What You Should Do About Your Credit Score Before Buying A House
When you are looking for a house but you have bad credit, then most likely, you will be rejected for loan. But, hope is not lost. You can raise your credit score in as little as a month to be able to apply for loan. Also, if you avoid certain credit mistakes before applying for a loan, you will be better chances of getting the lowest rates on your loan. Here are some important tips you have to take note of in order to keep up a good credit score so you can qualify for a loan:
•Don't apply for additional credit cards within a certain period of time before applying for a house loan. Each time you apply for a credit card, it reduces your credit score a bit, and it can take a few months to obtain those points again.
•Don't close the credit cards that you already have. It is because closing a credit card will only reduce the amount of credit you have available and raise your debt-to-credit ratio, which happens to be a big part of your credit score. In order to obtain good credit scores, your debt-to-credit ratio must be below 35%. That said, lending firms will take your total debt before approving the loan. Thus, even when your credit cards’ debt-to-credit ratio is below 35%, but your loan will raise your debt-to-income ratio by more than 33%, they will still reject the loan application.
•Don’t dig up old debts. Settling a collection account and a charge off will only put back the item on your credit report, thus hurting your credit score more than when you just leave an old collection or charge off item alone.
•Don't get a new auto before getting a house. Cars are expensive, and may be tallied in your debt-to-income ratio.
• Don't go shopping for credit just before applying for a loan. Understandably, you want to find the best interest rate, but when you shop for credit, the creditor checks your credit score. Always do your research, and avoid having your credit score pulled unless you're ready to apply.
•Don't purchase everything in cash basis. You will need to keep the cash in order to put some money upfront. Gone were the days when no money was needed for downpayment. You will need to put a certain amount of money upfront in order to own a house.
If you want to know more about buying a house, The Wall St. Journal has a wonderful directory of articles to assist you. Also, go here to find out more about the exact process of buying a house.
