If you are planning on a home purchase, or on refinancing in the next six to twelve months, here are a few things you can do to positively affect your credit score.

Your credit score will impact how much of a mortgage you will qualify for as well as the rates you will be offered.

1. Be sure to pay off any loan or debt payments on or before their due date. Any 30, 60 or 90 day delinquencies on loans or debts will negatively impact your credit score.

2. IF you are having problems paying your debts, pay any loans or debts first. Then pay your credit card. Try to at least pay your minimum credit card payment. The lending institutions will first look at your payment history on loans similar to theirs (eg. car loans) and then will look at your credit card history.

3. Don’t max out your credit card.

4. Get rid of extra credit cards (including department store cards such as Sears, the Bay, etc).

5. Consider reducing the amount of your down payment, and paying down some of your consumer debt.

These actions will positively impact your credit score and may make the difference between being accepted for a mortgage, or not.

This entry was posted on Monday, June 21st, 2010 at 10:22 am and is filed under Buying a Home, Mortgage Advice. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.