Barbara Mortgage Tips

One of the first things you should do before applying for a new home mortgage is to shore up your credit. Generally, you want to get your credit score to at least 700. That will usually get you the lowest possible mortgage interest rate offered by that lending institution.

Start by getting your free credit report from one of the 3 credit reporting agencies. If your score is below 700 then you'll need to start working on your credit rating. If your score is higher than 700 then you probably can't reduce your mortgage interest rate by increasing your credit score.

Here's some tips for improving your credit score. First of all start paying all your bills on time. That's real important. Even if you are going to make even the minimum payment on a credit card make sure you pay it on time. Try to keep your balances on credit cards to 25-50% of the maximum allowable balance on that card. Balances higher than that make lenders think you are 'tapped out'. 80% of all credit reports tend to have one or more errors. Contact the credit reporting agency and work with them to correct the errors.