Preparing Your Credit Score For A Home Purchase
All too often, homebuyers enter into contracts to purchase homes without first considering the condition of their credit report.
A lot of homebuyers mistakenly believe that their household income and assets are enough to qualify them for a loan and low mortgage rates, but credit reports can derail borrowers of all kinds — even those with high incomes and large bank accounts.
In general, mortgage guidelines require applicants to have acceptable FICO credit scores, as well as three open trade lines of credit which have been in use for at least twelve months, and paid as agreed.
If there are problems with your credit report or, worse, you’ve been a victim of identity theft, the worst time to uncover such issues is after you’ve already placed an offer on a home and have moved into contract.
The better approach is to review your credit well before you ever start looking for a home.
