How to Improve Your Credit to Buy a Home

If you’re buying a home for sale in Lake City or any of the nearby communities, you know that if you’re getting a mortgage loan (like most people do), you’ll need to brush up your credit score in order to get the best possible interest rates and terms.

So where do you start?

This isn’t financial advice, but these tips are great for people who want to try improving their own credit scores.

Build yourself an action plan that includes these steps:

Checking your own credit report
Reviewing your financial statements
Figuring out where your money is best spent in paying down debt

You might want to talk to a mortgage lender, who can help you improve your score by offering tips and advice. Remember, the lender’s ultimate goal is to give you a mortgage so it makes money, and it can only do that if you have a good enough credit score to qualify for a loan.

Check Your Credit Report

Thanks to the Federal Trade Commission, we’re all entitled to a free copy of our own credit report each year. The FTC works through AnnualCreditReport.com, which is the only authorized agency for this free report.

You can also sign up for free apps like CreditKarma, which is an amazing tool for checking up on your score and watching it improve as you pay down balances.

Review Your Financial Statements

Take a look at all your financial statements and check out your budget. Are you paying more interest on one credit card than another? And if you are, can you do a balance transfer to alleviate some of those high-interest payments?

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Figure Out How to Best Pay Down Debt

While you don’t have to hire a financial planner to figure out where your money is best spent to pay down debt and improve your credit score, you might want to. However, if you look at your accounts and see that one credit card is costing you an arm and a leg in interest and fees, it might be time to dump more cash into those payments. The less you owe as a balance, the lower your interest charges will be.

Are You Buying a Home for Sale in Lake City?

If you’re moving to Lake City, we can help you find the perfect place to live. Call us at 386-243-0124 to tell us what you want from your home and we will begin searching right away.

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