If you are thinking about buying a home one of the first things you need to do is check on and perhaps improve your credit score. Whether or not you can get financing and what kind of financing you can get depend a lot on your credit score.  If you score is not up to par you will need some time to work on it before you can get pre-qualified for a mortgage which also has to be done before you can buy a home.

The best thing is to check with your loan officer to see what your score is and what needs to be done but there are a few general practices that can help you insure you have a good score.

• Pay your bills on time – late payments will bring your score down in a hurry
• Don’t max out your credit cards and lines of credit – keep them at lower levels and pay them on time
• Refrain from applying for lots of new credit cards – it is best to have just a few and keep them current
• If you have a bankruptcy or foreclosure on your record there is nothing you can do but wait until they are removed
• Don’t make large new purchases if you are planning on buying a house – put off that new car until after you close on your home

The two main parts of your credit report are how much debt you have and your payment history, so to improve your credit score, keep your debt load low and pay all your bills on time.