For years, VantageScore has been one of those numbers consumers might see through a credit-monitoring service, but in conventional mortgage lending it carried very little weight.

FICO was the score that mattered.

That's changing.

As of September 9, all approved Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac lenders can use VantageScore 4.0 for eligible loans. Classic FICO remains available, so lenders currently have a choice between the two models.

Here's where this gets interesting for buyers.

FICO and VantageScore can evaluate the same underlying credit information differently. That means the accounts, balances and payment history on a borrower's credit report don't necessarily have to change for the resulting credit score to be different under another model.

That does not mean VantageScore will automatically be higher. Depending on the borrower, it could be higher, lower or similar.

But if your buyer is sitting near an important credit-score threshold, even a relatively modest difference could become important.

WHAT THIS MEANS FOR REALTORS

A buyer who couldn't qualify previously may be worth another look. Don't assume the score your client sees on a consumer app is the score a mortgage lender will use. And when a buyer is near an important threshold, get the lender involved early enough to understand which scoring model and loan options are actually available.

This isn't about finding a loophole. It's about recognizing that after decades of essentially one dominant mortgage scoring model, the model itself is becoming another variable in the financing conversation.

Here's something listing agents should be paying attention to.

New-home sales increased 6.4% in August, reaching a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 684,000. At the same time, the median new-home sales price was 5.8% lower than a year earlier, at $393,700. Builders still had 483,000 homes for sale, representing an 8.5-month supply.

And builders are responding aggressively.

In September, 38% of builders reported cutting prices, with an average reduction of 6%. Even more striking, 66% were using some type of sales incentive.

That creates a problem for resale sellers that isn't always obvious from looking at comparable sales.

A $425,000 resale home isn't necessarily competing against another $425,000 home.

It might be competing against a builder offering a lower price, closing-cost assistance or financing incentives.

And buyers ultimately shop by monthly payment, not just sales price.

WHAT THIS MEANS FOR REALTORS

When you're preparing a listing presentation or discussing a price reduction, check nearby new construction too.

Your seller needs to understand the effective competition, not merely the MLS competition.

At the same time, resale homes have advantages worth emphasizing: established neighborhoods, mature landscaping, completed improvements, potentially larger lots and - most importantly - no construction wait.

And involve the lender early. Sometimes the answer isn't another $10,000 price reduction. There may be a financing strategy that makes the resale property more competitive with the builder's offer.

This one isn't getting nearly as much attention in real-estate conversations as I think it deserves.

An Associated Press analysis published today found that only 2.4% of U.S. properties are covered by federal flood insurance, while 8.4% face severe or extreme flood risk. The number of federal policies has also declined by roughly 500,000 over five years.

Cost is becoming part of the problem.

The AP estimates the typical federal flood policy now costs approximately $1,100 per year, roughly 90% more than five years ago.

And there's another important point for buyers:

Being outside a FEMA high-risk flood zone doesn't mean there's no flood risk. The AP found examples where existing flood maps failed to capture properties subsequently affected by serious flooding.

WHAT THIS MEANS FOR REALTORS

Don't wait until the buyer is deep into the transaction to investigate insurance.

Ask about flood risk early. Encourage buyers to obtain insurance quotes while they're evaluating the property. And remember that insurance is part of affordability.

A buyer may qualify perfectly well for the principal and interest payment and then discover that insurance materially changes the monthly number.

For Florida Realtors in particular, I'd treat the insurance conversation almost like property taxes:

Get the real number early.

CALL SCRIPT

Hey [Name], it's [Realtor]. I was thinking about you because there have been some changes happening on the mortgage side, including changes to how credit scores can be evaluated.

I know when we last talked, buying a home wasn't quite working for you financially.

I don't know if anything has changed on your end, but I thought it might be worth having Mike take another look at everything.

Worst case, you're exactly where you were before. Best case, there may be an option today that wasn't available the last time we checked.

Are you still interested in buying if we can make the numbers work?

TEXT MESSAGE

Hey [Name]! It's been a little while since we talked about buying a home. There have been some changes recently on the mortgage and credit-scoring side, so I thought of you. If buying is still something you'd like to do, would you be open to having my lender take another look at the numbers? No pressure at all. It might just be worth seeing if anything has changed.

SHORTER TEXT VERSION

Hey [Name], are you still thinking about buying a home? A few things have changed recently with mortgage guidelines and credit scoring, and I thought it might be worth having my lender take another look. Want me to connect you?

This is something I've learned repeatedly over almost 30 years in this business.

A "no" isn't always a permanent no.

Programs change. Guidelines change. Credit models change. Income changes. Debt gets paid down. Buyers save more money. And sometimes we simply have a solution today that wasn't available when we first spoke with them.

Every Realtor has people sitting in their phone who wanted to buy but couldn't quite get there.

Call them.

Not with a sales pitch. Just:

"Hey, it's been a while. Are you still thinking about buying a house?"

You might be surprised how many conversations that starts.

Sometimes your next buyer isn't a new lead.

They're an old lead whose circumstances changed.