The first piece of advice that is given for people looking to buy a home is to get your credit score together. Lenders simply do not want to work with people who don’t pay their bills on time, or who already have massive amounts of unpaid debt. To them, it shows that you’re untrustworthy. Now, I know that stuff happens. Bad things can sometimes happen to good people– that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t be able to buy a house. For advice on how to fix your credit before you apply for a mortgage, read this post by Scott Sheldon at Yahoo Home Finance:
–Fix Maxed-Out Credit Cards: Carrying credit cards with maxed-out or near maxed-out balances can be catastrophic to a credit score.
–Don’t Close Credit Cards: Don’t close credit cards, even if you are not using them.
–Reverse Late Payments: Late payments on a mortgage are by far the worst possible derogatory credit item