Do You Have A Good Credit Score or Bad Credit Score?

A good credit score is one of the most important issues a lender will be looking for when deciding whether to lend you money for a home mortgage. If you have a lot of debt and have been known to make late payments, you may have a bad credit score.

Having a bad credit score on it's own will not prevent you from getting a mortgage loan, but it will mean you will likely pay a higher interest rate on the borrowed money and may also have to buy mortgage insurance.

Your poor credit rating may not be your fault. Credit bureaus may have registered your payments as late by mistake, so carefully review your payment history on your credit report and be sure to have the mistakes corrected immediately to maintain your squeaky clean and good credit score.

So where do you go to find out whether you have a good credit score or a bad credit score?

Most lenders will go to the three major credit bureaus: TransUnion, Equifax and Experian to review your credit score and you can apply to them as well.

You should get your credit score at least six months before you need to apply for a loan. Since it takes up to three months to correct any mistakes that have been made on your report, you will then have three months of good credit history to prove your worthiness to be approved for a home mortgage.

If you constantly make late payments without even realizing it, then you need to change your habits and put a plan into place to correct that. If you are banking online, set up an automatic payment schedule so your bills will be paid a few days ahead of their due date.

If you don't bank online, mark your calendar or set your PDA to remind you to pay on time. (Mvelopes Personal is a highly recommended online budget planning software that can also help you with organizing your monthly expenses.)

This little change in your payment habits will do wonders towards getting that good credit score you want.

The amount of money you owe on your credit cards is another vital factor in determining your credit rating. Make sure your balance on your credit cards is at least 25% less than the card limit. Better still, if possible, pay off the credit cards before you apply for a home mortgage loan.

Don't get down on yourself for having a poor credit rating. We have offered you some excellent tips and advice to move you to good credit score ratings fairly quickly. Just Do It!

  For more details about consumer credit, good credit score, bad credit scores and ratings go here.