One of my friends has excellent credit; like, over 800 excellent. He pays all his bills on time, and worked furiously to pay off all his student loan debt within a year of graduating. However, he is concerned that his “home buying score” is still not good enough. In fact, he was worried he didn’t have one at all. To me, that sounded a little bit…well, wrong. After all, if you have good credit, you’re guaranteed to be approved for a low-interest home loan….right? Well, it turns out that he is actually partially right. Mortgage companies go into much further depth when deciding whether or not to approve you for a loan. And yes, your generic score IS different than your “home buying” credit score. Someone who has a 650 generic score may actually have only a 615 for home lenders. Check out this post by Chris Birk at the Credit.com Blog for more information:
The reality is lending agencies rely on unique scoring formulas weighted for mortgage-related factors. It’s a risk-hedging move designed to help banks better assess whether you’re a good candidate for the financial responsibility of a mortgage. That’s often a frustrating revelation for potential borrowers.
The consumer-centric score you might purchase from an entity like FICO can still provide a solid sense of where you stand. But its limitations are especially glaring for borrowers on the edge.
If your credit score is extremely bad, this post isn’t for you. This is for people that have ~okay~ credit, but are trying to make it good or great. Maybe you’re trying to get a lower interest payment on a huge loan, or you’re applying for a mortgage. Whatever the reason, it’s always a good idea to try and improve your credit score. For tips on how to painlessly raise your credit, check out this post by 
Building good, healthy habits is important in all areas of life. Physically healthy people eat the right foods, get regular exercise, and drink lots of water. Mentally healthy people read books, solve puzzles, and find ways to challenge their brain. Emotionally healthy people spend time with friends and loved ones, talk about their problems, and know how to laugh.
During retirement, the goal is to just relax and enjoy yourself. Enjoy your home, your family, your hobbies. Read, travel; do anything with all the free time you have. It’s not supposed to be stressful; you shouldn’t have to worry about financial woes anymore. Unfortunately, that is just an ideal. Many retired Americans today still have to worry about paying the bills, now with only social security checks and pensions. Due to the limited, fixed income that you have when you’re retired, things will be much easier if you already own your home. That’s right; it should be your goal to pay off your mortgage before you retire. Check out this post by 
So, you’re 20-something years old, you’ve graduated college, or maybe had a decent job for a few years now, and you’re thinking about buying a home. But, living on your own, paying bills, and possibly paying off student loans isn’t cheap. So how do you start saving for buying a home? There are several ways to cut costs of everyday living to reach your goal. Check out this post by 
There’s a pretty big misconception out there that if you already have debt, you shouldn’t buy a home. This is partially true: if you have mountains of credit card debt, pay day loans, a car loan, and bad credit, you should probably work on that before looking to add to it. But, when it comes down to getting approved for a mortgage, what really matters is your 1. credit score and 2. debt to income ratio. What does that mean? Check out this 
Almost everyone tries to save money where they can: by using coupons, cutting unnecessary expenses, refinancing loans, and comparison shopping. But, if you don’t have an ultimate goal in mind, what’s the point of hoarding your money? You can’t take it with you. Are you trying to save for a down payment on a home? Putting more money towards your retirement? Or trying to pay off your mortgage faster and become debt free? According to this article by
When you’re pre-qualified or pre-approved for a certain amount on a mortgage, that doesn’t mean that you should spend that full amount on the actual home price. It’s best to scale down your budget by a few thousand (ask your Realtor how much) to allow some wiggle room. The home cost is not just the value of the home. You’ll need to have money for closing costs, repairs, moving expenses, mortgage insurance, and property taxes, to say the least. Check out this post by