, the standards are quite high. Because of paying before the credit card statement cuts and my limiting inquiries (example: I paid a $100 utility deposit on a rental property instead of having them pull credit), I qualified. My mid bureau score was 744 so that saved me alot of $$ and paperwork hassles. ^ I could have easily qualified for full doc but I saved alot because they did not have to do appraisal/ rent surveys on all my rentals. ($500 a pop :mad:).

Normally, anything over 720 FICO for owner occupied would be treated about the same for mortgage rates/points. For rentals, the standards are more stringent.

If debt to income ratios are tight, paying before the statement cuts would help. Even a rewards card where the spend is say 3K/month would have a $60/month min payment even though it always is PIF.