Credit Score. Two IMPORTANT Words for Buying a Home

Posted on | March 22, 2008 | No Comments

Credit Score. Two IMPORTANT Words for Buying a Home
by Matt Clark, Cincinnati Realtor
Cincinnati Real Estate

What is your credit score? If you can’t answer this question, clear out the next hour of your life and get serious about your finances.
Your credit score is quite possibly the most important number of your adult life. From your very first job, credit card, bank account, your actions are being watched (and judged) by a credit bureau. This three digit number can be the deciding factor between you being able to buy a home or not. Your score will range from 300-850 with scores over 720 receiving the best interest rates and other perks.

As banks are more reluctant to loan money, credit scores needed to qualify for a mortgage raise. Having a lower score will cost you more money or may even mean you won’t qualify at all.

Moral of the story: GO CHECK YOUR CREDIT REPORT. RIGHT NOW.

As a citizen of Ohio you have the ability to order a credit report for FREE once a year from each of the three credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion). This can be done at http://www.annualcreditreport.com/
There are some companies out there that advertise a free credit report if you sign up for some service of theirs, but don’t be fooled into paying for something you don’t want. http://www.annualcreditreport.com/
This is the official website to access your report for free. No strings attached.

Make sure all the info contained in the report is correct and if you find any incorrect items contact the bureaus to remedy them. To see your actual score, you may have to pay an additional charge (usually $10-15), but it is most important that all the information about you and your accounts contained in the report are correct. You can order one free report every year from each of the three bureaus.

Very analytical like I am? Order one report every four months from a different bureau. This equates to one every year from EACH bureau and will be ABSOLUTELY FREE. Put it on your calendar, and DO IT. More on credit to come next week…in the mean time, go order your free report! It takes just a few minutes and could be the difference in getting your dream home or not.

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