Home buyer's Guide to Better Credit

Choosing a lender isn't the first step in becoming a homeowner. In reality, the home buying process begins and ends with your finances. To propel your dreams of homeownership forward, considering your credit score is a must along with the type of lender for which you'll qualify in Lomita.

A FICO score is a collection of your years of credit history based on an instrument developed by Fair Isaac and Company. Most people traditionally have a score of 600, but scores range from 300 to 850. Since we've experienced an economic downturn, however, some borrowers have seen their score drop by hundreds of points because of underemployment, charged off credit card accounts, or credit card accounts terminated because the card didn't carry a high balance. Some of the pieces in determining your FICO score include:

• Types of Credit — Do you have a healthy mix of loans and credit cards?
• Payment History — Do you pay your bills on time ?
• Credit to Debt Ratio — How much do you owe versus your available credit?
• Credit Inquiries — Do you have too many open accounts?

When you apply for a mortgage or any other loan, lenders want to make sure that extending a loan to you isn't a problem. Your FICO score gives lenders an insight into what type of borrower you'd be solely because of your credit history. Because of the shift in the economy, most home buyers should have scores in the range of 740 or higher to get a satisfactory interest rate. You'll still get approved for a loan with a lower score, but the interest paid over the life of the loan could be more than double that of someone with a superior credit score.

Getting your credit in order is the first step in owning a home. Contact us and we can help you get on the right track to the home of your dreams.

How do you get a better score? Improving your FICO score takes time. It can be hard to make a significant stride change in your FICO score with small changes, but your score can improve in a year by keeping tabs your credit report and by using your credit wisely. The best way to do this is to know your FICO score. You'll improve your credit score by using these pointers:

• Department store cards and gas cards. For those who have non-existent credit or below average credit, department store credit cards and gas credit cards are ways to begin your credit history, increase your spending limits and stay on top of your payments, which will raise your FICO score. You should always avoid holding a high balance for too long because these types of cards traditionally have a surprising interest rate.
• Don't let your cards get dusty. Whether you're just getting started with credit, or if you've got older cards, use your cards so that your accounts maintain an active status. But, pay them off in no more than two or three payments.
• Pay on time. Your FICO score plummets with every account that goes to collections. It's where people who have recently experienced job loss see the biggest hit in their credit score. Yes, it takes longer to build up your credit with payment history, but it's the most reliable way to show that you're responsible enough to make payments to a lender.
• Correct your credit report. If you find mistakes on your credit report, write to the bureau asking that the item be removed. If you have a common name or the same name as a family member, you'll want to give extra care to make sure the activity reported is correct.
• Spread your debt around. At first, this doesn't sound like a good idea. But, you don't want to have one card that is maxed out and have your remaining cards at a zero balance. It's better to have each of your cards at about 20% of their credit limit than to have the majority of your debt transferred to one card.

Knowing the ways you can build up your FICO score, you can move toward becoming a homeowner. Keep in mind that when you're ready to apply for a loan to purchase a home, you'll want to keep your credit inquiries within a two-week window to avoid adverse effects on your credit score. With the help of Kivett Realty, the loan application process is sure to go more smoothly so you, too, can become a homeowner.

To learn more, visit myFICO.com, Fair Isaac's informational site and once per year, for free, you can review all three of your credit reports at annualcreditreport.com. And, for a small payment, you can get your FICO score from each bureau on their websites: equifax.com, experian.com and transunion.com.