Do you know your current credit score?  Do you know what is listed on your current credit report? If your answer is no to either of these questions, this is a step you need to take right away before beginning your search for a home.  The minimum score as of today for an FHA approval is 620.  If you are not there let’s work on getting that score up higher before you contact a lender.  We don’t want to give a lender a reason to deny you based on a low score.

Here are a few tips to increase your score.

• Keep credit card balances low, preferably 15% or less of your total credit limit.
• Set up automatic payments to make sure payments are made on time.
• Don’t apply for too many credit cards or lines of credit at the  same time.  Too many inquiries can lower your score.
• See what’s on your credit report.  If there is anything that doesn’t belong dispute it right away.

For your credit report I recommend, the websites below.

www.freecreditreport.com

With this website you will receive your credit report & score for a free trial period.  You will also received tools & guides to show you how to build your credit score.

www.annualcreditreport.com

Here you will receive a free credit report, once yearly, but you have to pay for your credit score.