Backed by the Federal Housing Administration, these allow scores as low as 500 (with a 10% down payment) or 580 (with a 3.5% down payment).

Research indicates that while "poor" credit—typically defined as a or a CIBIL score below 650 —presents a significant barrier to homeownership, it does not make it impossible.

An insightful way to look at this is through the lens of Academic studies, such as those by Rosenthal (2002) and Bostic et al. , suggest that if low-credit households had "unblemished" credit, homeownership rates in the U.S. could increase by roughly 4 to 10 percentage points . 1. Traditional vs. Alternative Loan Paths

For veterans and active-duty members, these often have no official minimum score, though many individual lenders set their own "overlays" (usually around 580–620).