Your Credit Score Affects Your Ability to Purchase a Home

By Casey Deanwater

Purchasing a Home vs. a Low Credit Score

When your credit report is being reviewed in connection with a mortgage application, the lender will most likely have these questions on his or her mind: Is their credit score acceptable? Is their credit history good? How much income do they have? How much of a down payment will they be providing?

The negative effects of a less than stellar credit history may be minimized by a large down payment; however, you will still likely pay more in fees and end up with a high mortgage interest rate. The fact is that in the past 12-18 months the minimum score necessary to buy a home has increased.

You cannot hide from a low credit score. In order to purchase a home, it is necessary to have a good credit history, whether you can provide a large down payment or not. A prospective homeowner should attempt to obtain an average credit score of 758 in order to receive the lowest interest rates, according to CNN.com.

Find Out How to Raise Your Credit Score and Improve Your Chances of Purchasing a Home

With minimal effort you can obtain your report and see exactly what is there. Often there will be mistakes or errors that you can dispute.

Your first step should be a dispute letter to the credit bureaus involved. Contacting the creditor directly to resolve the negative entry would be another way to start.

A well-written dispute letter will often result in the correction of the credit report, i.e. the removal of the negative entry. It is to be noted though that investigative techniques are often careless and error prone.

While investigating your claim, credit bureaus must spend time and man hours to resolve the dispute. Taking their time or ignoring the dispute is more to the liking of many credit bureaus. They hope you will throw in the towel and give up!

Will it Take Long to Boost My Credit Score?

Many people want to know how long it will be before they can see a difference in their credit score. In most cases, a fair estimate would be 6-12 months.

Although this may seem like an extremely long time, it is exceedingly shorter than waiting 7-10 years for the negative information to be erased. If you plan to purchase a home, it is imperative that you wait the 6-12 months to clear your credit report of any negative information. - 29866

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