Читать книгу The Simple Guide to Buying a Home - Christine Cronin - Страница 4

Make sure to get pre-approved for the amount you are comfortable spending on a home. You should get pre-approved once you start looking. Some realtors won’t take you as seriously if you don’t have a pre-approval letter and most places won’t take offers without a pre-approval letter. So, it’s best to get that out of the way once you are ready to start looking. The bank will look at your debt-to-income ratio, credit scores, and a few other factors to determine your loan approval amount.

Credit scores range from 300-850. There are a number of variables that determine your score. These variables include timely payments on credit cards and loans, credit history, inquiries on your score and length of credit. A tip on building your credit is to get a credit card and use it on one thing you buy routinely, like gas for your car. Never spend more on your credit card than you have in your bank account.

You can check your score through your bank or organizations like Credit Karma. If you have a error on your credit score, contact that vendor and explain why that shouldn’t be on your report. If they don't help you resolve the issue, take your concern to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). They are here to help us. The CFPB is a federal organization that helps consumers with mortgages, credit cards, credit scores and other financial services and products.

Check your score once a year to make sure there aren’t mistakes on the report – it’s more common than you think. Also, check your credit score before you go to get pre-approved in case there is an error that would interfere with your pre-approval process.