Before you invest in a house, are you sure your career will keep you in your location?
Yes. I live in a suburb of Dallas that has a bunch of large corporations around. I'm pretty sure I'll be here for a while.
Your score likely went down because your current level of available credit dropped when that balance was marked as closed. 765 is still a great score. However, you are learning that the scores benefit those caught in a debt cycle and not those wanting to be debt free.
Interesting! Like the another poster mentioned, the interest rate is low enough to just "autopay and forget it" so I think I'll just do that for now until I have a mortgage. Thanks for the advice!